Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Appeal Number: 8012
Decision Date: September 7, 2021
Associate Dean: Jill Atkinson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Ajeerthanan Riseenthiran
Student Email: 13ar111@queensu.ca

Course: PHIL 329
Term: Fall
Year: 2020
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Course: PHIL 459
Term: Fall
Year: 2020
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Course: SOCY 352
Term: Fall
Year: 2020
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Dear Ajeerthanan Riseenthiran:

I carefully considered your appeal to drop PHIL 329, PHIL 459, and SOCY 352 (F20) 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 their control.

I certainly empathize with your situation and understand that this is a disappointing decision however, the documentation that you provided does not indicate the impact that your health issue had on your academic ability during the time period that you were affected by it. It also appears that your health issue began before the deadline to drop these classes and your letter indicates that you chose to remain in them at that time. As you know from your previous appeal decision, it is your responsibility to assess the impact of your health on your academics during week 7 of the term. If you have fallen behind in a course or find the material too difficult, you should drop the course by week 8 of term. The drop deadlines, as they have been outlined in the ??Important Dates? section on the Arts and Science web page, have been established by the Faculty of Arts and Science to ensure a fair and equitable treatment of all students.

Please also know that when repeating a course, both attempts will appear on your transcript but only the higher grade will be included within the calculation of 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 ??Board of Studies?). 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,

Jill Atkinson, Ph.D.

Associate Dean (Academic)