Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Appeal Number: 8947
Decision Date: May 2, 2022
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Kaitlyn Hamilton
Student Email: 19kcmh@queensu.ca

Course: ANAT 100
Term: Summer
Year: 2020
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Course: BIOL 111
Term: Summer
Year: 2020
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Course: DRAM 100
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2021
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Course: GEOL 107
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2021
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Dear Kaitlyn:

I was sorry to read of the challenges you experienced prior to your ADHD diagnosis and after carefully considering your request to drop ANAT 100, BIOL 111 (S 2020), BIOL 102, GEOL 107 (F 2020) and DRAM 100 (FW 2020/21) past the academic deadline, I have decided to grant your request based on the circumstances outlined as well as your documentation. Kaitlyn, since your diagnosis was in December 2021, it seems you would have also struggled in your Winter term 2021 courses since your ADHD diagnosis was not made at that time, so I am also willing to drop BIOL 103, BIOL 200, GEOL 107, PSYC 221 (W 2021). If you would like to accept that offer, please email asc.appeals@queensu.ca within 21 days of receiving this letter and those courses will also be dropped past the academic drop deadline.

I have granted this appeal based on the severity of your extenuating circumstances at that time but I do need to warn you that the appeals process is not meant to be used to manage a chronic condition. An appeal based on the same circumstances may not be granted in the future. I encourage you to continue to work closely with your QSAS Advisor who can help you manage the impact of your health on your academics.??

Going forward, I recommend that you pause and evaluate your health during week 7 of each term, and if you have fallen behind or your health is impacting your studies, you should drop courses by the week 8 drop deadline. 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 at Queen's.

Another tool to manage your academics in addition to dropping a course by the drop deadline is our Academic Consideration protocol. A student can request short term consideration if they need more time to complete an assignment or had to miss a class due to documented extenuating circumstances. Here is the link for information about that process:

https://www.queensu.ca/artsci/undergrad-students/academic-consideration-for-students

Note that any change in academic registration may impact government or private-firm student financial assistance eligibility and/or funding. Please consult with the Student Awards Office, Office of the University Registrar, Gordon Hall, to understand the potential implications of changes to course or program registration and/or the consequences of not successfully completing the required course load.

Yours sincerely,


Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic)

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