Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I request that my final letter grade for PHIL 301 be changed to credit standing, as the arrangements made by my professor in the face of my academic consideration were insufficient for my academic success. I finished the course in Fall 2022 semester with the letter grade C. The course had 3 essay assignments that were due in each month of the semester. The way the class is graded sees to it that the essay on which you got the highest mark is worth 50%, the essay in which you got the second highest mark is worth 40%, and the essay in which you got the lowest mark is worth 10%.

in the Fall 2022 semester, I needed Academic consideration for substantial periods of time. Due to my extenuating circumstance (the most disclosure I am comfortable with offering you in this letter is that my dad was killed in January of 2022, and so I am still experiencing major bouts of grief ?? I am willing to offer more details if necessary and a copy of my VEC form), I was approved for two periods of Academic Consideration that I applied for as needed. The first one ranged from October 24th-November 21st. The second one ranged from November 22nd-January 16th 2023.

The dilemma in question has to do with the second essay of the course, which was due on November 14th. I handed that essay in on December 19th. Since the timeline in which it took me to hand that essay in spans over both of my fixed periods of Academic Consideration, Professor Gordon-Solmon asserted her grounds to decline my submission, as she has discretion on whether or not to accept stacked consideration for individual assignments. The course policy clearly states that if an assignment is handed in late (or in this case past a period of accepted consideration), it should be expected that the assignment will not be graded and will receive a mark of 0.

With Professor Gordon-Solmon??s advisement, I appealed her decision to the FAS appeal board. They informed me that this stands as a matter between student and instructor. I was led to believe by her that this would change when the term ended and I could appeal it as a option for students who have had an assignment/exam marked and graded, but are disputing the grade assigned. Regardless as to whether or not this really was a possibility, It brought me a lot of hardship and anxiety to wait for this option, and I had otherwise been advised by the FAS appeal board that it was possible for me to speak to the Undergraduate Chair and/or the Head of the Department of Philosophy to see further action with this situation. Since Professor Gordon-Solmon is currently the Undergraduate Chair, I saw my only to be appealing to the Head of the Philosophy Department.

The Head of the Department emailed me back saying that there was nothing that she cold do, as Professor Gordon Solmon has done everything in her purview. The only advisement she was able to give me was to petition for Credit Standing due to extenuating circumstances, which will convert my final letter grade to a CR.

The crux of this matter now lies within me getting a bad mark ?? since the mark of 0 on my second essay counts towards 10% of my grade, it took my grade down by 10% into the 60 percentage, which I have not received in any other course. This would severely impact my GPA, and it is mainly because sufficient arrangements were not made by my instructor. I do have very serious extenuating circumstances that for some reason are not being met with compassion by this individual, and the reason for such is because I made a mistake in the way I filed for extenuating circumstances. Even though the arrangements she has offered me are within her purview, I feel as though they are objectively not in my best interest or very reasonable for that matter.

The Head of the Philosophy department also told me that in terms of possible avenues of petition, the regulations do not permit the appeal of a final course grade, nor do they permit the appeal of a specific course rule like an assignment deadline or late policy. This directly contradicts the advice that Professor Gordon-Solmon gave me to appeal. The fact that this grade cannot be appealed at all even after the course ends is new information to me, so now I feel like I??ve been sent on this wild goose chase to have no results. On this note, it is also worth mentioning that I would have had the assignment in much earlier than I did had I not been discouraged by the Professor. I was part-way done the essay at the time she told me she would not accept stacked consideration, then weeks later she tells me I can appeal her decision, then I complete the essay to only find out that that option is not even possible. This all seems very outrageous to me.

This situation outlines a fault in the way I requested Academic Consideration, rather than any idea that I don??t need it. I know that the way this course is marked makes it so this paper not being graded is not that big of a deal, but I am very proud of my work and I expected to do very well if the paper was graded. The fact that I still completed the assignment despite my extenuating circumstances just to have it declined for assessment is very indicative of how this situation is deserving of examination for a change in letter grade.

Also, I have read the ??Academic Consideration for Students in Extenuating Circumstances Policy? (my grounds for Academic Consideration came from filled out VEC forms). It says the following in the Policy Statement (It also says this in the complete Academic Considerations Policy Statement): ??Similarly students are requested to assume that the university and instructors will provide academic considerations that are deemed to be in the best interest of the student, taking into account academic progress and essential academic requirements and standards.? I truly feel that these arrangements were not at all in my best interest. I hope that you will consider this, and if at all possible potentially aid me in this predicament.

I feel like I did everything to work with Professor Gordon-Solmon with little to no results. I emailed her for the last time on December 21st to see if we could solve this problem between us, and she never got back to me. I have also been as apologetic as possible for any impositions my late submissions have had on her (that being with the understanding that my circumstance is in part not in my control). The communication on this issue has been ongoing since the 24th of November, and she has only sent me her original disclaimer that she was not going to mark my paper if it was left up to her, and one other email that advised me about the appeal option once my second period of academic consideration was approved. I on the other hand have sent her 7 separate emails trying to work with her, and her lack of responses left me very anxious and upset. I have completed all three assignments for the course, attended the classes and has exceptional participation, and have overall undoubtedly met the academic requirements and standards of the course. I have never been met with so much resistance from a professor on my academic consideration, and again I feel that her decision is not in my best interest as is indicated I should assume by the policy. This entire situation has been very stressful and emotional for me.

My mark has been released, and I expect no more communication from the Professor on the matter. This is my last resort as I would have preferred my paper to be marked and to receive the appropriate letter grade, however I now see that is not an option whatsoever and will be satisfied with the letter grade of CR if it is granted to me. Hopefully, I have effectively outlined how there were no arrangements made in my benefit within this situation, and because of that it has resulted in me receiving a lower mark than I normally would have despite my extenuating circumstance/academic consideration.