Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 2546
Decision Date: October 3, 2016
Associate Dean: Johanne Benard, Ph.D.
Student Name: Michael Edwards
Student Email: 0mme1@queensu.ca
Course: PHAR 100
Term: Winter
Year: 2016
Category: Request an extension of an incomplete grade
Instructor: Dr. William Racz
Course: PHGY 210
Term: Winter
Year: 2016
Category: Request an extension of an incomplete grade
Instructor: Dr. Christopher Andrew Ward
Course: BCHM 270
Term: Winter
Year: 2016
Category: Request an extension of an incomplete grade
Instructor: Dr. Laura van Staalduinen
Course: MICR 270
Term: Winter
Year: 2016
Category: Request an extension of an incomplete grade
Instructor: Dr. Madhuri Koti
Dear Mr. Edwards:
I have carefully considered your appeal to receive an extension of your incomplete grades in PHAR 100, PHGY 210, BCHM 270 and MICR 270 (W 2016). After reviewing your file I have decided to deny your request.
Your appeal letter states that over the summer you had been unwell and unable to write your exams for these courses, as scheduled. Your instructors granted an extension until August 16 and 17 to write these exams. You then requested a further extension to write your exams in September. Despite the fact that your supplied medical documentation confirms you were in good health, to be consistent and fair I allowed you to defer these exams up to the September 15 deadline, as per Academic Regulation 10 pertaining to deadlines for submitting work for Incomplete (IN) Grades.
You agreed to write your deferred exams on September 13 and 16. On September 11 you contacted the Faculty Office to request a further extension of 2 exams because you had job interviews to prepare for. You were advised of your right to appeal but cautioned that attending job interviews is not considered to be an extenuating circumstance outside of your control and you were further advised to resume preparing to write all of your exams to the best of your ability. On September 12 you advised the Faculty Office that you would not write your exam scheduled for September 13 but you planned to write the remaining three exams. On September 14 you notified the Faculty Office that you would not be writing any of your exams due to your health, caring for your elderly mother and arranging job interviews.
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. While I understand that you have a chronic health condition, there is no documentation to confirm how your health affected your studies during this particular time period. In his letter of May 29, 2016, Dr. Erlick states, €œMr. Edwards was reassured and advised to resume normal activities. His diabetes is well controlled. He had some anxiety over the initial screening test€. Furthermore, as I have explained in previous appeal decisions to you, caring for your elderly mother is not an unforeseen circumstance that is outside of your personal control, but an ongoing family responsibility that you have been managing for some time now. As you know, it is your responsibility to balance your family responsibilities and other obligations with your academic responsibilities and not remain registered in more courses than you can realistically handle. Finally, I understand that arranging and attending job interviews is an important task that would hold a high priority among your responsibilities, but again, this is not a situation that was unforeseen or outside of your personal control. You were well aware of the dates in which you were scheduled to write these exams (to which you agreed upon) when you scheduled your job interviews. All students have demands and responsibilities outside of their studies and it is expected that they assess what workload they can comfortably handle, manage their time carefully by planning ahead and factoring in time to prepare for activities such as writing exams and attending appointments, and make decisions such as dropping courses within the academic deadlines if the workload becomes too heavy. I understand that it has been challenging for you to maintain this balance but out of fairness to all students, I cannot reasonably waive the academic regulations.
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)
03640209Edwards6
Decision Date: October 3, 2016
Associate Dean: Johanne Benard, Ph.D.
Student Name: Michael Edwards
Student Email: 0mme1@queensu.ca
Course: PHAR 100
Term: Winter
Year: 2016
Category: Request an extension of an incomplete grade
Instructor: Dr. William Racz
Course: PHGY 210
Term: Winter
Year: 2016
Category: Request an extension of an incomplete grade
Instructor: Dr. Christopher Andrew Ward
Course: BCHM 270
Term: Winter
Year: 2016
Category: Request an extension of an incomplete grade
Instructor: Dr. Laura van Staalduinen
Course: MICR 270
Term: Winter
Year: 2016
Category: Request an extension of an incomplete grade
Instructor: Dr. Madhuri Koti
Dear Mr. Edwards:
I have carefully considered your appeal to receive an extension of your incomplete grades in PHAR 100, PHGY 210, BCHM 270 and MICR 270 (W 2016). After reviewing your file I have decided to deny your request.
Your appeal letter states that over the summer you had been unwell and unable to write your exams for these courses, as scheduled. Your instructors granted an extension until August 16 and 17 to write these exams. You then requested a further extension to write your exams in September. Despite the fact that your supplied medical documentation confirms you were in good health, to be consistent and fair I allowed you to defer these exams up to the September 15 deadline, as per Academic Regulation 10 pertaining to deadlines for submitting work for Incomplete (IN) Grades.
You agreed to write your deferred exams on September 13 and 16. On September 11 you contacted the Faculty Office to request a further extension of 2 exams because you had job interviews to prepare for. You were advised of your right to appeal but cautioned that attending job interviews is not considered to be an extenuating circumstance outside of your control and you were further advised to resume preparing to write all of your exams to the best of your ability. On September 12 you advised the Faculty Office that you would not write your exam scheduled for September 13 but you planned to write the remaining three exams. On September 14 you notified the Faculty Office that you would not be writing any of your exams due to your health, caring for your elderly mother and arranging job interviews.
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. While I understand that you have a chronic health condition, there is no documentation to confirm how your health affected your studies during this particular time period. In his letter of May 29, 2016, Dr. Erlick states, €œMr. Edwards was reassured and advised to resume normal activities. His diabetes is well controlled. He had some anxiety over the initial screening test€. Furthermore, as I have explained in previous appeal decisions to you, caring for your elderly mother is not an unforeseen circumstance that is outside of your personal control, but an ongoing family responsibility that you have been managing for some time now. As you know, it is your responsibility to balance your family responsibilities and other obligations with your academic responsibilities and not remain registered in more courses than you can realistically handle. Finally, I understand that arranging and attending job interviews is an important task that would hold a high priority among your responsibilities, but again, this is not a situation that was unforeseen or outside of your personal control. You were well aware of the dates in which you were scheduled to write these exams (to which you agreed upon) when you scheduled your job interviews. All students have demands and responsibilities outside of their studies and it is expected that they assess what workload they can comfortably handle, manage their time carefully by planning ahead and factoring in time to prepare for activities such as writing exams and attending appointments, and make decisions such as dropping courses within the academic deadlines if the workload becomes too heavy. I understand that it has been challenging for you to maintain this balance but out of fairness to all students, I cannot reasonably waive the academic regulations.
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)
03640209Edwards6
Generated October 3, 2016 at 9:49:08 AM.