Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear Academic Appeal Committee,

I am aware that my appeal is coming 21 days after I received the grade for the assignment in question, but I must inform you that this is because the person who graded my assignment, TA Lisa Bas, did not respond to my emails to meet with her for feedback for 8 weeks. After following up with the Professor, Dr. Jillian O'Connor, who responded a few days after I emailed her, she answered that I should try emailing Lisa again, but when I did not hear back for 4 days, I emailed Professor O'Connor who told me I could meet with her instead, then followed up with an email saying Lisa was now available again to meet. Because of these circumstances, along with the fact that this 21-day period is not advertised on any of my class documents, and my Professor telling me she did not recommend me doing so, I have been delayed in creating an appeal. For this I apologize.

I received a mark that was not evaluated fully, in Assignment One of the class, PSYC 241. In the assignment's grading category for Situational explanations of own behavior there were no points awarded, but there was a sufficient answer provided of Two situational factors that can explain my behavior are the fact that I was preserving myself, I did not want to regret not sticking up for myself, so I did not want to overextend myself and run the risk of upsetting myself later. Another other situational factor that can explain my behavior is the fact that it was my birthday, if it was a simple get together, I was having where it wasn??t as important, I would not have reacted the way I did. These were all close friends of mine who I invited, so it was disappointing to see someone I care about bail at the last minute. This is only one of the categories in which an insufficient grade was given for a specifically articulated answer, but is the one that sticks out as clearly undeserved. Additionally, after meeting with Lisa, I found her evaluation style to be subjective and without sufficient evidence for why I got the grade I did. In an email from her, she says, and I quote I wanted to follow up on our previous conversation with regard to the 'situational explanation of own behaviour' section. The reason why you got 0 points has already been mentioned in my comment (see document). A valid dispositional explanation of your behaviour could have been that you are sensitive and struggle with confronting difficult situations which leads to you not texting back. This answer is insufficient and does not directly explain why I got the grade I did.

provide relevant documentation to support the appeal (i.e. class notes, etc.).
In a grade received by a peer of mine, Leora Fluxgold, who has allowed me to use her documents in my appeal, there is not much variation between the answers she gives and mine. For the same grading section of the assignment, Situational explanations of own behavior, Leora said, In the second event, there are different situational explanations for my behavior. One of the requirements of Yom Kippur is too fast. Therefore, me and my friend were busy preparing a meal to eat before the holiday began. Thus, I did not have time to pick up my mother??s phone call. Another situational factor is that my mother called me when I was in a common area. I like to take phone calls privately to talk about more personal and private matters with my close family and friends. For this she was awarded 7.5/10 points. Leora had a different grader.

I appreciate your time and consideration.
Sincerely,
Kate Hamilton

Petition Letter: This past spring, I realized I was struggling academically for reasons out of my control. The overwhelming nature of this realization was striking and made me question all that I was capable of. This led me to search for help externally, because I needed more help than I could give myself. Based on what I knew from my own research and observing my brother who has similar issues, I figured out that I most likely had ADHD. I asked for help, and was able to get ADHD testing this past summer, which led to great personal and academic realizations. I now have a greater understanding of myself and am better able to reach out for help, which was previously not something I exercised often. In fact, this sector of personal development has been the most rewarding and self-gratifying experience. I am now able to better voice my needs and advocate for learning plans that more directly align with my style of education. Which is why I am applying for an academic appeal, as I was not aware that I had these issues before this summer.
I am aiming to drop the summer course on my transcript, which was a 12-week course. I had done so on my end in early July, and on my end it showed up as dropped, but apparently it was not, as I realized when I came back to school this fall. This is incredibly disheartening, as this class that I thought I dropped and was clear from my mind, is now still on my conscience, even though on my end it was finished with. I have had a lot of trouble with academic appeals in the past, in not receiving a response quickly enough, so deadlines passed. So I hope this effort does not meet that same end as this grade on my transcript looks very dismal, and I would very much not like to have any other future institutions see it, as I believe it does not reflect my academic standing.