Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Associate Dean (Studies),

I am submitting an appeal regarding the grade I received on an assignment in FILM 240 (Media & Culture), taught by Professor Sidneyeve Matrix. I will first provide context regarding the assignment itself, and then elaborate on why I am seeking a reconsideration of my grade.

For the assignment in question, students were tasked with designing four digital postcards, each containing a notable quote from the course readings. The assignment was divided into two sets of two postcards, and we received non-evaluative feedback after our first set. The purpose of this division was for us to improve the quality of our second set of postcards. The assignment also included a questionnaire comprised of three questions, each with a 100-word minimum.

After submitting my first set of postcards, the comments I received were overwhelmingly positive. The only constructive comment I was given was to improve the visibility of my sources (which were embedded into the postcards). Taking this into account, I designed my second set and submitted my assignment. When marks were posted, I received a letter grade of B.

Surprised by this, I contacted Professor Matrix via email on November 2nd to ask if she would review my grade. She quickly responded to tell me that if I wanted to discuss my work in detail, it would be best to meet in person. I agreed, and Professor Matrix found time to meet with me the very next day, something I found quite accommodating.

When I arrived to the meeting and re-explained that I was hoping she could ensure my grade reflected the quality of my work, Professor Matrix immediately responded that she does not change grades. She went on to explain that her course markers assign grades to students and that she confirms their appropriateness prior to posting them on Moodle. She then commented that the markers were extremely tough this semester, and I likely received a C from them before she bumped it to a B. I was frustrated by that base-less comment, as well as her no-review policy, as I understand that it is within a student's right to have their grade reviewed.

I then asked Professor Matrix if we could use the remainder of our meeting time to provide me with concrete feedback on my work, so that I could better understand the grade and improve for future assignments. Professor Matrix agreed, and as we pulled up my assignment, we were making small talk. She asked me what program I was in, and when I responded with Politics, she in turn said Oh, well that must explain your grade on the assignment. I found this to be incredibly offensive. Not only have I taken several FILM courses before, but I also have a great deal of extracurricular experience pertaining to media,marketing and design. Moreover, the comment was highly discouraging as it implied that students can expect to perform poorly in courses outside of their home department.

When my assignment was first pulled up, Professor Matrix immediately - without even looking at each postcard - commented that this is definitely a B. Then, a few minutes later, after reviewing my work in more detail, she asked if she could pause our meeting to post one of my postcards on the course Facebook page. Her reason was that she was very impressed with the quality of my work. After this moment, and as the meeting progressed, it became evident to me that Professor Matrix did not have any concrete feedback to provide me with -- she had sincere difficulty justifying the grade I was given but was steadfast in refusing to review it.

Next, she referred me to the general Film & Media grading rubric, and said that my work simply did not go above and beyond, as A-range grades do. I continued to push for something concrete so I could understand what specifically my work was lacking, but again I did not receive anything.

For several more minutes, I sought to receive concrete feedback. It was then that Professor Matrix suggested my B-grade was likely because I stuck to the 100-word minimum for the questions within the questionnaire. She said that students who earn an A grade will provide fuller responses than the minimum. At this point, I was sure Professor Matrix was not familiar with my work, because I revealed that I had actually written over 1,000 words (with the explicit purpose of going above and beyond). When I said this, Professor Matrix shrugged it off and moved on.

The next reason she gave me was that I did not properly incorporate the feedback I received after my first two postcards. However, as I said earlier, my feedback was overwhelmingly positive and I fully incorporated the comment about my sources. Professor Matrix then said that my sources were not full, and that this was another concern. However, I specifically followed the source formatting of the sample postcards she included on the assignment Moodle page. I also went above and beyond by providing a full MLA citation below my postcards on the Moodle forum. Moreover, I would note that I also emailed Professor Matrix in advance of the assignment's due date to receive feedback one of my postcards, since I had been struggling to choose between two designs I worked on. Her comments at the time were strictly and overwhelmingly positive.

This meeting confirmed, to me, that Professor Matrix could not justify my grade. She did not have a rubric that highlighted why I received the grade I did. Instead, she kept suggesting reasons why my grade might be a B, each of which, as I have shown above, were factually inaccurate.

The meeting ended shortly after this. Before I left, Professor Matrix asked me what year I was in. I told her I was in fifth year and that I was in the process of applying to law schools. After I said this, her tone noticeably changed and she said that she will make a note in her gradebook to identify me as a student who is seeking an A grade. I found this, too, to be troublesome, as I would have hoped that my quality of work alone would demonstrate that I am seeking an A grade.

I recognize that the nature of my concerns are largely anecdotal. However, I am confident that my grade should be reconsidered under the circumstances, as I strongly believe my work was well within the A-range criteria.

Thank you for your consideration,

Adam Grotsky