Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 8974
Decision Date: July 25, 2022
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: ryan holmes
Student Email: 21rrh2@queensu.ca
Course: PHIL111
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2022
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Ryan Holmes:
I have carefully considered your appeal to drop PHIL 111 (FW 2021/2022) 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. Extenuating circumstances normally involve a significant physical or psychological event that is beyond your control, debilitating to your overall academic performance and can be verified with documentation from a profession.
I am certainly sympathetic to your situation and realize that this is a disappointing decision, however, your appeal letter indicates that your extenuating circumstances began to impact you before the drop deadline of the term. The documentation that you supplied suggests that you would benefit from accommodations in March and I see that you utilized Academic Consideration at this time accordingly. With the absence of documentation to confirm the timeline and severity of an extenuating circumstance outside of the time period that you were granted academic consideration, I cannot grant this request. Going forward, it is your responsibility to assess the impacts of extenuating circumstances on your academics before the drop deadline of the term. If you have fallen behind in a course or find the material too difficult, you should drop the course in SOLUS. 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 know that repeating courses is a recommended strategy for students who are concerned about their GPA. 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 https://www.queensu.ca/ombuds/appeal-process/procedural-fairness and guidance on policy and procedure by visiting their website at https://www.queensu.ca/ombuds/.
Student Academic Appeals Policy (SAAP) https://www.queensu.ca/secretariat/policies/senate/student-academic-appeals-policyE and Rules of Procedure for USAB https://www.queensu.ca/secretariat/policies/senate/student-academic-appeals-policy/usab-rules-of-procedure are Queen??s university Senate approved appeal policies. In the event that an inconsistency arises between these policies and Arts & Science regulations, SAAP and USAB will supersede.??
Sincerely,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic)
Decision Date: July 25, 2022
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: ryan holmes
Student Email: 21rrh2@queensu.ca
Course: PHIL111
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2022
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Ryan Holmes:
I have carefully considered your appeal to drop PHIL 111 (FW 2021/2022) 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. Extenuating circumstances normally involve a significant physical or psychological event that is beyond your control, debilitating to your overall academic performance and can be verified with documentation from a profession.
I am certainly sympathetic to your situation and realize that this is a disappointing decision, however, your appeal letter indicates that your extenuating circumstances began to impact you before the drop deadline of the term. The documentation that you supplied suggests that you would benefit from accommodations in March and I see that you utilized Academic Consideration at this time accordingly. With the absence of documentation to confirm the timeline and severity of an extenuating circumstance outside of the time period that you were granted academic consideration, I cannot grant this request. Going forward, it is your responsibility to assess the impacts of extenuating circumstances on your academics before the drop deadline of the term. If you have fallen behind in a course or find the material too difficult, you should drop the course in SOLUS. 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 know that repeating courses is a recommended strategy for students who are concerned about their GPA. 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 https://www.queensu.ca/ombuds/appeal-process/procedural-fairness and guidance on policy and procedure by visiting their website at https://www.queensu.ca/ombuds/.
Student Academic Appeals Policy (SAAP) https://www.queensu.ca/secretariat/policies/senate/student-academic-appeals-policyE and Rules of Procedure for USAB https://www.queensu.ca/secretariat/policies/senate/student-academic-appeals-policy/usab-rules-of-procedure are Queen??s university Senate approved appeal policies. In the event that an inconsistency arises between these policies and Arts & Science regulations, SAAP and USAB will supersede.??
Sincerely,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic)
Generated July 25, 2022 at 1:20:40 PM.