Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Petition Letter: To whom it may concern,

I would like to request a reconsideration of my grade for PHIL 301 for the fall 2022 semester. I never received adequate feedback or advice from Kerah or the TAs on any of the writing assignments, nor did I receive a letter grade on any of the assignments in OnQ - I had no way of tracking my progress or gaining an understanding as to what was deemed as wrong in my work. I was left in the dark and then failed to my own surprise. I should not be given a failing grade if neither Kerah nor the TAs were able to provide a grade on the OnQ website or give clarification as to what was wrong with my writing assignments.

I should also note that during the Fall 2022 semester, I experienced psychosis and was away from my studies for several weeks. During this time, I was required to submit Essay 2, to which I submitted a shorter version than the required amount of pages. Feedback was given on this essay, but was incredibly vague and insincere (for instance, more than one of the comments reads simply this is wrong without reasoning as to why my argument might be incorrect). I sent an inquiry to my TAs regarding the feedback, asking for clarification on what was wrong but received no response. Essays 1 and 3 also received no feedback, and all three essays received no letter or numeric grade on OnQ throughout the duration of the course. I have reached out to Kerah regarding my grades, and she has kindly agreed to undertake any re-evaluations of these Essays. However, I would also appreciate it if another senior member of the philosophy department reviewed my work as well.

I was shocked to receive a failing grade in this course, considering the amount of time and effort I spent on these essays. I am in moderate academic standing at the university, considering I have been struggling with bipolar disorder since Early 2021 (I can provide documentation of this upon request). I have never received a failing grade, and I feel that all things considered such a grade does not accurately reflect my academic effort, nor do I wish such a mark to fall permanently on my record. I hope for your graceful consideration.

Best Regards,
Noah