Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 772
Decision Date: March 2, 2015
Associate Dean: Johanne Benard, Ph.D.
Student Name: Michael Amoroso
Student Email: 7mka1@queensu.ca
Mr. Michael Amoroso
7mka1@queensu.ca
Dear Mr. Amoroso:
I have carefully considered your request to have your appeal heard after the 21-day timeline for submission. After reviewing your file I have decided to deny your request.
The appeal timeline is in place to give students sufficient time to respond to an academic decision. The 21-day timeline offers students time to seek academic counseling, to write up and submit an appeal, and to collect the supporting documents necessary to the appeal. Further, the appeal timeline is in place to ensure that decision making takes place in a timely manner, allowing students to continue in their academic programs without ongoing concern for unresolved matters.
To consider appeals outside these timelines can easily compromise fair decision making. The interested parties and the original contexts within which the matter originated may not be available. Over time, instructors, course content, the norms of evaluating course materials, and program structures may and generally do change. Furthermore, the supporting documents necessary to any appeal may no longer be available or their credibility may more easily come into question. Therefore, the inability to reconstruct accurately the circumstances leading to the original matter under appeal can compromise the decision-making process.
Exceptions to this regulation can only be granted in cases where extenuating circumstances beyond a student's control render the student unable to appeal within the specified timeline. The student must be able to show that the extenuating circumstances were ongoing. The student must also be able to demonstrate that these circumstances prevented the student from acting between the time the original decision was received and the time at which the appeal was eventually initiated. Appeals of the regulation governing the timeline for appeals must be submitted in writing. An appeal of this type should include a presentation of the specific reasons for a delay and should include any documents which support the reasons for delay.
While I am sympathetic to your situation and I would very much like to see you to move on to a graduate program, I cannot waive the academic regulations and allow an appeal to be heard so late without fully documented extenuating circumstances beyond your control that prevented you from making an appeal until the present day. Your appeal letter states that you consciously enrolled in the winter and summer 2012 courses but you prioritized your athletic career over your academics and as result, you failed the courses. This was a poor decision and I understand the implications that you are now facing but unfortunately, it is not the type of circumstance that would warrant hearing an appeal late.
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 153 Richardson Hall and he can be reached by phone (533-6495) or e-mail (ombuds@queensu.ca).
Sincerely,
Johanne Bénard, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Studies)
05745246Amoroso
Decision Date: March 2, 2015
Associate Dean: Johanne Benard, Ph.D.
Student Name: Michael Amoroso
Student Email: 7mka1@queensu.ca
Mr. Michael Amoroso
7mka1@queensu.ca
Dear Mr. Amoroso:
I have carefully considered your request to have your appeal heard after the 21-day timeline for submission. After reviewing your file I have decided to deny your request.
The appeal timeline is in place to give students sufficient time to respond to an academic decision. The 21-day timeline offers students time to seek academic counseling, to write up and submit an appeal, and to collect the supporting documents necessary to the appeal. Further, the appeal timeline is in place to ensure that decision making takes place in a timely manner, allowing students to continue in their academic programs without ongoing concern for unresolved matters.
To consider appeals outside these timelines can easily compromise fair decision making. The interested parties and the original contexts within which the matter originated may not be available. Over time, instructors, course content, the norms of evaluating course materials, and program structures may and generally do change. Furthermore, the supporting documents necessary to any appeal may no longer be available or their credibility may more easily come into question. Therefore, the inability to reconstruct accurately the circumstances leading to the original matter under appeal can compromise the decision-making process.
Exceptions to this regulation can only be granted in cases where extenuating circumstances beyond a student's control render the student unable to appeal within the specified timeline. The student must be able to show that the extenuating circumstances were ongoing. The student must also be able to demonstrate that these circumstances prevented the student from acting between the time the original decision was received and the time at which the appeal was eventually initiated. Appeals of the regulation governing the timeline for appeals must be submitted in writing. An appeal of this type should include a presentation of the specific reasons for a delay and should include any documents which support the reasons for delay.
While I am sympathetic to your situation and I would very much like to see you to move on to a graduate program, I cannot waive the academic regulations and allow an appeal to be heard so late without fully documented extenuating circumstances beyond your control that prevented you from making an appeal until the present day. Your appeal letter states that you consciously enrolled in the winter and summer 2012 courses but you prioritized your athletic career over your academics and as result, you failed the courses. This was a poor decision and I understand the implications that you are now facing but unfortunately, it is not the type of circumstance that would warrant hearing an appeal late.
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 153 Richardson Hall and he can be reached by phone (533-6495) or e-mail (ombuds@queensu.ca).
Sincerely,
Johanne Bénard, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Studies)
05745246Amoroso
Generated March 2, 2015 at 9:12:37 AM.