Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Members of The Petition/Appeal Committee,


My name is Annabelle Koelmel, and I am a first year Bachelor of Arts - Honours student at Queen’s University. I was directed to appeal for a tutorial switch by the FILM 112 course coordinators. I wish to switch from FILM 112 tutorial 5720 to FILM 112 tutorial 5716, based on the following grounds.

I have growing concerns that my pre-existing experience with the TA of tutorial 5720 will negatively impact my experience in this course. I have previously attended the tutorials for tutorial 5720 and found that I was not able to express myself through class engagement despite my efforts, thus hindering my opportunity for participation marks. That in turn, would most certainly result in lower grades which affects my ability to get into both the Film Major here at Queen’s, and the graduate program of my choice. Furthermore, I understand that TA’s teaching style varies, however, my learning style clashes with TA Edem (of tutorial 5720) to the extent that it has already proved negative to my learning. Last week, I attended tutorial 5716 and upon being granted permission to join, I had a significantly better experience. The TA of 5716 cultivated an engaged and welcoming environment that truly allowed me to flourish into what I believe is the best of my abilities. I am confident that this improved experience with TA William Jennings of tutorial 5716 will transfer into my overall experience in FILM 112.

This is an issue that is incredibly important to me as I am deeply passionate about continuing my studies at Queen’s in the film and media department. Therefore, it is of the utmost importance that I switch tutorials to maximize my potential in my desired field of film studies. In addition to my grades, my ability to learn and prosper within a classroom is something I deeply value. I now know from experience in my first semester at Queen’s, coupled with the time I spent in tutorial 5716, that one’s compatibility with a TA can have drastic implications on a student's outcome in each course. As I previously stated, I wholeheartedly believe that this tutorial switch would enable me to gain the most from the course and maximize my academic career thus far. Given that there is one available seat remaining in tutorial 5716, and I am already enrolled in FILM 112 which includes the Monday lecture, this switch would not affect my schedule nor my previous/upcoming assignment and/or submissions.

As a result of the situations that I explained above, I would appreciate your approval of my petition.


Thank you for your attention to this matter.


Annabelle Koelmel

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