appeal letter

Ben_Dover · Mar 19, 2017

Dear Anonymous,

You really think a faculty member from your university may not be a member of allnurses.com? I "personally" (or professionally) think this isn't the best place to ask for an assistance of "HOW TOs" when you pretty much gave away a whole bunch of information about yourself.

And if they are a member of AN, I think they can pretty much pinpoint who you are right now.

If anything, ask one of the school counselors or nurse mentors?! Hope this helps!

Good luck!

Sincerely,

Ben Dover

Dashia · Mar 19, 2017

thank you for your input

meanmaryjean, DNP, RN · Mar 19, 2017

Objective.

TheCommuter, BSN, RN · Mar 19, 2017

Moved to our Student forum for more feedback.

Esme12, ASN, BSN, RN · Mar 19, 2017

First....find and follow your schools appeal process to the letter. ANY variance will usually result in a denial. There are time limitation that you must adhere to,....ask for an extension if necessary. EXAMPLE: http://academic.son.wisc.edu/studentnet/docs/appeals_grievances.pdf

Having good, sound reasons for appealing are known as having grounds for appeal. Without this, your appeal will be rejected straight away. Some of the most common and accepted grounds for appealing are:

You suffered extenuating circumstances during your course or assessment which
couldn't be prevented
you didn't previously tell the university about
affected your ability to perform as you normally would
[*]There is evidence of a 'material irregularity' (basically an administrative error) during the course or in an assessment. This error should be big enough to create a doubt about whether the institution's decision would have been different if the error hadn't happened in the first place
[*]There was bias, prejudice, or lack of proper assessment by the examiners who marked your work

Here is a great thread here about this very subject: I failed out of nursing ....I appealed and won!

A successful appeal needs to do several things:

Show that you understand what went wrong

Show that you take responsibility for the academic failure

Show that you have a plan for future academic success

Show that you are being honest with yourself and the committee

A step-by-step structure of an appeal letter
Write your name, student number, and contact address.
Date the letter.
Insert automatic page numbering (any word processing software will allow you to insert page numbers).
Write the name and address of the department that handles appeals (and the name of the person who deals with appeals. If no name is known, then simply write "to whom it may concern".
Mention the name and qualification aim of the course you're studying e.g. BSc Biological Sciences.
Introduce yourself to the reader by stating your name and mention why you're writing to them (to appeal a decision).
Begin by writing what decision(s) you're appealing e.g. awarded a lower than expected qualification.
Summarise under what grounds you're making the appeal (see reasons/grounds for appealing).
Explain each reason for your appeal, starting with the most significant e.g. extenuating/mitigating circumstances and including all important dates of when events occurred. Make references to your evidence so that the reader knows what to look at to appreciate the legitimacy of your claim.
Don't jump from one reason to another in the middle of a paragraph.
When explaining your reasons, try to be clear, concise, and convincing.
Limit your reasons for appealing to the most important ones. Right now everything seems important, but claiming for every single reason under the sun could dilute the worthiness of your appeal by making you appear dishonest.
The people (appeals panel) who will be reviewing your appeal will have seen hundreds previous to yours. They will also likely be giving up holiday time to consider student appeals. Making it easy for them to understand your appeal could win you some favour.
After you have finished explaining your reasons, provide a summary of the key points at the end of this section. If one extenuating circumstance is the cause of another, then you can convey this by demonstrating how a 'cause and effect' relationship existed between the circumstances. Don't assume the reader will make the connection themselves.
If you present multiple reasons and explanations for your appeal which appear to be completely disjointed then the reader will get annoyed. You want them to be aware of each reason, and then appreciate how the sum of those reasons affected you. This is because each reason in isolation may not appear worthy of an appeal, but the sum can often be greater than the parts when it comes to extenuating/mitigating circumstances.
Now it's time to write down what you wish the outcome of your appeal to be. That is, what do you want the university or college to do if you're successful?
Do not ask for your mark/grade to be increased. Universities and colleges will rarely do this. Instead ask to retake the year or an exam without any restrictions, or if it's a case of progression then ask to be allowed into the next year of study.
Finally end your letter with a simple "Yours faithfully" line, followed by a gap for your signature, and then finally your full name and student number.
Take a break. Come back after a few hours and read the entire appeal from start to end. Make any alterations or add new information you feel necessary. Remember that once your appeal is submitted you cannot add more information so make sure you've included everything now.
Print the appeal letter, staple multiple sheets together, and sign it accordingly. Place it in an envelope with the correct name and address displayed where you want it to go.
Collect all your evidence and include it separately in the same envelope.
Hand the appeal in person at the relevant office in your institution if possible, and be sure to get something that acknowledges receipt of your appeal. If you cannot hand it in person then make sure you send it by a fast delivery service which requires a signature from the recipient. Without a signature the university or college can deny ever receiving your appeal and you will have nothing to prove otherwise.

writing an appeal