Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 4796
Decision Date: August 1, 2018
Associate Dean: Johanne Benard, Ph.D.
Student Name: Amanda Ha
Student Email: amxnda.ha@gmail.com
Course: PHYS 117
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2017
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Professor Topper
Dear Ms. Ha:
I have carefully considered your appeal to receive Credit standing in PHYS 117 (FW 2017-18). After reviewing your file I have decided to deny your request.
As you know, Academic Regulation 10.3.2. 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€. Credit standing is only granted in cases where there are well documented and unforeseen extenuating circumstances outside of a student€™s control. 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 his or her control.
Your appeal does describe circumstances that are extenuating in nature, but the documentation you have supplied does not support the impact that those circumstances had on this course in particular. The grade received in PHYS 117 does not appear to be significantly lower compared to other grades on your transcript. Furthermore, as you suggest in your appeal letter, you made a conscious decision to prioritize other classes over PHYS 117. The drop deadline is set at Week 8 to allow students plenty of time to assess their progress in a class and withdraw without any academic penalty if they feel that they cannot keep up with the demands or have the academic background needed to successfully complete it. The appeal system is not designed to allow students to complete courses and later ask to have low grades altered after the fact.
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)
20056737Ha
Decision Date: August 1, 2018
Associate Dean: Johanne Benard, Ph.D.
Student Name: Amanda Ha
Student Email: amxnda.ha@gmail.com
Course: PHYS 117
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2017
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Professor Topper
Dear Ms. Ha:
I have carefully considered your appeal to receive Credit standing in PHYS 117 (FW 2017-18). After reviewing your file I have decided to deny your request.
As you know, Academic Regulation 10.3.2. 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€. Credit standing is only granted in cases where there are well documented and unforeseen extenuating circumstances outside of a student€™s control. 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 his or her control.
Your appeal does describe circumstances that are extenuating in nature, but the documentation you have supplied does not support the impact that those circumstances had on this course in particular. The grade received in PHYS 117 does not appear to be significantly lower compared to other grades on your transcript. Furthermore, as you suggest in your appeal letter, you made a conscious decision to prioritize other classes over PHYS 117. The drop deadline is set at Week 8 to allow students plenty of time to assess their progress in a class and withdraw without any academic penalty if they feel that they cannot keep up with the demands or have the academic background needed to successfully complete it. The appeal system is not designed to allow students to complete courses and later ask to have low grades altered after the fact.
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)
20056737Ha
Generated August 1, 2018 at 11:18:34 AM.