Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 6771
Decision Date: July 20, 2020
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Alexander Aston
Student Email: 16ana@queensu.ca
Course: ARTH 225
Term: Fall
Year: 2019
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Alexander Aston:
I received your letter of appeal requesting a late drop in ARTH 225 (F 2019) and I am sorry to have read that you were not able to juggle this course with your competing demands. After reviewing your appeal letter, 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. It is unfortunate that you had to be away from Kingston for most of the semester to attend to family and personal matters but you had ample time to assess the impact this was having on your course and should have dropped this course by the drop date deadline if you were finding it too difficult to manage the course and your competing demands. In addition, I realize that your documentation indicates that you experienced severe anxiety, but the documentation does not include information about the impact your health reported issue had on your studies.
I am sure this is a disappointing decision but competing personal and family demands is not a sufficient reason to alter a grade on a transcript. 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.
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)
20025631Aston1
Decision Date: July 20, 2020
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Alexander Aston
Student Email: 16ana@queensu.ca
Course: ARTH 225
Term: Fall
Year: 2019
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Alexander Aston:
I received your letter of appeal requesting a late drop in ARTH 225 (F 2019) and I am sorry to have read that you were not able to juggle this course with your competing demands. After reviewing your appeal letter, 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. It is unfortunate that you had to be away from Kingston for most of the semester to attend to family and personal matters but you had ample time to assess the impact this was having on your course and should have dropped this course by the drop date deadline if you were finding it too difficult to manage the course and your competing demands. In addition, I realize that your documentation indicates that you experienced severe anxiety, but the documentation does not include information about the impact your health reported issue had on your studies.
I am sure this is a disappointing decision but competing personal and family demands is not a sufficient reason to alter a grade on a transcript. 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.
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)
20025631Aston1
Generated July 20, 2020 at 10:29:58 AM.