Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 6879
Decision Date: September 28, 2020
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Charles Madeira-Shapiro
Student Email: 16cdms@queensu.ca
Course: ECON 112
Term: Fall
Year: 2019
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: HLTH 200
Term: Fall
Year: 2019
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: MUSC 171
Term: Fall
Year: 2019
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Charles Madeira-Shapiro:
I am sorry to have read in your letter of appeal the challenges you report you faced during the Fall term 2019 and have carefully considered your appeal to drop ECON 112, HLTH 200 and MUSC 171 (F 2019) past the academic deadline. 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.
Your appeal outlines that you have been dealing with a chronic condition and have been seeking treatment regarding your condition and I commend you for that. However, the appeals process is not meant to manage an ongoing and/or chronic condition. Instead, a student should pause and evaluate their progress in courses during week 7 of term and if they have fallen behind or their health is impacting their progress, they should drop courses by the week 8 drop deadline dates. In addition, your documentation notes that you have been under your doctor€™s care for 2 years and that things were going better in Winter 2020 before the COVID 19 disruption. The letter does not speak to the Fall 2019 term other than that you have experienced ongoing health related challenges which you have previously been warned to monitor. You have been advised in the past to drop courses by the drop date deadline if your chronic condition is impacting your studies. The second letter from Dr. Diamond notes an incident from 8-12 December which led to deferred exams. Your letter and documentation does not address a reason why you could not write deferred exams.
This is a disappointing decision I am sure Charles, but let me remind you that 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.
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)
20026370Madeira-Shapiro
Decision Date: September 28, 2020
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Charles Madeira-Shapiro
Student Email: 16cdms@queensu.ca
Course: ECON 112
Term: Fall
Year: 2019
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: HLTH 200
Term: Fall
Year: 2019
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: MUSC 171
Term: Fall
Year: 2019
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Charles Madeira-Shapiro:
I am sorry to have read in your letter of appeal the challenges you report you faced during the Fall term 2019 and have carefully considered your appeal to drop ECON 112, HLTH 200 and MUSC 171 (F 2019) past the academic deadline. 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.
Your appeal outlines that you have been dealing with a chronic condition and have been seeking treatment regarding your condition and I commend you for that. However, the appeals process is not meant to manage an ongoing and/or chronic condition. Instead, a student should pause and evaluate their progress in courses during week 7 of term and if they have fallen behind or their health is impacting their progress, they should drop courses by the week 8 drop deadline dates. In addition, your documentation notes that you have been under your doctor€™s care for 2 years and that things were going better in Winter 2020 before the COVID 19 disruption. The letter does not speak to the Fall 2019 term other than that you have experienced ongoing health related challenges which you have previously been warned to monitor. You have been advised in the past to drop courses by the drop date deadline if your chronic condition is impacting your studies. The second letter from Dr. Diamond notes an incident from 8-12 December which led to deferred exams. Your letter and documentation does not address a reason why you could not write deferred exams.
This is a disappointing decision I am sure Charles, but let me remind you that 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.
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)
20026370Madeira-Shapiro
Generated September 28, 2020 at 9:24:17 AM.