Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 8098
Decision Date: September 23, 2021
Associate Dean: Jill Atkinson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Tracy Shu
Student Email: 18ts33@queensu.ca
Course: RELS 131
Term: Summer
Year: 2021
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Danielle LaGrone
Dear Tracy Shu:
I am sorry to have read that you have been struggling with an ongoing illness and that readjusting your medication resulted in increased side effects. I understand that you are seeking Credit standing in RELS 131 (S 2021) due to the impact those circumstances had on this course. 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. 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 certainly sympathetic to your situation and realize that this is a disappointing decision, however, as noted above, a CR is normally reserved for students who earned a grade of C or lower. Additionally, the information I received from the instructor indicates that your grades throughout the term in this course were stable, and there were no reasons given which prevented you from dropping this course by the deadline had you viewed a B- as too low of a grade. In fact, the information from your instructor offers proof that before June 10th (the date you have documented undergoing a medical change), you achieved 60% on your essay outline and after the prescription change, you achieved 75% on the essay itself and 79% on your final exam. Quizzes throughout the course amounted to 92% and reflections 86%. Given these observations, there are no grounds to conclude that your performance was significantly compromised after June 10th.
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 are achieving a lower grade than is acceptable to you, 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 ??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)
20147348Shu
Decision Date: September 23, 2021
Associate Dean: Jill Atkinson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Tracy Shu
Student Email: 18ts33@queensu.ca
Course: RELS 131
Term: Summer
Year: 2021
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Danielle LaGrone
Dear Tracy Shu:
I am sorry to have read that you have been struggling with an ongoing illness and that readjusting your medication resulted in increased side effects. I understand that you are seeking Credit standing in RELS 131 (S 2021) due to the impact those circumstances had on this course. 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. 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 certainly sympathetic to your situation and realize that this is a disappointing decision, however, as noted above, a CR is normally reserved for students who earned a grade of C or lower. Additionally, the information I received from the instructor indicates that your grades throughout the term in this course were stable, and there were no reasons given which prevented you from dropping this course by the deadline had you viewed a B- as too low of a grade. In fact, the information from your instructor offers proof that before June 10th (the date you have documented undergoing a medical change), you achieved 60% on your essay outline and after the prescription change, you achieved 75% on the essay itself and 79% on your final exam. Quizzes throughout the course amounted to 92% and reflections 86%. Given these observations, there are no grounds to conclude that your performance was significantly compromised after June 10th.
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 are achieving a lower grade than is acceptable to you, 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 ??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)
20147348Shu
Generated September 23, 2021 at 1:27:59 PM.