Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: I initially reached out to the course instructor, Professor Farhana Zulkernine, on Saturday, April 26th to request an informal review of my exam grade, as outlined in Section 3.2.1 of the policy.

She kindly replied the same day, letting me know she would check the exam papers at the school on Monday and follow up with me. In her message, she mentioned that the answers or questions could not be released before the deferred exam in mid-May, but that she would still review my exam beforehand.

I followed up again on Tuesday, April 29th, but unfortunately haven’t received any further communication since then. Because I haven’t been able to resolve this informally, I am now seeking a formal review based on:
A potential discrepancy in the exam marking process.
Procedural fairness concerns during the assessment and review.

For context, when I first contacted Professor Zulkernine, there seemed to be some initial confusion as she believed I may not have written the exam at all. This was later clarified, but when my exam grade appeared, it was unexpectedly low.

This sequence of events raised some concerns that there may have been a mix-up or error in how my exam was located or graded. I was present for the exam, submitted my work through the designated proctor, and completed all the questions. Given my understanding of the material and how I felt the exam went, I am worried that the grade may not accurately reflect my performance.

I also want to share some additional context that has made me a bit anxious about the fairness of the grading process overall. Earlier in the term, there was an issue with one of the quizzes: it included 20 questions, but didn’t specify that we were meant to answer only the first 10. In one of the accommodations rooms, Mitchell Hall 126, our proctor told us we could answer any 10 questions, so I followed those instructions. Later, Professor Zulkernine mentioned it should have been clear and obvious that we were to answer the first 10, and I initially received a grade of 30% based on just those first 10 answers. After I raised my concerns, she increased my grade to 50%; however, this adjustment did not involve marking the second set of 10 questions, and she explained that nothing further should have been done.

While I appreciated her adjusting the mark, the situation left me uneasy going into the final exam, as I was concerned about similar issues arising again.

I have attached my email correspondence with Professor Zulkernine as documentation of my efforts to resolve this informally.

Thank you so much for your time and consideration. I would really appreciate any guidance you can provide on the next steps in the formal review process.