Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom this may concern,

My name is Caleb Masters, I¿¿m a second year Philosophy student engaged in Professor Gordon-Solmon¿¿s PHIL 247 course in the Winter-2019 academic term. This course has a final assignment, worth 50 of the total grade, which was due on the 9th of April with an automatic extension to the 16th of April. As I had an exam on the 13th, I chose to take said extension and completed the assignment in question for the due date. However, when I attempted to submit my assignment at around 5:20pm, I encountered an unexpected problem, the submission box had closed three hours earlier at 2:30pm.

At 5:25pm I emailed my professor in an attempt to rectify the situation, however at 5:32 she replied by email saying that she would not allow for any changes to the deadline. This is the decision which I wish to appeal. (For reference I have these emails and can submit them for review.)

I will be the first to admit that I made a mistake, that being I mistook the submission time for this assignment to be later in the evening. While this may seem to be ridiculous at first glance, please allow me to argue my case. There are three parts to what I will argue, those being my misunderstanding of precedent, the lack of a hand in time on the assignment itself, and my good academic standing.

To begin, regarding precedent, all of my other courses in the Philosophy department have had assignment hand in times late evening. 6pm for PHIL 275, 11:59pm for PHIL 257, and 11:30 for PHIL 250. My assumption was that the precedent for assignment hand in times was to place them later in the evening so that students can make any final edits after their classes. This is an assumption I swear I will never make so haphazardly again.

On the second part, regarding the assignment itself, there was no indication of time on the digital copy of the assignment sheet. The assignment did contain the due date, however, but did not bear any time. Thus, while I frequently referenced the sheet, I did not consult the syllabus as it did not contain any information I felt would help in my essay. This is another mistake for which I apologize and will not make again.

Finally, I would like to appeal to my good academic standing, not just within the course, but within the university as a whole. My attendance and participation for all courses I am enrolled in is no less than above average. If one was to inquire regarding this to any of my professors, including Professor Gordon-Solmon, I am more than certain they would reflect this fact. Furthermore, a mistake of this nature is not the standard for me. I am always on time with my assignments and, should I feel I cannot make a due date, I will ask far in advance for any extensions necessary. I do understand the intent behind strict deadlines, they teach a modicum of responsibility and ensure that no student attempts to abuse a professor¿¿s good nature by requesting an extension on the due date itself. However, this is not the sort of student, or even the sort of person I am. I¿¿m not certain if this last section has been entirely relevant, but I do genuinely feel it should be considered when evaluating my appeal.

In conclusion, I would like to say that I am genuinely sorry for my negligence. As a result, I am not asking for full forgiveness on this assignment, such a request would be ridiculous. All I want is credit for its completion so that I do not fail the course. Perhaps 50, assuming my work is at least worth that. Regardless, for the reasons stated above, I would like to formally appeal the decision made by Professor Kerah Gordon-Solmon to entirely deny my submission of the final assignment for PHIL 247. I am willing to accept some sort of remedial punishment; I simply ask that my grade reflect to some degree the effort I have put in to receive it.

Sincerely,

Caleb Edward Masters
Student : 20072847