Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 6612
Decision Date: April 14, 2020
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Yifan Wu
Student Email: 17yw173@queensu.ca
Course: MATH 280
Term: Fall
Year: 2019
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Yifan Wu:
I have read with interest your appeal to drop MATH 280 (W 2020), taking note of the challenges you had with this course. After reviewing your appeal fully, 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 finding a course difficult is not considered an extenuating circumstance. You also note in your letter of appeal that you require a 1.9 GPA to take a course over the summer on a Letter of Permission at the university you are considering. Unfortunately, neither of these circumstances warrant the alteration of your transcript. In addition, this decision is also based on the fact that you have not provided any relevant documentation to support extenuating circumstances.
In the future, I 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 or have the academic background needed to successfully complete it.
Let me remind you Yifan that if a student repeats a course, the higher grade will be included in their GPA and the lower grade will be excluded. This may be a strategy you wish to consider regarding this course.
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 University Ombudsperson for information about student rights and responsibilities as well as guidance on policy and procedure (www.queensu.ca/ombuds).
Sincerely,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic) 20108626Wu
Decision Date: April 14, 2020
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Yifan Wu
Student Email: 17yw173@queensu.ca
Course: MATH 280
Term: Fall
Year: 2019
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Yifan Wu:
I have read with interest your appeal to drop MATH 280 (W 2020), taking note of the challenges you had with this course. After reviewing your appeal fully, 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 finding a course difficult is not considered an extenuating circumstance. You also note in your letter of appeal that you require a 1.9 GPA to take a course over the summer on a Letter of Permission at the university you are considering. Unfortunately, neither of these circumstances warrant the alteration of your transcript. In addition, this decision is also based on the fact that you have not provided any relevant documentation to support extenuating circumstances.
In the future, I 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 or have the academic background needed to successfully complete it.
Let me remind you Yifan that if a student repeats a course, the higher grade will be included in their GPA and the lower grade will be excluded. This may be a strategy you wish to consider regarding this course.
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 University Ombudsperson for information about student rights and responsibilities as well as guidance on policy and procedure (www.queensu.ca/ombuds).
Sincerely,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic) 20108626Wu
Generated April 14, 2020 at 9:23:29 AM.