Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To the associate dean of academics,

My name is Meghan Wales, and I would like to petition for a CR in KNPE 363. I originally took this class because the syllabus had a good mix of both assignments and exams. Throughout my 4 years at Queen’s, I have realized that I excel more through assignments than exams. As we were already halfway through the semester, with less than a month to go, the TA strike occurred. Due to this, our last assignment in this class was cancelled, making the final exam worth 55% instead of the original 35%. This was announced after I had completed the midterm. If I had known this class was going to be 80% worth of exams, I would never have taken this class, given that I know I excel more through assignments, projects, etc. When this decision was made to have the final be worth 55% after having the 25% midterm done, it was too late for me to drop the course, especially if I wanted to graduate on time with my class.

I always made sure I came to class and communicated when I needed extra help understanding the material. I studied hard for the final exam, knowing the conditions I explained above, which is why the grade I received on my transcript was a shock. Throughout my 4 years at Queen’s, I had accommodations for exams in a private room. This accommodation was given to help support me with my mental health conditions: Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) and Major Depressive Disorder (MDD), as well as my chronic pain disorder, Endometriosis. A lot of the time, my symptoms from these conditions are and were exacerbated when preparing for and writing exams. The private room supported me during exams, as normal noises that occur in an exam (people getting up, coughing, and other noises) are very distracting to me. Typically, throughout my four years, I would write my exams in Mitchell Hall (this is where I wrote the midterm for this class), but for the final, I was in Gordon Hall. When I was writing my exam, there was someone in the next room coughing almost the entire time, which was extremely distracting. Although that individual did leave before me, it took up most of the time I had allotted for my exam. This is why in my accommodations, I have a private room, to avoid noise and conditions like this, as it is extremely disruptive and ultimately affects my ability to concentrate and do the best I can when writing my exam. I know how hard I studied for this final, and I know there are answers that I would have been able to get correct if my area were quieter, allowing me to concentrate to my full ability.

This semester, I have worked hard to bring my overall GPA up as well as have the best term GPA to date throughout my four years here at Queen’s. In all my other classes this semester, I got an A or an A+. Having a C+ in this class (KNPE 363) is extremely frustrating, especially given the details I explained above. This mark has brought my overall GPA down as well as my term GPA down significantly, given my other grades. I reached out to the professor of this course, where I explained my situation, and he directed me to Stevenson Fergus, who is the SKHS Undergrad Chair. I then reached out to him, and he provided me with this link to petition my grade given my circumstances.

Now that I have completed my undergraduate degree, I have decided to take a year off. I came to this decision given my mental health conditions, my chronic pain disorder, and recently finding out I will need knee surgery due to a cartilage defect on my posterior weight-bearing medial femoral condyle. However, after this year off, I want to apply to both physiotherapy and medical school. Since I am taking the year off my 4th year, 2nd term grades will contribute to my last 2 years’ GPA for physiotherapy school. Retaking this class or coming back to Queen’s to improve this one mark would be unrealistic for me. I need to start to pay off my debt from my undergraduate, so I am prepared and have no debt going into my master’s. I ultimately feel and believe to this day that if I had the chance to complete the other assignment that was originally intended for this class, and if the final exam was the original percentage, I would not have finished the class with this mark. Overall, the conditions within and throughout my exam as well as the TA strike, ultimately put me in a situation where I was not able to thrive or do my best, resulting in this grade.

I appreciate the time you took in reading my petition and considering changing my grade for KNPE 363 to a CR on my transcript instead of a letter grade. Thank you again!

Best Regards

Meghan Wales