Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 4540
Decision Date: June 11, 2018
Associate Dean: Johanne Benard, Ph.D.
Student Name: Soheila Azimi
Student Email: 14sa15@queensu.ca
Course: MATH 121
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2016
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Instructor: Alan Ableson
Course: MATH 111
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2015
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Instructor: Peter Taylor
Dear Ms. Azimi:
I have carefully considered your appeal to drop MATH 111 (FW 2014/15) and MATH 121 (FW 2015/16) past the academic deadline. After reviewing your file I have decided to deny your request.
As you know, courses must be dropped on SOLUS within the published deadlines. The Academic Regulations (Appeal of Academic Decisions, IIIb) stress that exceptions to this will only be waived under extenuating 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 circumstances beyond his or her control.
The deadlines for dropping courses have been designed and established in order to provide sufficient time for students to determine their interest in the course material, to consider their ability to handle each course, and to evaluate their overall workload.
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 your appeal does describe some circumstances that are extenuating in nature, the documentation supplied is unfortunately not sufficient. The letter from Dr. Erdelyi confirms that your symptoms were exacerbated in 2015/16 and affected your marks in school but this does not the cover the 2014/15 year when you took MATH 111. It also does not indicate the severity of your symptoms over either of those time periods and it does not explain why only these two courses were impacted by your condition and not the other courses you took during those terms (in which you earned Bs and Bs/Cs). Your transcript shows some indication that you are generally strong in arts-based courses but you find science and math-based courses more challenging. Without further evidence to show that your circumstances were the direct cause of your failure in these classes, I cannot justify altering your transcript.
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)
10153728Azimi
Decision Date: June 11, 2018
Associate Dean: Johanne Benard, Ph.D.
Student Name: Soheila Azimi
Student Email: 14sa15@queensu.ca
Course: MATH 121
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2016
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Instructor: Alan Ableson
Course: MATH 111
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2015
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Instructor: Peter Taylor
Dear Ms. Azimi:
I have carefully considered your appeal to drop MATH 111 (FW 2014/15) and MATH 121 (FW 2015/16) past the academic deadline. After reviewing your file I have decided to deny your request.
As you know, courses must be dropped on SOLUS within the published deadlines. The Academic Regulations (Appeal of Academic Decisions, IIIb) stress that exceptions to this will only be waived under extenuating 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 circumstances beyond his or her control.
The deadlines for dropping courses have been designed and established in order to provide sufficient time for students to determine their interest in the course material, to consider their ability to handle each course, and to evaluate their overall workload.
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 your appeal does describe some circumstances that are extenuating in nature, the documentation supplied is unfortunately not sufficient. The letter from Dr. Erdelyi confirms that your symptoms were exacerbated in 2015/16 and affected your marks in school but this does not the cover the 2014/15 year when you took MATH 111. It also does not indicate the severity of your symptoms over either of those time periods and it does not explain why only these two courses were impacted by your condition and not the other courses you took during those terms (in which you earned Bs and Bs/Cs). Your transcript shows some indication that you are generally strong in arts-based courses but you find science and math-based courses more challenging. Without further evidence to show that your circumstances were the direct cause of your failure in these classes, I cannot justify altering your transcript.
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)
10153728Azimi
Generated June 11, 2018 at 9:09:37 AM.