Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 5636
Decision Date: May 1, 2019
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: KEER CHEN
Student Email: cloverker017@gmail.com
Dear Keer Chen:
I have carefully considered your appeal to drop GPHY 314, GPHY 250 and GPHY 207 (W 2019). 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. Extenuating circumstances normally involve a significant physical or psychological event that is beyond your control and debilitating to your overall academic performance.
I am certainly sympathetic to your situation and realize that this is a disappointing decision, however you state in your letter that you experienced health related challenges prior to Reading Week, which was prior to the March 1st drop date. Further to that, your documentation refers to a mild health related diagnosis on February 20th which again, was well before the drop date.
In the future, I encourage you to carefully evaluate your interest and progress in a course by week 7 of the term and if you are finding the material too difficult or have not kept up with the course work, you should drop the course by the week 8 drop deadline. 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.
Keer, you may be aware of the progression rules to proceed to your studies next year but let me remind you that if your GPA does not reach 1.6 when we review your transcript in May 2019, you will be required to withdraw from the university for three years. You may decide to appeal that decision if your situation is remedied and you are able to clearly lay out an academic plan which will lead to success going forward. That academic plan may include information about ongoing medical support that you will receive, but also may include information regarding courses you will repeat. For your information, if a student repeats a course, the low grade is excluded from their grade point average and the higher grade is included which would mean there would be no long term negative impact on your GPA. This is considered a wise strategy to ensure you are able to raise your GPA to 1.6 at the next point of progression evaluation.
If you wish to appeal the Associate Dean€™s decision to the Board of Studies, information and deadlines can be found at 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 the Office of the Ombudsman (www.queensu.ca/ombudsman) for advice on matters of procedure and on obtaining a representative.
Sincerely,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Studies)
10183166Chen1
Decision Date: May 1, 2019
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: KEER CHEN
Student Email: cloverker017@gmail.com
Dear Keer Chen:
I have carefully considered your appeal to drop GPHY 314, GPHY 250 and GPHY 207 (W 2019). 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. Extenuating circumstances normally involve a significant physical or psychological event that is beyond your control and debilitating to your overall academic performance.
I am certainly sympathetic to your situation and realize that this is a disappointing decision, however you state in your letter that you experienced health related challenges prior to Reading Week, which was prior to the March 1st drop date. Further to that, your documentation refers to a mild health related diagnosis on February 20th which again, was well before the drop date.
In the future, I encourage you to carefully evaluate your interest and progress in a course by week 7 of the term and if you are finding the material too difficult or have not kept up with the course work, you should drop the course by the week 8 drop deadline. 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.
Keer, you may be aware of the progression rules to proceed to your studies next year but let me remind you that if your GPA does not reach 1.6 when we review your transcript in May 2019, you will be required to withdraw from the university for three years. You may decide to appeal that decision if your situation is remedied and you are able to clearly lay out an academic plan which will lead to success going forward. That academic plan may include information about ongoing medical support that you will receive, but also may include information regarding courses you will repeat. For your information, if a student repeats a course, the low grade is excluded from their grade point average and the higher grade is included which would mean there would be no long term negative impact on your GPA. This is considered a wise strategy to ensure you are able to raise your GPA to 1.6 at the next point of progression evaluation.
If you wish to appeal the Associate Dean€™s decision to the Board of Studies, information and deadlines can be found at 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 the Office of the Ombudsman (www.queensu.ca/ombudsman) for advice on matters of procedure and on obtaining a representative.
Sincerely,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Studies)
10183166Chen1
Generated May 1, 2019 at 12:23:58 PM.