Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 13876
Submitted: January 14, 2026 at 7:54:58 PM
First Name: Jayin
Last Name: Hindocha
Pronoun: he/him
Student Number: 20508608
Email: jayin.hindocha@queensu.ca
Degree Program: BHSc
Plan: Health Sciences
Level of Study: 1
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Request a review of instructors' decisions on grading of final examination and/or term work
Code: IDIS 173
Term: Fall
Year: 2025
Petition Category: Request a review of instructors' decisions on grading of final examination and/or term work
Instructor's Name: Jeremy Butler
Section/Class Number: 003
Component: Assignment
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: To whom this may concern,
I am writing to formally request a review of the grade assigned to my Short Written Assignment #1 in IDIS 173. I am submitting this appeal after an unsuccessful attempt to obtain an informal review.
I would like to acknowledge at the outset that this request is being made later than I would have preferred, as I did not realize that I had received a grade of zero on this assignment until I viewed my final letter grade on SOLUS. Below, I outline a detailed timeline of events relevant to my request.
The assignment was due on September 29, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. Although I had completed the assignment in advance of the deadline and believed that I had successfully submitted it, I later discovered that it had not been uploaded. Upon realizing this error on October 10, 2025, ten weekdays after the deadline, I immediately emailed the course inbox explaining the situation and requesting consideration.
On October 11, 2025 at 5:27 p.m., I received a response from the Head TA indicating that while consideration could not be granted due to the late submission, my assignment could still be graded, subject to applicable late penalties. Screenshots of this correspondence are attached.
The assignment instructions and course discussion posts specify the following late policy:
“Any assignment submitted after the posted assignment deadline will be considered late. Late assignments will be subject to a grade deduction of 2% for every weekday late (excluding statutory holidays). There may be significant delays in returning grades for late assignments, and late assignments may receive little or no written feedback.”
I note that the course syllabus itself does not outline a late submission policy; however, I have attached a PDF of the assignment instructions and screenshots of discussion posts reiterating this policy.
On November 19, 2025, I followed up with the Head TA after noticing that my assignment had still not been graded. I was informed that my assignment may not have been available for marking when the TA completed assessments and was advised to contact my TA directly. I subsequently emailed my TA on November 21, and followed up again on December 1 after not receiving a response.
Later that day, my TA replied requesting confirmation of my enrollment section and whether I had late submission accommodations. I responded confirming that I did not have late accommodations and fully acknowledged my error in submitting the assignment late. This was my final correspondence with the teaching team.
In mid-December, I noticed that the assignment status on OnQ changed from “closed” to “opened,” which led me to believe that my submission was being reviewed. As no grade appeared on OnQ, I assumed it may have been hidden but still incorporated into my final grade, similar to exam grading practices. However, upon viewing my final grade on SOLUS (B+), I realized that the assignment must have been assigned a grade of zero.
Based on the weighting of Short Written Assignment #1, in order for my final course grade to be a B+, my mark on this assignment would have needed to fall within the range of 0% to 13%. This further supports my understanding that the assignment was not graded and instead received a mark of zero.
I then emailed the course instructor on January 9, 2026, requesting an informal review of this decision, and I am currently awaiting a response. Screenshots of all correspondence are attached.
Given that I was explicitly informed that my assignment would be graded despite being late, and considering the stated late policy of a 2% deduction per weekday late (resulting in a 20% penalty), I respectfully request a formal review of this grading decision and ask that my assignment receive a grade reflecting the applicable late penalties.
I fully accept responsibility for my late submission and acknowledge that grade deductions are warranted. My request is solely that the assignment be graded in accordance with the communicated policy.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Jayin Hindocha
Student Number: 20508608
I am writing to formally request a review of the grade assigned to my Short Written Assignment #1 in IDIS 173. I am submitting this appeal after an unsuccessful attempt to obtain an informal review.
I would like to acknowledge at the outset that this request is being made later than I would have preferred, as I did not realize that I had received a grade of zero on this assignment until I viewed my final letter grade on SOLUS. Below, I outline a detailed timeline of events relevant to my request.
The assignment was due on September 29, 2025, at 11:59 p.m. Although I had completed the assignment in advance of the deadline and believed that I had successfully submitted it, I later discovered that it had not been uploaded. Upon realizing this error on October 10, 2025, ten weekdays after the deadline, I immediately emailed the course inbox explaining the situation and requesting consideration.
On October 11, 2025 at 5:27 p.m., I received a response from the Head TA indicating that while consideration could not be granted due to the late submission, my assignment could still be graded, subject to applicable late penalties. Screenshots of this correspondence are attached.
The assignment instructions and course discussion posts specify the following late policy:
“Any assignment submitted after the posted assignment deadline will be considered late. Late assignments will be subject to a grade deduction of 2% for every weekday late (excluding statutory holidays). There may be significant delays in returning grades for late assignments, and late assignments may receive little or no written feedback.”
I note that the course syllabus itself does not outline a late submission policy; however, I have attached a PDF of the assignment instructions and screenshots of discussion posts reiterating this policy.
On November 19, 2025, I followed up with the Head TA after noticing that my assignment had still not been graded. I was informed that my assignment may not have been available for marking when the TA completed assessments and was advised to contact my TA directly. I subsequently emailed my TA on November 21, and followed up again on December 1 after not receiving a response.
Later that day, my TA replied requesting confirmation of my enrollment section and whether I had late submission accommodations. I responded confirming that I did not have late accommodations and fully acknowledged my error in submitting the assignment late. This was my final correspondence with the teaching team.
In mid-December, I noticed that the assignment status on OnQ changed from “closed” to “opened,” which led me to believe that my submission was being reviewed. As no grade appeared on OnQ, I assumed it may have been hidden but still incorporated into my final grade, similar to exam grading practices. However, upon viewing my final grade on SOLUS (B+), I realized that the assignment must have been assigned a grade of zero.
Based on the weighting of Short Written Assignment #1, in order for my final course grade to be a B+, my mark on this assignment would have needed to fall within the range of 0% to 13%. This further supports my understanding that the assignment was not graded and instead received a mark of zero.
I then emailed the course instructor on January 9, 2026, requesting an informal review of this decision, and I am currently awaiting a response. Screenshots of all correspondence are attached.
Given that I was explicitly informed that my assignment would be graded despite being late, and considering the stated late policy of a 2% deduction per weekday late (resulting in a 20% penalty), I respectfully request a formal review of this grading decision and ask that my assignment receive a grade reflecting the applicable late penalties.
I fully accept responsibility for my late submission and acknowledge that grade deductions are warranted. My request is solely that the assignment be graded in accordance with the communicated policy.
Thank you for your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Jayin Hindocha
Student Number: 20508608
Documentation
Professional Letter Detail: NO DOC
Document: Correspondence with Head TA.pdf
Document: Correspondence with Assignment TA.pdf
Document: Informal Review-0.pdf