Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 857
Decision Date: April 6, 2015
Associate Dean: Johanne Benard, Ph.D.
Student Name: Brandon Macpherson
Student Email: 8bkm@queensu.ca
Course: ENGL 259
Term: Winter
Year: 2015
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Mr. Brandon MacPherson
8bkm@queensu.ca
Dear Mr. MacPherson:
I have carefully considered your appeal to drop ENGL 259 (W 2015) 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 exceptional 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 extenuating circumstances beyond his or her control.
The deadlines for dropping courses have been designed and established in order to provide sufficient time for students to determine their interest in the course material, to consider their ability to handle each course, and to evaluate their overall workload.
Extenuating circumstances normally involve a significant physical or psychological event that is beyond your control and debilitating to your overall academic performance. Additionally, these kinds of extraordinary situations are normally supported by documentation from a professional.
Your appeal does not describe any circumstances that are extenuating in nature. While I understand and I am sympathetic to your situation, you made the conscious decision to enroll in a distance course this term while pursuing your acting career and you were well aware of the time commitment required. Furthermore, you had a sufficient amount of time to determine whether or not you should drop this course by the February 27 deadline. Even if you had received the news about your films and TV pilot after the February 27 deadline, you had only been able to complete the first assignment for the course. It would have been wise to drop the course if you were not able to keep up with the work by that point in time and you had these potential projects lined up.
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 237 Robert Sutherland Hall and he can be reached by phone (533-6495) or e-mail (ombuds@queensu.ca).
Sincerely,
Johanne Bénard, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Studies)
06084035Macpherson
Decision Date: April 6, 2015
Associate Dean: Johanne Benard, Ph.D.
Student Name: Brandon Macpherson
Student Email: 8bkm@queensu.ca
Course: ENGL 259
Term: Winter
Year: 2015
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Mr. Brandon MacPherson
8bkm@queensu.ca
Dear Mr. MacPherson:
I have carefully considered your appeal to drop ENGL 259 (W 2015) 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 exceptional 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 extenuating circumstances beyond his or her control.
The deadlines for dropping courses have been designed and established in order to provide sufficient time for students to determine their interest in the course material, to consider their ability to handle each course, and to evaluate their overall workload.
Extenuating circumstances normally involve a significant physical or psychological event that is beyond your control and debilitating to your overall academic performance. Additionally, these kinds of extraordinary situations are normally supported by documentation from a professional.
Your appeal does not describe any circumstances that are extenuating in nature. While I understand and I am sympathetic to your situation, you made the conscious decision to enroll in a distance course this term while pursuing your acting career and you were well aware of the time commitment required. Furthermore, you had a sufficient amount of time to determine whether or not you should drop this course by the February 27 deadline. Even if you had received the news about your films and TV pilot after the February 27 deadline, you had only been able to complete the first assignment for the course. It would have been wise to drop the course if you were not able to keep up with the work by that point in time and you had these potential projects lined up.
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 237 Robert Sutherland Hall and he can be reached by phone (533-6495) or e-mail (ombuds@queensu.ca).
Sincerely,
Johanne Bénard, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Studies)
06084035Macpherson
Generated April 6, 2015 at 1:02:51 PM.