Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: My name is Madeline Galbraith (20341267), I am petitioning the Faculty of International Business’s decision to give me an F in COMM 173 the course and have my grade changed to a D+.

The breakdown in the course grading consists of is as follows; weekly knowledge quizzes that add up to 18% of the final grade, weekly in-class assignments that add up to 16% of the final grade, the midterm module 1 exam which adds up to 33% of final grade and lastly the final module 2 exam which adds up to 33% of final grade. The weekly knowledge quiz comprises the sum of your best 6 quizzes. For me, these were quiz 1 - 86%, quiz 2 - 73%, quiz 4 - 53%, quiz 6 - 67% quiz 8 - 67%, and quiz 9 - 0%. Together these would make 18% of my final grade 57.6%. In the module 1 exam, I achieved a grade of 60.5%, and I achieved 52.5% on the module 2 exam. If we were to only take into consideration the grades above I would have achieved a grade of 57.13% which according to the Queen’s grading scale falls as a D+.

Including the weekly in-class assignments in my grade does not reflect the type of student I am. I recognize that I am not a A+ student but I am also not a F student. In my psycho-educational assessment that was done for my accommodations here at Queen’s the following information was said. “Madeline studies much harder than her peers, yet her marks do not always reflect that” Dr. Marleen stern stated this information during my assessment. I believe that this is a prime example of my work ethic not a reflection of my grades. The reason for obtaining a zero in this section was due to me not attending class. Going to class is something that I find quite challenging as it is not the most effective way for me to learn. Throughout the course of my psych assessment, it was stated “Madeline’s Processing Speed Index (21st percentile) in the low average range and working memory index (8th percentile) in the borderline range.” These findings indicated to Dr. Stern and are stated in the assessment “This profile indicated, slow processing speed skills and underdeveloped working memory skills”. This meant that going to class would not help me learn any information as I would be unable to retain anything that was heard. In addition to not being able to retain any information that was heard in class, I found it hard to attend class due to my struggles with anxiety.
As stated in the assessment under the “updated personal history” section I also struggle with anxiety. Since this assessment has been conducted I have been medicated and do therapy in order to minimize my struggles with anxiety.

In order to not have these types of issues moving forward I have familiarized myself with all the things that are expected of me in my classes in terms of being present. This will ensure that I will not miss any participation grades in the future. In addition, I have been able to reduce my feelings of anxiety when going to class due to the medication I have been prescribed by my family doctor Dr. Claire Murphy.

I appreciate your time and consideration when reading this letter.

Thank you.

Best,
Madeline Galbraith (20341267)