Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 6952
Decision Date: October 13, 2020
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Nicholas Ryckman
Student Email: 16nwr1@queensu.ca
Course: MICR 360
Term: Fall
Year: 2019
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Katrina Gee
Dear Nicholas Ryckman:
I am sorry to have read of your reported health related challenges during the Fall term 2019 and I understand that you are seeking Credit standing in MICR 360 (F 2019) due to the impact those circumstances had on this course. After reviewing your appeal letter, documentation, related Academic Regulation, and the information we have received from your instructor, I have decided to deny your request.
As you know, Academic Regulation 10.3.2. states that, Credit standing in a course is reserved for situations in which a student, who has completed all of the work in the course including the final examination, and achieved a passing grade in the course, but because of illness or other extenuating circumstances beyond their control, earned a substantially lower grade than might have been expected, normally a grade of C or lower.€ Credit standing is only granted in cases where there are well documented and unforeseen extenuating circumstances outside of a student€™s control. 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 circumstances and documentation indicating that the student€™s performance was significantly compromised by extenuating circumstances beyond his or her control.
I am certainly sympathetic to your situation and realize that this is a disappointing decision, however, as noted in the above regulation, this appeal option is normally for students who earned a grade of C to D- and since your grade is a B, it is outside of the grade range for this appeal option. In addition, requesting Credit standing to raise a GPA for a graduate program is not considered an extenuating circumstance, and finally, the documentation you submitted certainly confirms that you reached out to a counsellor in November of 2019 but the letter from your Counsellor states that your courses may have been impacted by your circumstances and does not confirm the severity of your challenges or why this course was impacted by your circumstances more so than your other courses.
Let me remind you Nicholas that if a student repeats a course, the lower grade is excluded from the GPA and the higher grade is included. Going forward, I suggest that you inform yourself of the academic regulations concerning deadlines as they are outlined in the Important Dates section on the Arts and Science web page and assess your progress in your courses or discuss your options with an Academic Advisor during week 7 or 8 of the term. If you find that you have fallen behind in your attendance, readings or assignments or feel you are not in line to receive the final grade you desire, it is your responsibility to drop by the end of week 8.
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)
20051719Ryckman
Decision Date: October 13, 2020
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Nicholas Ryckman
Student Email: 16nwr1@queensu.ca
Course: MICR 360
Term: Fall
Year: 2019
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Katrina Gee
Dear Nicholas Ryckman:
I am sorry to have read of your reported health related challenges during the Fall term 2019 and I understand that you are seeking Credit standing in MICR 360 (F 2019) due to the impact those circumstances had on this course. After reviewing your appeal letter, documentation, related Academic Regulation, and the information we have received from your instructor, I have decided to deny your request.
As you know, Academic Regulation 10.3.2. states that, Credit standing in a course is reserved for situations in which a student, who has completed all of the work in the course including the final examination, and achieved a passing grade in the course, but because of illness or other extenuating circumstances beyond their control, earned a substantially lower grade than might have been expected, normally a grade of C or lower.€ Credit standing is only granted in cases where there are well documented and unforeseen extenuating circumstances outside of a student€™s control. 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 circumstances and documentation indicating that the student€™s performance was significantly compromised by extenuating circumstances beyond his or her control.
I am certainly sympathetic to your situation and realize that this is a disappointing decision, however, as noted in the above regulation, this appeal option is normally for students who earned a grade of C to D- and since your grade is a B, it is outside of the grade range for this appeal option. In addition, requesting Credit standing to raise a GPA for a graduate program is not considered an extenuating circumstance, and finally, the documentation you submitted certainly confirms that you reached out to a counsellor in November of 2019 but the letter from your Counsellor states that your courses may have been impacted by your circumstances and does not confirm the severity of your challenges or why this course was impacted by your circumstances more so than your other courses.
Let me remind you Nicholas that if a student repeats a course, the lower grade is excluded from the GPA and the higher grade is included. Going forward, I suggest that you inform yourself of the academic regulations concerning deadlines as they are outlined in the Important Dates section on the Arts and Science web page and assess your progress in your courses or discuss your options with an Academic Advisor during week 7 or 8 of the term. If you find that you have fallen behind in your attendance, readings or assignments or feel you are not in line to receive the final grade you desire, it is your responsibility to drop by the end of week 8.
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)
20051719Ryckman
Generated October 13, 2020 at 11:18:02 AM.