Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 2022
Decision Date: April 14, 2016
Associate Dean: Johanne Benard, Ph.D.
Student Name: Hassan Aljohani
Student Email: 13ha12@queensu.ca
Course: PHYS 117
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2014
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: A. K. Topper
Dear Mr. Aljohani:
I have carefully considered your appeal to receive Credit standing in PHYS 117 (FW 2014/15). After reviewing your file I have decided to deny your request.
As you know, Academic Regulation 10.2.2. states that, Credit standing 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€. The Calendar goes on to stress that Credit standing will only be granted under exceptional circumstances. The integrity of Arts and Science transcripts in general would be greatly diminished if the Faculty were to effect changes to students€™ records without clear and compelling documentation indicating that the student€™s performance was significantly compromised by extenuating circumstances beyond her control.
Extenuating circumstances normally involve a significant physical or psychological event that is beyond your control and debilitating to your overall academic performance. Additionally, these kinds of extraordinary situations are normally supported by documentation from a professional.
I would like to point out that you did the right thing by seeking help from the Faculty Office and following up on the recommendation to meet with Dr. Khanna to provide you with some short term counselling and accommodations and register in the Peer Mentoring Program. I also understand that despite this help you received, you still found PHYS 117 to be a challenge. However, the appeal system is not intended to compensate for variations in different components of a course. Students are expected to gauge their progress in courses and make decisions to drop within the academic deadlines. As PHYS 117 was a full year course (24 weeks total), you had by the end of week 20 to assess your performance and determine whether or not you should continue your registration in this course. There are no documented extenuating circumstances presented in your appeal to explain why you were unable to meet this deadline and for this reason, I am not convinced that your D grade was the result of any circumstances beyond your personal control.
If you wish to appeal the Associate Dean€™s decision to the Board of Studies, you must submit an appeal to the Board of Studies within 21 days of the date this decision was sent. Guidelines for appealing to the Board of Studies and the appeal form can be found at: http://www.queensu.ca/artsci/students-at-queens/academic-appeals (click on €œBoard of Studies€) Do not use the on-line application for this process. You may contact Mr. Harry Smith, Office of the Ombudsperson for advice on matters of procedure and on obtaining a representative. His office is located in room 421 Robert Sutherland Hall and he can be reached by phone (533-6495) or e-mail (ombuds@queensu.ca).
Sincerely,
Johanne Bénard, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Studies)
10118893Aljohani3
Decision Date: April 14, 2016
Associate Dean: Johanne Benard, Ph.D.
Student Name: Hassan Aljohani
Student Email: 13ha12@queensu.ca
Course: PHYS 117
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2014
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: A. K. Topper
Dear Mr. Aljohani:
I have carefully considered your appeal to receive Credit standing in PHYS 117 (FW 2014/15). After reviewing your file I have decided to deny your request.
As you know, Academic Regulation 10.2.2. states that, Credit standing 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€. The Calendar goes on to stress that Credit standing will only be granted under exceptional circumstances. The integrity of Arts and Science transcripts in general would be greatly diminished if the Faculty were to effect changes to students€™ records without clear and compelling documentation indicating that the student€™s performance was significantly compromised by extenuating circumstances beyond her control.
Extenuating circumstances normally involve a significant physical or psychological event that is beyond your control and debilitating to your overall academic performance. Additionally, these kinds of extraordinary situations are normally supported by documentation from a professional.
I would like to point out that you did the right thing by seeking help from the Faculty Office and following up on the recommendation to meet with Dr. Khanna to provide you with some short term counselling and accommodations and register in the Peer Mentoring Program. I also understand that despite this help you received, you still found PHYS 117 to be a challenge. However, the appeal system is not intended to compensate for variations in different components of a course. Students are expected to gauge their progress in courses and make decisions to drop within the academic deadlines. As PHYS 117 was a full year course (24 weeks total), you had by the end of week 20 to assess your performance and determine whether or not you should continue your registration in this course. There are no documented extenuating circumstances presented in your appeal to explain why you were unable to meet this deadline and for this reason, I am not convinced that your D grade was the result of any circumstances beyond your personal control.
If you wish to appeal the Associate Dean€™s decision to the Board of Studies, you must submit an appeal to the Board of Studies within 21 days of the date this decision was sent. Guidelines for appealing to the Board of Studies and the appeal form can be found at: http://www.queensu.ca/artsci/students-at-queens/academic-appeals (click on €œBoard of Studies€) Do not use the on-line application for this process. You may contact Mr. Harry Smith, Office of the Ombudsperson for advice on matters of procedure and on obtaining a representative. His office is located in room 421 Robert Sutherland Hall and he can be reached by phone (533-6495) or e-mail (ombuds@queensu.ca).
Sincerely,
Johanne Bénard, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Studies)
10118893Aljohani3
Generated April 14, 2016 at 2:02:37 PM.