Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 6970
Decision Date: October 13, 2020
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Rachel Sword
Student Email: rachel.sword@queensu.ca
Course: Law 203
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2018
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: Law 205
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2018
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: Socy
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2017
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: William Munn
Dear Rachel Sword:
I am sorry to have read of your reported extenuating circumstances and I have carefully considered your appeal to drop LAW 203 and LAW 205 (W 2019) past the academic deadline as well as request Credit standing in SOCY 122 (FW 2018/19) based on those circumstances. After reviewing your file 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 that occurred during the time frame of the courses being appealed and if all the learning outcomes have been met. The documentation your have submitted pertains to a timeline of 2017 to February 2018. The courses appealed are FW 2018/19, so the documentation is not relevant to the courses you are appealing. 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 extenuating circumstances beyond his or her control.
I am sure this is a disappointing decision, but the information we received from the instructor of SOCY 122 regarding your grades earned, indicates that there were two assignments not submitted, and the absence of these written aspects means that one learning outcome was not completely satisfied. The grade earned in SOCY 122 is a valid representation of the learning outcomes met in this course.
Rachel, let me remind you that if a student repeats a course, the lower grade is excluded from their 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, 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)
20096349Sword
Decision Date: October 13, 2020
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Rachel Sword
Student Email: rachel.sword@queensu.ca
Course: Law 203
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2018
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: Law 205
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2018
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: Socy
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2017
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: William Munn
Dear Rachel Sword:
I am sorry to have read of your reported extenuating circumstances and I have carefully considered your appeal to drop LAW 203 and LAW 205 (W 2019) past the academic deadline as well as request Credit standing in SOCY 122 (FW 2018/19) based on those circumstances. After reviewing your file 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 that occurred during the time frame of the courses being appealed and if all the learning outcomes have been met. The documentation your have submitted pertains to a timeline of 2017 to February 2018. The courses appealed are FW 2018/19, so the documentation is not relevant to the courses you are appealing. 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 extenuating circumstances beyond his or her control.
I am sure this is a disappointing decision, but the information we received from the instructor of SOCY 122 regarding your grades earned, indicates that there were two assignments not submitted, and the absence of these written aspects means that one learning outcome was not completely satisfied. The grade earned in SOCY 122 is a valid representation of the learning outcomes met in this course.
Rachel, let me remind you that if a student repeats a course, the lower grade is excluded from their 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, 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)
20096349Sword
Generated October 13, 2020 at 11:28:25 AM.