Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To Queens Student Services,

This is a formal request to repeal and substitute the D+ received in DRAM346 in favour of a Pass/Fail grading. I have spoken with the instructor of this course, Dr. Clelia Scala, about the final grade I received. I have submitted the completed work to her and am contacting the Faculty of Arts & Science at her suggestion. I have explained my situation to Clelia thoroughly, and made sure she was aware of my situation and worries during this final semester. Clelia contacted the Undergraduate Dean

I reached out to Clelia on May 9, 2023 to see if there was a way to review the D+ grade that I received. She brought to my attention the fact that I had forgotten to upload some assignments onto OnQ. Since I had indeed completed the assignments, I was immediately able to submit for her consideration. Alas, Clelia told me she knows that I ??do great work? but that she could not change my mark because it was already entered on SOLUS. I believe the work I completed for this work is up to a standard that is higher than the D+ range. Given my performance in this course for assignments which were submitted in time and graded, .

I??ve been struggling with my courses since the COVID lockdown from 2021-22 and my grades have slipped because of it, despite my best efforts to stay on top of things. Clelia suggested that I bring this up as well. My anxiety toward schoolwork in general also began to develop mid-second year, which has affected how I engage with OnQ in particular. Looking back into the school year, I should have reached out for accommodations to ease my anxiety and keep my marks from declining so dramatically. I??d like it to be known that unstable mental health was a factor in my ability to act sooner on submission errors and for how I engaged with my marks.

I know that in February 2020, in light of the school year being compromised by the Covid-19 situation that the Faculty of Arts and Science offered all ??Arts and Science undergraduate students who achieve a passing grade in a course that is lower than they might have achieved had the disruptions not occurred have the option to change their grade to a Pass (P) instead of their final letter grade. The P grade can be applied to any course through our portal ?? core, option, supporting or elective.? Although this remedy was only offered for the Winter 2020 term, I am hopeful that under the circumstances, that my request for a P grade will be granted.

A separate stressor which added to my anxiety occurred In mid-March. This is when the laptop I used for my coursework had a hard drive malfunction and I lost significant amounts of work for a number of courses; FILM460 being the most heavily affected. For this 400-level course students are required to create a project for presentation at the Dan School ??viewFinder? presentation at the Isabel Bader Centre for Performing Arts. I informed Clelia and the FILM460 instructors about my situation. This break happened during an assignment due date for the course, which is the reason why I missed the deadline by an upward of 3 days.

Since I have completed all of my course requirements and am graduating in the Spring graduation ceremony, I am worried that this mark will severely hurt my chances of applying for college.

In summary, I would be very grateful to substitute the D+ I received for a Pass because I have discussed with Clelia, and we agreed the final grade does not honour my achievements in this course. I feel that this grade does not reflect my weekly contributions to DRAM346. If you would like further proof of this conversation with Clelia, please contact me via (18lam18@queensu.ca)

As a soon to be graduate with a Medial Degree in Film and Media Arts/Drama, my next steps are to apply to a college programme to give me some hand-on technical experience in the Film industry. I am grateful to all of my instructors at Queen??s University for the amazing foundational education I have received. I believe that my GPA is high enough for consideration to any Film programme in the colleges to which I am applying, however, there is always the possibility that this one mark could hinder my application. I am open to discuss further at any point via Queens email to discuss a change in grade. Thank you for considering my request, and I look forward to your correspondence.