Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 7786
Decision Date: August 10, 2021
Associate Dean: Jill Atkinson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Brooke Noonan
Student Email: 16bvn@queensu.ca
Course: STAT 263
Term: Winter
Year: 2021
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Charles Molson
Dear Brooke Noonan:
I have carefully considered your appeal to receive Credit standing in STAT 263 (Winter 2021). 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 and passed all of the work of the course including the final examination, 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?. 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 reasons indicating that the student??s performance was significantly compromised by extenuating circumstances beyond their control. An extenuating circumstance is defined as a significant physical or psychological event that is beyond a student??s control and debilitating to their academic performance. In general, an appeal would be successful when there are significantly extenuating circumstances, which would merit the waiving of an academic regulation.
Your appeal letter indicates that your health issues were exacerbated by the high weight of the STAT 263 final exam but you didn??t offer any explanation as to why you didn??t complete the 30% term test which, as you know, was the reason that your final was worth 90% of your grade. Your appeal letter also didn??t comment on your low grades prior to the final exam as it appears that your average on the weekly quizzes was only 25%. The information that I received from your instructor indicates that they accommodated you appropriately by offering a deferred exam which I see that you accepted and were able to successfully write with a passing grade of 55%. Your final grade in STAT 263 was a 53% and appears to be a true representation of your academic ability in this class.
I understand that this is a difficult decision and I acknowledge that the month of April is a hard time of year for you, yet without seeing any Academic Consideration requests during that month and with the absence of supporting documentation that can show a correlation between your extenuating circumstances and the timeline of your lower grades in STAT 263 throughout the Winter term, I cannot grant your request for Credit Standing in this class.
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 ??Board of Studies?). You may contact the Office of the Ombudsman (www.queensu.ca/ombudsman) for advice on matters of procedure and on obtaining a representative.
Sincerely,
Jill Atkinson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academics)
Decision Date: August 10, 2021
Associate Dean: Jill Atkinson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Brooke Noonan
Student Email: 16bvn@queensu.ca
Course: STAT 263
Term: Winter
Year: 2021
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Charles Molson
Dear Brooke Noonan:
I have carefully considered your appeal to receive Credit standing in STAT 263 (Winter 2021). 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 and passed all of the work of the course including the final examination, 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?. 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 reasons indicating that the student??s performance was significantly compromised by extenuating circumstances beyond their control. An extenuating circumstance is defined as a significant physical or psychological event that is beyond a student??s control and debilitating to their academic performance. In general, an appeal would be successful when there are significantly extenuating circumstances, which would merit the waiving of an academic regulation.
Your appeal letter indicates that your health issues were exacerbated by the high weight of the STAT 263 final exam but you didn??t offer any explanation as to why you didn??t complete the 30% term test which, as you know, was the reason that your final was worth 90% of your grade. Your appeal letter also didn??t comment on your low grades prior to the final exam as it appears that your average on the weekly quizzes was only 25%. The information that I received from your instructor indicates that they accommodated you appropriately by offering a deferred exam which I see that you accepted and were able to successfully write with a passing grade of 55%. Your final grade in STAT 263 was a 53% and appears to be a true representation of your academic ability in this class.
I understand that this is a difficult decision and I acknowledge that the month of April is a hard time of year for you, yet without seeing any Academic Consideration requests during that month and with the absence of supporting documentation that can show a correlation between your extenuating circumstances and the timeline of your lower grades in STAT 263 throughout the Winter term, I cannot grant your request for Credit Standing in this class.
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 ??Board of Studies?). You may contact the Office of the Ombudsman (www.queensu.ca/ombudsman) for advice on matters of procedure and on obtaining a representative.
Sincerely,
Jill Atkinson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academics)
Generated August 10, 2021 at 2:23:48 PM.