Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 587
Decision Date: January 5, 2015
Associate Dean: J. Hugh Horton, Ph.D.
Student Name: Syed Shaan-e-Ali Mehdi
Student Email: 11ssem@queensu.ca
Course: POLS 396
Term: Fall
Year: 2014
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Mr. Syed Shaan-e-Ali Mehdi
11ssem@queensu.ca
Dear Mr. Mehdi:
I have carefully considered your appeal to drop POLS 396 (F 2014) 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 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 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.
In reviewing your appeal, I have consulted with the University Chaplain, who has in turn consulted with members of the Shia community in Kingston and Toronto. I have been informed that: €œOnly the tenth day (Day of Ashoura) is regarded as a day when a person should not perform any work (i.e. work, school, etc.) except if there are extenuating circumstances (i.e. their or someone else€™s life or livelihood is at risk, etc.) The ten nights leading up to the Day of Ashoura are very important and a person is highly encouraged to attend the religious nightly observance. However, a person is not obligated to attend these ten nights, particularly if they have important duties (i.e. assignments, work, etc.). In summary, the ten nights leading up to the Day of Ashoura are extremely important but attendance is not obligatory. The Day of Ashoura, on the other hand, is one of the most holy days in our belief and all work should be left on that day except for in extreme extenuating circumstances.€
In 2014, the 10th Day of Muharram (the Day of Ashoura) in fact took place on Monday, November 3, not October 31, as claimed in your appeal. In accordance with the information I have received from the Chaplain, it would certainly therefore be reasonable for you to be away from the University and not participating in academic matters at all on that Monday, since you had to travel to and from Toronto, on the weekend before and upon the following Tuesday (the 4th). However, you claim in your letter that your assignment in POLS 396 was due on November 13, giving you some nine days following your observance in which to prepare the assignment. This seems a reasonable period of time to complete the assignment. Furthermore, your statement that you had to travel to Toronto and be in Toronto during the first two weeks of November is inconsistent with what I have been informed of above regarding the religious observances surrounding Muharram and the Day of Ashoura: it is the nine days leading up to the Day of Ashoura which require a level of observance, not the time period afterwards. This year, the first nine days of Muharram would have occurred on October 25 to November 2, well before the time you claim you had to be with your family in Toronto. If anything, one would have expected you to be in Toronto during the last week of October, and not the first two weeks of November and even then, able to discharge at least some of your academic obligations during much of that time. Therefore, I believe that you could reasonably plan for, and complete your academic obligations in POLS 396 within the time available to you.
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 Ombudsperson for advice on matters of procedure and on obtaining a representative. His office is located in room 237 Robert Sutherland Hall and he can be reached by phone (533-6495) or e-mail (ombuds@queensu.ca).
Sincerely,
J. Hugh Horton, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Studies)
10049463Mehdi
Decision Date: January 5, 2015
Associate Dean: J. Hugh Horton, Ph.D.
Student Name: Syed Shaan-e-Ali Mehdi
Student Email: 11ssem@queensu.ca
Course: POLS 396
Term: Fall
Year: 2014
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Mr. Syed Shaan-e-Ali Mehdi
11ssem@queensu.ca
Dear Mr. Mehdi:
I have carefully considered your appeal to drop POLS 396 (F 2014) 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 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 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.
In reviewing your appeal, I have consulted with the University Chaplain, who has in turn consulted with members of the Shia community in Kingston and Toronto. I have been informed that: €œOnly the tenth day (Day of Ashoura) is regarded as a day when a person should not perform any work (i.e. work, school, etc.) except if there are extenuating circumstances (i.e. their or someone else€™s life or livelihood is at risk, etc.) The ten nights leading up to the Day of Ashoura are very important and a person is highly encouraged to attend the religious nightly observance. However, a person is not obligated to attend these ten nights, particularly if they have important duties (i.e. assignments, work, etc.). In summary, the ten nights leading up to the Day of Ashoura are extremely important but attendance is not obligatory. The Day of Ashoura, on the other hand, is one of the most holy days in our belief and all work should be left on that day except for in extreme extenuating circumstances.€
In 2014, the 10th Day of Muharram (the Day of Ashoura) in fact took place on Monday, November 3, not October 31, as claimed in your appeal. In accordance with the information I have received from the Chaplain, it would certainly therefore be reasonable for you to be away from the University and not participating in academic matters at all on that Monday, since you had to travel to and from Toronto, on the weekend before and upon the following Tuesday (the 4th). However, you claim in your letter that your assignment in POLS 396 was due on November 13, giving you some nine days following your observance in which to prepare the assignment. This seems a reasonable period of time to complete the assignment. Furthermore, your statement that you had to travel to Toronto and be in Toronto during the first two weeks of November is inconsistent with what I have been informed of above regarding the religious observances surrounding Muharram and the Day of Ashoura: it is the nine days leading up to the Day of Ashoura which require a level of observance, not the time period afterwards. This year, the first nine days of Muharram would have occurred on October 25 to November 2, well before the time you claim you had to be with your family in Toronto. If anything, one would have expected you to be in Toronto during the last week of October, and not the first two weeks of November and even then, able to discharge at least some of your academic obligations during much of that time. Therefore, I believe that you could reasonably plan for, and complete your academic obligations in POLS 396 within the time available to you.
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 Ombudsperson for advice on matters of procedure and on obtaining a representative. His office is located in room 237 Robert Sutherland Hall and he can be reached by phone (533-6495) or e-mail (ombuds@queensu.ca).
Sincerely,
J. Hugh Horton, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Studies)
10049463Mehdi
Generated January 5, 2015 at 9:58:17 AM.