Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 2235
Decision Date: July 4, 2016
Associate Dean: Johanne Benard, Ph.D.
Student Name: Siru Yao
Student Email: 12sy33@queensu.ca
Course: ARAB 200
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2016
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Amira Halabi
Dear Ms. Yao:
I have carefully considered your appeal to receive Credit standing in ARAB 200 (FW 2015/16). 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.
Your appeal letter explains that you had the flu during the exam period and this led you to perform poorly on the final exam and resulted in your low grade. Your letter also makes reference to being tested for ADHD and alludes to this being a possible reason why you performed poorly in ARAB 200. Your instructor confirmed that your academic performance was weak throughout the entire year and noted that you submitted very little homework and your participation in the course was poor. It therefore appears that your low grade was not solely a result of being ill during the final exam. In regards to possibly having ADHD, there is no documentation provided to confirm a diagnosis of ADHD and there is no explanation supplied as to why ARAB 200 in particular was affected by your symptoms more than your other courses taken over the past academic year. Given that you were repeating this course for a second time and you encountered similar difficulties again, you should have dropped this course by the February 26 drop deadline.
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 Ombudsman 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)
10100562Yao
Decision Date: July 4, 2016
Associate Dean: Johanne Benard, Ph.D.
Student Name: Siru Yao
Student Email: 12sy33@queensu.ca
Course: ARAB 200
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2016
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Amira Halabi
Dear Ms. Yao:
I have carefully considered your appeal to receive Credit standing in ARAB 200 (FW 2015/16). 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.
Your appeal letter explains that you had the flu during the exam period and this led you to perform poorly on the final exam and resulted in your low grade. Your letter also makes reference to being tested for ADHD and alludes to this being a possible reason why you performed poorly in ARAB 200. Your instructor confirmed that your academic performance was weak throughout the entire year and noted that you submitted very little homework and your participation in the course was poor. It therefore appears that your low grade was not solely a result of being ill during the final exam. In regards to possibly having ADHD, there is no documentation provided to confirm a diagnosis of ADHD and there is no explanation supplied as to why ARAB 200 in particular was affected by your symptoms more than your other courses taken over the past academic year. Given that you were repeating this course for a second time and you encountered similar difficulties again, you should have dropped this course by the February 26 drop deadline.
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 Ombudsman 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)
10100562Yao
Generated July 4, 2016 at 1:37:33 PM.