Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Name: Emmyt Gerek

Student Number: 20238969

Department: LLCU

Class: GERM101

Professor: Dr. Arndt

Professor: Dr. Pugh


The reason I am requesting that the 21-day deadline may be waived is for a number of reasons. Firstly, I was speaking with my Professor (Dr. Arndt) and another LLCU Professor (Dr. Pugh) attempting to rectify the issue directly. I did not feel that the results of our efforts were satisfactory, therefore, Dr. Pugh sent me this link by email and indicated to me that I may appeal the situation. This email was sent to me on May 3rd, 2021 (21 days ago).
Additionally, as the school year has come to a speedy finish, during the time of my 21 days, I was extremely busy. I was living in residence and needed to move home, organize myself, and start my full-time summer job as soon as I arrived home. Since then I have been busy with work and trying to submit this document as soon as possible. I hope the 21-day appeal deadline may be overlooked due to the above reasons.

I feel that providing the context of my situation will be helpful. Related to the fact that I became very ill with COVID-19 while living on campus this semester, I was granted academic consideration. Given that the class assessment was during the time I was ill, I was given an alternate assessment. Rather than an interview conducted between two classmates for which the others in my class could prepare and rehearse a script ahead of time, I was interviewed by Professor Arndt, without the benefit of knowing what the script would be. From my point of view, this was not a comparable assessment, both from the perspective of preparation as well as intimidation. Professor Arndt indicated to me that my pronunciation was perfect, therefore, if I was able to prepare as my classmates did, in theory, I could have done perfectly.

I received a 63 on the interview, while the average mark for the assignment in the course was 81. The assignment represented 25 of the final grade in the course. Prior to this assessment, each grade I received in the class has been at or above the class average.

I have spoken to Professor Arndt and Dr. Pugh. They both indicated that they feel the mark reflects a fair assessment of my ability, and while I recognize this might be true, I feel that my task was not comparable to that of my classmates. I would have received a better mark if I underwent the same assessment as my peers, however, due to my falling ill at the time of the class assignment, it was not possible for me to complete it. As a result of having an alternate assessment, my grade has suffered.

In summary, I do not feel that the grade reflects fairness but rather I feel that I am being unjustly penalized for falling ill while actually, I persisted despite the illness and its ongoing sequelae to finish my first year.

Thank you in advance for your assistance and support in resolving this matter.