Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 5587
Decision Date: May 13, 2019
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Adam Hassan
Student Email: 15ah95@queensu.ca
Course: CHEM 211
Term: Fall
Year: 2018
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: CHEM 212
Term: Fall
Year: 2018
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: CHEM 213
Term: Fall
Year: 2018
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Adam Hassan:
I have carefully considered your appeal to drop CHEM 211, CHEM 212 and CHEM 213 (F 2018). 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.
I am certainly sympathetic to your situation and realize that this is a disappointing decision, however in the appeal decision letter you received on July 3, 2018 from Associate Dean Johanne Benard, you were strongly warned to evaluate your progress in your courses during week 7 & 8 of the term and advised that you should drop any courses in which you had fallen behind in. You were also encouraged to take advantage of the various services available to you including Student Academic Success Services and Student Wellness Services. Adam, you explain in your letter of appeal that you left Queen€™s many times during the semester to assist your family members and that was a clear indicator that you should have considered dropping courses. Appealing to drop courses after the fact is not the purpose of the appeal process and not a tool to manage your academic progress. In the future, I strongly encourage you to carefully evaluate your 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 of a course or have the academic background needed to successfully complete it.
This is a difficult learning experience Adam but one that will be valuable as you proceed with the pursuit of your university degree. Please note that a student can repeat a course with a low grade. The higher grade would then be included in your GPA and the lower grade excluded from your GPA.
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) 20016165Hassan1
Decision Date: May 13, 2019
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Adam Hassan
Student Email: 15ah95@queensu.ca
Course: CHEM 211
Term: Fall
Year: 2018
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: CHEM 212
Term: Fall
Year: 2018
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: CHEM 213
Term: Fall
Year: 2018
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Adam Hassan:
I have carefully considered your appeal to drop CHEM 211, CHEM 212 and CHEM 213 (F 2018). 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.
I am certainly sympathetic to your situation and realize that this is a disappointing decision, however in the appeal decision letter you received on July 3, 2018 from Associate Dean Johanne Benard, you were strongly warned to evaluate your progress in your courses during week 7 & 8 of the term and advised that you should drop any courses in which you had fallen behind in. You were also encouraged to take advantage of the various services available to you including Student Academic Success Services and Student Wellness Services. Adam, you explain in your letter of appeal that you left Queen€™s many times during the semester to assist your family members and that was a clear indicator that you should have considered dropping courses. Appealing to drop courses after the fact is not the purpose of the appeal process and not a tool to manage your academic progress. In the future, I strongly encourage you to carefully evaluate your 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 of a course or have the academic background needed to successfully complete it.
This is a difficult learning experience Adam but one that will be valuable as you proceed with the pursuit of your university degree. Please note that a student can repeat a course with a low grade. The higher grade would then be included in your GPA and the lower grade excluded from your GPA.
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) 20016165Hassan1
Generated May 13, 2019 at 8:19:26 AM.