Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: Dear respected Dean,

I am writing to you today to appeal the midterm exam for Psych 100 course, which was scheduled on June 21st 2022 through Examity online - with live proctoring.

I had great difficulty to do my exam due to connection issues from the proctor's side, right from the onset of the exam, the Examity proctor had connectivity problems and we spent more than half an hour trying to find solutions, failing which the proctor requested connection through a Zoom session and sent me a link. The proctor promised that I will be compensated for the lost time.

This was my first experience of doing an exam on Examity, hence, I made sure to test the platform beforehand as per instructions provided, and also completed the practice exam a couple of days before the exam. However, on the exam day it was a complete different reality. I was not sure if doing the exam through a Zoom session would disqualify my exam but I followed the proctor's instructions and also gave her remote access to my computer for troubleshooting.

Closer to the end of the original exam time, the proctor (who was unresponsive most of the session - even when I tried asking questions) suddenly started rushing me and said the extra time promised earlier cannot be granted as she has no control. Of course, with exam pressure there is already a high level of stress and with such prolonged connectivity issues and using a different platform only added to my stress and anxiety and deprived me of the concentration and focus I needed to tackle my exam. I spent valuable exam time just trying troubleshoot and yet focus to answer the exam questions appropriately.

Immediately after my exam, I emailed Professor Hall informing him of my terrible experience requesting an investigation into this and asking him if my exam on a different platform was considered qualified. I was advised to file an appeal instead. Please find the text of the email below (this can be verified with Prof. Hall)

I will highly appreciate it if you would accept my appeal, since all these circumstances were beyond my control and I was misled about the time by the proctor, and grant me a retake for the midterm exam.

Thank you and Best regards,


From: Dilawar Unnisa

Email Transcripts:

Sent: Tuesday, June 21, 2022 9:40 PM
To: PSYC 100 psyc100@queensu.ca
Subject: Midterm with examity

Hello Professor Hall,

My midterm exam was scheduled today for 6pm to 9pm. I logged in 30 mins early to set everything up, however, the Examity site did not connect and when it did it would lose connection immediately to my chrome browser, and my session kept disconnecting (only from their end) - although on my end it was showing as connected and my screen was being recorded - I got a pop up indicating the proctor has paused the exam. Through the chat, the proctor then sent me a link for a zoom session, and she tried my other browser Microsoft Edge, for which I had to go get passwords and sign in, all in all 30 mins were wasted just trying to connect to the proctor, I began my exam at 6:30pm.

Since I lost 30 mins of exam time, I requested the proctor that I am entitled to 3 hours to do my exam, and the problem was not from my end. She promised me that the time slot will be taken care of, and I reiterated that I would end my exam at 9:30pm, and the proctor agreed to this. However during the exam I lost power 2 times but was able to get back on within a few minutes (10 mins in total) (some power line work around my building)

When the original exam time limit was approaching the proctor told me to hurry up, as the time cannot be increased - which is so unfair Although I was able to answer all the questions, I was completely rushed, and I could not go back to revise my answers.

This is the very first time I am taking an exam through Examity and I was promised my full time which was not given. These were circumstances outside of my control, and I should not have been penalized for this. My whole exam session was conducted through zoom as the Examity site was not working

I am very stressed, and I'm not feeling confident that I did my best at the exam.

There are no guidelines given by the university in cases of connectivity issues although I contacted the IT services when the proctor was not responding via chat and I was not allowed to resume the exam without her (obviously). I would like to have this investigated because it does not seem to be very professional and I'm paying for the proctor service

I don't know what can be done about this situation, whether I will be allowed to redo the exam or not. I will appreciate if you could advise me.

Thank you and best regards,
Rubie Dilawar Unnisa

PSYC 100 Coordinator Psychology
Hi Rubie,

Thanks for reaching out, I am sorry to hear about your issues with Examity.

We will certainly look into this and be in touch once we have more information.


Kind Regards,


Jenalee Dymond, B.Ed, B.A.H.

PSYC 100 Program Associate

Department of Psychology

Queen??s University


Hi Rubie,


Thank you for your patience as we determined the appropriate action to take in your situation.


As you have completed the exam, you will need to submit an appeal to the Associate Dean, at this link: https://www.queensu.ca/artsci/undergrad-students/student-services/academic-appeals

Kind Regards,


Jenalee Dymond, B.Ed, B.A.H.

PSYC 100 Program Associate

Department of Psychology

Queen??s University