Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 2911
Decision Date: January 30, 2017
Associate Dean: Johanne Benard, Ph.D.
Student Name: Leila Oudeh
Student Email: 15lo@queensu.ca
Course: FRENCH 106
Term: Summer
Year: 2016
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Catherine Dhavernas
Dear Ms. Oudeh:
I have carefully considered your appeal to receive Credit standing in FREN 106 (S 2016). 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 understand that your living arrangements between two households over the summer posed a challenge and as you admit, you were well aware of your technological limitations when registering for FREN 106. I also understand that this arrangement became further disruptive from June 1st on, when your living arrangements changed and you remained living with your mother, with no internet access. However, while I acknowledge that your circumstances were certainly difficult, there is no specific explanation provided as to why you did not request any kind of accommodation (in the form of an extension to allow you additional time to find another internet source) or what other measures you took to ensure that you could resume your participation in the course (such as accessing other resources like a public library) or drop the course by the June 24 deadline, given that you could not complete a major component of the course. It appears that despite the obstacles you faced early on in the course, you chose to remain enrolled in it without a clear plan of how you would resolve those obstacles and successfully complete all of the work for the course, not just the quizzes and tests. For this reason, I cannot reasonably change the grade to Credit standing.
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)
10194988Oudeh
Decision Date: January 30, 2017
Associate Dean: Johanne Benard, Ph.D.
Student Name: Leila Oudeh
Student Email: 15lo@queensu.ca
Course: FRENCH 106
Term: Summer
Year: 2016
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Catherine Dhavernas
Dear Ms. Oudeh:
I have carefully considered your appeal to receive Credit standing in FREN 106 (S 2016). 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 understand that your living arrangements between two households over the summer posed a challenge and as you admit, you were well aware of your technological limitations when registering for FREN 106. I also understand that this arrangement became further disruptive from June 1st on, when your living arrangements changed and you remained living with your mother, with no internet access. However, while I acknowledge that your circumstances were certainly difficult, there is no specific explanation provided as to why you did not request any kind of accommodation (in the form of an extension to allow you additional time to find another internet source) or what other measures you took to ensure that you could resume your participation in the course (such as accessing other resources like a public library) or drop the course by the June 24 deadline, given that you could not complete a major component of the course. It appears that despite the obstacles you faced early on in the course, you chose to remain enrolled in it without a clear plan of how you would resolve those obstacles and successfully complete all of the work for the course, not just the quizzes and tests. For this reason, I cannot reasonably change the grade to Credit standing.
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)
10194988Oudeh
Generated January 30, 2017 at 10:19:43 AM.