Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 3925
Decision Date: December 18, 2017
Associate Dean: Jill Atkinson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Marshall Mackoff
Student Email: 0mrm@queensu.ca
Dear Mr. Mackoff:
I have carefully considered your request to have your appeal heard after the one-term timeline for submission. After reviewing your file I have decided to deny your request.
The appeal timeline is in place to give students sufficient time to respond to an academic decision. The one-term timeline offers students time to seek academic counseling, to write up and submit an appeal, and to collect the supporting documents necessary to the appeal. Further, the appeal timeline is in place to ensure that decision making takes place in a timely manner, allowing students to continue in their academic programs without ongoing concern for unresolved matters.
To consider appeals outside these timelines can easily compromise fair decision making. The interested parties and the original contexts within which the matter originated may not be available. Over time, instructors, course content, the norms of evaluating course materials, and program structures may and generally do change. Furthermore, the supporting documents necessary to any appeal may no longer be available or their credibility may more easily come into question. Therefore, the inability to reconstruct accurately the circumstances leading to the original matter under appeal can compromise the decision-making process.
Exceptions to this regulation can only be granted in cases where extenuating circumstances beyond a student's control render the student unable to appeal within the specified timeline. The student must be able to show that the extenuating circumstances were ongoing. The student must also be able to demonstrate that these circumstances prevented the student from acting between the time the original decision was received and the time at which the appeal was eventually initiated. Appeals of the regulation governing the timeline for appeals must be submitted in writing. An appeal of this type should include a presentation of the specific reasons for a delay and should include any document which support the reasons for delay.
Your file indicates that you have successfully appealed courses three times in the past based on the same circumstances presented in your current appeal. This demonstrates that you are well aware of the need to drop courses by the academic deadlines. Your transcript also shows that you have taken many courses since the time of your last appeal and performed quite well in several of them, demonstrating that you were functioning well enough to perform a variety of other academic functions. Lastly, the documentation supplied does not confirm the degree to which you were incapacitated from the time of your last appeal to the present day or explain why you were able to perform well in some courses but not others during the same terms.
The appeals system is not designed as a substitute for the drop deadlines. Students with chronic health issues are expected to monitor their health on a regular basis and make academic decisions to drop within the deadlines accordingly, based on their ability to gauge their symptoms, handle workloads and balance other personal responsibilities. You are also expected to register with Accessibility Services to ensure that you receive any required academic accommodations and consult with your Accessibility Advisor as needed to ensure that your accommodations are appropriate for your needs.
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,
Jill Atkinson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Studies)
06331074Mackoff3
Decision Date: December 18, 2017
Associate Dean: Jill Atkinson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Marshall Mackoff
Student Email: 0mrm@queensu.ca
Dear Mr. Mackoff:
I have carefully considered your request to have your appeal heard after the one-term timeline for submission. After reviewing your file I have decided to deny your request.
The appeal timeline is in place to give students sufficient time to respond to an academic decision. The one-term timeline offers students time to seek academic counseling, to write up and submit an appeal, and to collect the supporting documents necessary to the appeal. Further, the appeal timeline is in place to ensure that decision making takes place in a timely manner, allowing students to continue in their academic programs without ongoing concern for unresolved matters.
To consider appeals outside these timelines can easily compromise fair decision making. The interested parties and the original contexts within which the matter originated may not be available. Over time, instructors, course content, the norms of evaluating course materials, and program structures may and generally do change. Furthermore, the supporting documents necessary to any appeal may no longer be available or their credibility may more easily come into question. Therefore, the inability to reconstruct accurately the circumstances leading to the original matter under appeal can compromise the decision-making process.
Exceptions to this regulation can only be granted in cases where extenuating circumstances beyond a student's control render the student unable to appeal within the specified timeline. The student must be able to show that the extenuating circumstances were ongoing. The student must also be able to demonstrate that these circumstances prevented the student from acting between the time the original decision was received and the time at which the appeal was eventually initiated. Appeals of the regulation governing the timeline for appeals must be submitted in writing. An appeal of this type should include a presentation of the specific reasons for a delay and should include any document which support the reasons for delay.
Your file indicates that you have successfully appealed courses three times in the past based on the same circumstances presented in your current appeal. This demonstrates that you are well aware of the need to drop courses by the academic deadlines. Your transcript also shows that you have taken many courses since the time of your last appeal and performed quite well in several of them, demonstrating that you were functioning well enough to perform a variety of other academic functions. Lastly, the documentation supplied does not confirm the degree to which you were incapacitated from the time of your last appeal to the present day or explain why you were able to perform well in some courses but not others during the same terms.
The appeals system is not designed as a substitute for the drop deadlines. Students with chronic health issues are expected to monitor their health on a regular basis and make academic decisions to drop within the deadlines accordingly, based on their ability to gauge their symptoms, handle workloads and balance other personal responsibilities. You are also expected to register with Accessibility Services to ensure that you receive any required academic accommodations and consult with your Accessibility Advisor as needed to ensure that your accommodations are appropriate for your needs.
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,
Jill Atkinson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Studies)
06331074Mackoff3
Generated December 18, 2017 at 9:28:57 AM.