Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

You are requesting to register in a course past the academic deadline. This petition requires support from the course coordinator/instructor and the Chair of Undergraduate Studies in the department that the course is being offered. If the petition is granted, tuition fees for the course will be charged to your Queen's account.

You are requesting to drop a course past the academic deadline. If this petition is granted, the course will remain on your transcript with a DR notation, meaning “dropped”. Note that any change in academic registration may impact government or private firm student financial assistance and/or funding, including scholarships. Please consult with the Student Awards Office, Office of the University Registrar to understand any potential implications of dropping courses before proceeding.

Students must attempt to seek an informal review before proceeding to this process. Only work that meets the guidelines for a formal review will be accepted. See https://webapp.queensu.ca/artsci/appeals/ for more information.

Your letter must clearly outline grounds for Review (any of these may apply):

• You must explain what part of the course syllabus, the assignment and/or the review process the instructor did not follow correctly or in good faith.
• You must specifically show where there was bias, error, discrepancy in marking.
• You must explain where procedural or relational fairness were not followed by the instructor/marker.
• You must explain why the instructor's decision is not reasonable (for example, no explanation of the grading/where you lost marks was provided, the decision is not grounded in logic).
• The instructor is not willing to conduct an informal review (student has requested within the deadline). Note! Instructors are not obligated to offer or agree to a one-on-one meeting. An informal review may take different forms such as providing additional feedback in writing via email, a group review session, a class-wide email addressing grading, etc.

You are requesting Aegrotat (AG) standing in a course. Aegrotat estimated standing in a course is reserved for situations in which a student, who has completed and passed at least 60 per cent of the work for a course, but because of illness or other extenuating circumstances beyond their control, is unable to complete all the work of the course (see Academic Regulation 6). Aegrotat grades will be included in the student's GPA and can be used as credit earned towards a degree program. If the petition is granted, the estimated letter grade will appear on your transcript together with a note reading “Aegrotat: Estimated Grade.” This petition requires written support of the course instructor. The Faculty Office will seek this information on your behalf. No details of the extenuating circumstances are released to the instructor.

Students may be granted aegrotat and/or credit standing for a maximum of 36.0 units during their entire program.

Students who cannot write their exam as scheduled may submit a request for academic consideration and ask the course instructor for an exam deferral. The instructor may agree to a deferral for up to one full term after the completion of a class. If the student is unable to write the deferred exam at the scheduled time due to the same or different extenuating circumstances, any further request for an additional exam deferral must be made through a petition to the Associate Dean (Academic).

The instructor will be consulted for their agreement to a further deferral and confirmation of the new exam timeframe must also be included. If the instructor cannot support an extension of an exam deferral, the student may be encouraged to consider other petition options instead.

A petition for an exam deferral must be submitted prior to the scheduled time of the deferred exam.

An instructor may assign a student an incomplete grade (IN) if they are unable to complete a course as scheduled, due to extenuating circumstances. IN grades are set to expire at the end of the following term in which the course was offered (for example, if a student receives an IN grade for a course that took place in the fall term, that IN grade would expire at the end of the following winter term). If a replacement grade is not entered prior to the IN expiry date, the IN notation will revert to an F. However, if a student has extenuating circumstances that are preventing him or her from completing the outstanding work, exam, etc. within this time frame, they may petition for an extension of the incomplete grade. This petition requires written support of the instructor and must contain a detailed academic plan outlining the timeline and plan for completion of the outstanding work. If this petition is granted, the final grade is changed back to IN and the expiry date is reset to a date agreed upon by the student, instructor and Associate Dean (Academic).

You are requesting Credit (CR) standing in a course. Credit standing (CR) in a course is reserved for situations in which a student, who has completed and passed all of the work of the course, including the final examination, but because of illness or other extenuating circumstances beyond their control, earned a substantially lower grade than might have been expected, normally a grade of C or lower (see Academic Regulation 6). If this petition is granted, the low grade will be removed from the transcript and replaced with CR. A course with a CR notation will not be included in the student's GPA but can be used as credit earned towards a Degree Program.

For the purposes of determining prerequisite requirements, a CR grade shall be considered equivalent to a C-. Students who wish to use a course in which they have credit standing as a prerequisite for registering in a further class may need to submit their petition to the instructor of the class if the prerequisite requirement includes a grade higher than C. The instructor has the authority to waive this prerequisite at their discretion. Use of a course with credit standing for admission to a Plan shall be at the discretion of the department.

This petition requires written support of the course instructor. The Faculty Office will seek this information on your behalf. No details of the extenuating circumstances are released to the instructor. Students may be granted aegrotat and/or credit standing for a maximum of 36.0 units during their entire program.

You were Required to Withdraw for a Minimum of Three Years and the three years has now lapsed. You would like to return to studies now. This petition requires a detailed academic plan. What is an academic plan? If this petition is granted, the required to withdraw ruling will appear on the transcript as “Required to Withdraw for a Minimum of Three Years, Waived”. If the requirement to withdraw is waived, the Associate Dean (Academic) may impose special conditions, such as changing a student's registration status to part-time studies or the student may be required to seek permission from the Associate Dean (Academic) in order to register. If a requirement to withdraw is waived, you will remain on academic probation.

Students in good academic standing may request to take more than 6.0 units at another institution on a letter of permission. The petition should directly address how taking courses at another school is necessary due to unexpected extenuating circumstances OR how the courses present an exceptional academic opportunity not available at Queen's. The petition should also outline how the specific courses will fulfill your degree requirements (i.e., electives or required courses) and provide the reasons why you cannot fulfill these requirements within the Faculty of Arts and Science at Queen's. If your petition is granted, you must obtain a Letter of Permission prior to enrolling in courses at another university (see Academic Regulation 14.1). Note that no other part of Academic Regulation 14.1 may be petitioned.

You have received notification from the Faculty Office that you have been Required to Withdraw for a Minimum of Three Years and you are requesting to waive this ruling due to extenuating circumstances. In addition to the regular petition requirements, this petition also requires a detailed academic plan. What is an academic plan? If this petition is granted, the required to withdraw ruling will appear on the transcript as “Required to Withdraw for a Minimum of Three Years, Waived”. If the requirement to withdraw is waived, the Associate Dean (Academic) may impose special conditions, such as changing a student's registration status to part-time studies or the student may be required to seek permission from the Associate Dean (Academic) in order to register. If a requirement to withdraw is waived, you will remain on academic probation.

You have received notification from the Faculty Office that you have been Required to Withdraw for One Year and you are requesting to waive this ruling due to extenuating circumstances. In addition to the regular petition requirements, this petition also requires a detailed academic plan. What is an academic plan?. If this petition is granted, the required to withdraw ruling will appear on the transcript as “Required to Withdraw for One Year, Waived”. If the requirement to withdraw is waived, the Associate Dean (Academic) may impose special conditions, such as changing a student's registration status to part-time studies or the student may be required to seek permission from the Associate Dean (Academic) in order to register. If a requirement to withdraw is waived, you will remain on academic probation.