Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 9106
Submitted: May 3, 2022 at 8:21:55 PM
First Name: Max
Last Name: Kerrigan
Student Number: 20165032
Email: mtkerrigan1@gmail.com
Degree Program: BAH
Plan: LING
Level of Study: 3
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Request a review of instructors' decisions on grading of final examination and/or term work
Code: PSYC 100
Term: Winter
Year: 2022
Petition Category: Request a review of instructors' decisions on grading of final examination and/or term work
Instructor's Name: Meghan Norris
Component: Final exam
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: I have been accused of alleged plagiarism and use of unauthorized materials on my PSYC 100 winter final exam. I immediately admitted to using an outside source, Quillbot, as a writing tool for my exam. I explained to the instructor how I put my own work into the source, and it provided synonyms and improved sentence structure for my work. I fail to see how I could have had intent of plagiarism, as I did not draw my ideas from any outside sources, they were my own.
I wrote this exam at an incredibly stressful period for myself on a personal level due to school workload, job uncertainty, family issues and a small mountain of other reasons, let alone the pandemic. I was also ill at the time of writing the exam, as were multiple other people living in my house which created a difficult environment to focus on my exam. I am fully aware that I did not take perhaps the correct avenues in terms of handling these issues, however exam deferral was not something I wanted to have to consider at that time.
I believe it is evident from the fact that I did not even attempt to design a study for question 1 part d) that I was not mentally/emotionally capable of writing the exam at that time, as I submitted my document with more than an hour to spare, I just couldn??t finish it. I have never experienced this with an exam before. I do not have any medical history of mental health problems so in the moment I did not believe I had any proper justifications for exam deferral/accommodations, however now in retrospect, I attribute my poor decision to use an outside source to my newfound incredibly stressful situation.
Looking back at my paper now, I do not hardly recall writing the words that I had written, but I can say confidently that they were not taken from anyone else??s work, and I believe I am entitled to some form of consideration from the university. I have dedicated a great deal of time and effort to my degree, and I have shown that throughout my perfect academic integrity record to date. A complete deduction of marks on my final exam would devastate my GPA and put me in a very precarious situation academically, and I do not believe I have acted so wrongly that this is the punishment which I am deserving of.
In conclusion, I am calling on the appeals committee to review my case and reconsider the severity of my punishment. I have been nothing but open and honest throughout this investigation and I will not be confessing to an act I did not commit, this being the plagiarism component. The extent of the effect of this stressful time I experienced during the winter exam period was not even something I was aware of until recently upon reflection, and it has not been something easily explainable, as I have had enough difficulty dealing with it myself. I very much enjoyed the PSYC 100 course and felt as though I learned a lot, so I would hate to have it end on such a bitter note. I can only explain my actions and hope that I am met with some compassion and understanding in your decision.
Max Kerrigan
I wrote this exam at an incredibly stressful period for myself on a personal level due to school workload, job uncertainty, family issues and a small mountain of other reasons, let alone the pandemic. I was also ill at the time of writing the exam, as were multiple other people living in my house which created a difficult environment to focus on my exam. I am fully aware that I did not take perhaps the correct avenues in terms of handling these issues, however exam deferral was not something I wanted to have to consider at that time.
I believe it is evident from the fact that I did not even attempt to design a study for question 1 part d) that I was not mentally/emotionally capable of writing the exam at that time, as I submitted my document with more than an hour to spare, I just couldn??t finish it. I have never experienced this with an exam before. I do not have any medical history of mental health problems so in the moment I did not believe I had any proper justifications for exam deferral/accommodations, however now in retrospect, I attribute my poor decision to use an outside source to my newfound incredibly stressful situation.
Looking back at my paper now, I do not hardly recall writing the words that I had written, but I can say confidently that they were not taken from anyone else??s work, and I believe I am entitled to some form of consideration from the university. I have dedicated a great deal of time and effort to my degree, and I have shown that throughout my perfect academic integrity record to date. A complete deduction of marks on my final exam would devastate my GPA and put me in a very precarious situation academically, and I do not believe I have acted so wrongly that this is the punishment which I am deserving of.
In conclusion, I am calling on the appeals committee to review my case and reconsider the severity of my punishment. I have been nothing but open and honest throughout this investigation and I will not be confessing to an act I did not commit, this being the plagiarism component. The extent of the effect of this stressful time I experienced during the winter exam period was not even something I was aware of until recently upon reflection, and it has not been something easily explainable, as I have had enough difficulty dealing with it myself. I very much enjoyed the PSYC 100 course and felt as though I learned a lot, so I would hate to have it end on such a bitter note. I can only explain my actions and hope that I am met with some compassion and understanding in your decision.
Max Kerrigan