Manage Appeals
Petition Type: New
ID: 6806
Submitted: July 1, 2020 at 12:27:54 AM
First Name: Adam
Last Name: Cockell
Student Number: 20158798
Email: adam.cockell1@gmail.com
Degree Program: BCPH
Plan: SSP
Level of Study: 1
Petition Categories
Petition Categories: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Code: PHYS 117
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2020
Petition Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor's Name: Anne Topper
Petition Letter
Petition Letter: Dr. Jenn Stephenson
Associate Dean (Academic)
Faculty of Arts and Science
Queen¿¿s University
Re: Letter of Academic Appeal
Dear Dean Stephenson,
A. REQUEST
I am appealing to change my final letter grade in PHYS 117 (Full year, 2019-2020) to a Pass (P). If it is not possible to change my letter grade to a P, then I would like to drop the course from my transcript completely.
B. EXPLANATION OF EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES
I understand that the deadline to convert a passing course mark to a P letter grade was 20 May 2020. I realise that this deadline was communicated by email in April. However, due to the closure of campus in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic, I had to return to my home in Quebec in late March. The upheaval and disruption to my routine caused by the need to move, plus the importance of refocusing on my online studies, meant that I missed this important communication. I was aware that there would be an option to take a P letter grade after the final grades were posted but I was not expecting the deadline to be as early as 20 May.
In the case of my PHYS 117 course, I was unsure whether I would want to take a P letter grade until I saw my final mark. However, I did not see my final grade in the course until 25 May. Thus, the date that I saw my final grade in PHYS 117 was 5 days after the deadline to request a P grade. The reason why I did not see my final mark until that date was because I was looking for my final marks for all courses in the SOLUS Student Centre, under the ¿Grades¿¿ section of the ¿Other Academics¿¿ tab. I had received an email from the Faculty on 6 January 2020 with instructions to check for my grades on SOLUS in this manner. As far as I am aware, my final grades were not posted in this location on SOLUS until 25 May. I was also later informed of the extended deadline of 10 June, after I had initially submitted this appeal on 5 June. But the email from the Faculty informing me of this (and also cancelling that appeal submission) was sent to me on 9 June and I did not see it in time to send a request for a P grade by 10 June.
The closure of campus due to Covid-19 also had a significant impact on the weighting of the assignments and tests given over the course of the year in PHYS 117. This course is my first time studying this particular subject (I did not study Physics in high school). I found the material difficult to keep up with, and this was reflected in the lower marks I received in the Fall term. At the beginning of the Winter term I had planned to put extra effort into my PHYS 117 studies to ensure that my overall grade for the course would improve. My lab and quiz marks for the Winter term were significantly improved compared to the Fall term, in fact, and I was more confident that I would do well on the final exam. However, with the closure of campus in March, the final exam for PHYS 117 was replaced by a quiz worth only 10 of my overall grade. This meant that the grades from the Fall term were retroactively given a more weight in the final grade calculation. In my case, this meant I lost the opportunity to raise my overall mark in PHYS 117 with a good performance in the final exam. I realize that this changed approach to the grading of PHYS 117 is nobody¿¿s fault, but I wanted to explain why I wish to request a Pass grade for this course in particular.
C. FUTURE PLAN
I have just changed my degree program from Bachelor of Arts (Honours) to Bachelor of Computing (Honours). My first year GPA as currently shown on SOLUS is a 2.74. If I do not include the final grade that I received in PHYS 117, I calculate my GPA to be a 3.16. PHYS 117 is not a required course for my chosen degree program in Computing.
I am sorry to have to trouble you with this appeal. I understand now that I must be aware at all times of important administrative deadlines. I hope you can understand that the initial weeks after I returned home in March were challenging with regard to keeping track of the changes to courses and deadlines. I am grateful to the university for offering the option of a P letter grade, and I feel that this would be the most appropriate option for me in the case of my PHYS 117 grade. Thank you for considering this appeal.
Kind regards,
Adam Cockell
Student No. 2158798
Associate Dean (Academic)
Faculty of Arts and Science
Queen¿¿s University
Re: Letter of Academic Appeal
Dear Dean Stephenson,
A. REQUEST
I am appealing to change my final letter grade in PHYS 117 (Full year, 2019-2020) to a Pass (P). If it is not possible to change my letter grade to a P, then I would like to drop the course from my transcript completely.
B. EXPLANATION OF EXTENUATING CIRCUMSTANCES
I understand that the deadline to convert a passing course mark to a P letter grade was 20 May 2020. I realise that this deadline was communicated by email in April. However, due to the closure of campus in March due to the Covid-19 pandemic, I had to return to my home in Quebec in late March. The upheaval and disruption to my routine caused by the need to move, plus the importance of refocusing on my online studies, meant that I missed this important communication. I was aware that there would be an option to take a P letter grade after the final grades were posted but I was not expecting the deadline to be as early as 20 May.
In the case of my PHYS 117 course, I was unsure whether I would want to take a P letter grade until I saw my final mark. However, I did not see my final grade in the course until 25 May. Thus, the date that I saw my final grade in PHYS 117 was 5 days after the deadline to request a P grade. The reason why I did not see my final mark until that date was because I was looking for my final marks for all courses in the SOLUS Student Centre, under the ¿Grades¿¿ section of the ¿Other Academics¿¿ tab. I had received an email from the Faculty on 6 January 2020 with instructions to check for my grades on SOLUS in this manner. As far as I am aware, my final grades were not posted in this location on SOLUS until 25 May. I was also later informed of the extended deadline of 10 June, after I had initially submitted this appeal on 5 June. But the email from the Faculty informing me of this (and also cancelling that appeal submission) was sent to me on 9 June and I did not see it in time to send a request for a P grade by 10 June.
The closure of campus due to Covid-19 also had a significant impact on the weighting of the assignments and tests given over the course of the year in PHYS 117. This course is my first time studying this particular subject (I did not study Physics in high school). I found the material difficult to keep up with, and this was reflected in the lower marks I received in the Fall term. At the beginning of the Winter term I had planned to put extra effort into my PHYS 117 studies to ensure that my overall grade for the course would improve. My lab and quiz marks for the Winter term were significantly improved compared to the Fall term, in fact, and I was more confident that I would do well on the final exam. However, with the closure of campus in March, the final exam for PHYS 117 was replaced by a quiz worth only 10 of my overall grade. This meant that the grades from the Fall term were retroactively given a more weight in the final grade calculation. In my case, this meant I lost the opportunity to raise my overall mark in PHYS 117 with a good performance in the final exam. I realize that this changed approach to the grading of PHYS 117 is nobody¿¿s fault, but I wanted to explain why I wish to request a Pass grade for this course in particular.
C. FUTURE PLAN
I have just changed my degree program from Bachelor of Arts (Honours) to Bachelor of Computing (Honours). My first year GPA as currently shown on SOLUS is a 2.74. If I do not include the final grade that I received in PHYS 117, I calculate my GPA to be a 3.16. PHYS 117 is not a required course for my chosen degree program in Computing.
I am sorry to have to trouble you with this appeal. I understand now that I must be aware at all times of important administrative deadlines. I hope you can understand that the initial weeks after I returned home in March were challenging with regard to keeping track of the changes to courses and deadlines. I am grateful to the university for offering the option of a P letter grade, and I feel that this would be the most appropriate option for me in the case of my PHYS 117 grade. Thank you for considering this appeal.
Kind regards,
Adam Cockell
Student No. 2158798
Documentation
Professional Letter Detail: NO DOC
Documentation Detail: NO DOC