Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 9387
Decision Date: November 17, 2022
Associate Dean: 0
Student Name: Will McKay
Student Email: 16wjcm@queensu.ca
Course: GPHY 102
Term: Winter
Year: 2018
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: GPHY 319
Term: Summer
Year: 2021
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: GPHY 250
Term: Summer
Year: 2021
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: GPHY 227
Term: Winter
Year: 2020
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: HLTH 101
Term: Summer
Year: 2020
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: WRIT 125
Term: Summer
Year: 2020
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: DEVS 250
Term: Winter
Year: 2021
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: GPHY 330
Term: Winter
Year: 2021
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: GPHY 345
Term: Winter
Year: 2021
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: GPHY 370
Term: Winter
Year: 2021
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: GPHY 250
Term: Summer
Year: 2021
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: ENIN 340
Term: Summer
Year: 2021
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Will,
On Thursday, 10 November, the Board of Studies reviewed your appeal of Associate Dean (Academic) Jenn Stephenson??s decision to deny several of your appeals: to drop HLTH 101 (Summer 2021), WRIT 125 (Summer 2021), GPHY 227 (Fall 2021), and GPHY 243 (Fall 2021); and for Credit Standing in PSYC 100 (Fall/winter 2017??2018), GPHY 203 (Fall 2019), GPHY 362 (Fall 2020), GPHY 368 (Fall 2020), and GPHY 242 (Winter 2020). (The Board was not able to consider your request to add CLST 200 and POLS 261 to your appeal, because the Board has no authority in appeals that are withdrawn at Level 1.) Board members present that day were Scott-Morgan Straker (Chair), Allison Goebel (Faculty member), Devon Lin (Faculty member), and Yara Hussein (Student representative). You attended a portion of the meeting, along with the Associate Dean (Academic) Jenn Stephenson. Pamela Briand (Arts and Science resource staff) was also present. After you and Dr Stephenson left the meeting, the Board carefully considered the information from the oral statements along with the written submissions contained in your file. The Board voted to uphold the Associate Dean??s decision in the case of GPHY 362, 368, and 242, but to overturn her remaining decisions. Your letter grades will therefore be replaced with DR in HLTH 101, WRIT 125, GPHY 227, and GPHY 243, and you will be granted Credit standing in PSYC 100 and GPHY 203.
In the matter of GPHY 362, 368, and 242, the Board accepted the Associate Dean??s explanation that because not all of the course work was submitted in these courses, they do not qualify for Credit Standing under Academic Regulation 10.3.2. The Board is not empowered to set this regulation aside, and therefore had no option but uphold the Associate Dean??s decision. In the case of GPHY 203, Associate Dean Stephenson noted that the instructor of this course reassessed the grade for the course??s quizzes, and then rounded your final grade up to a D??; because of these interventions, she concluded that you had already been accommodated in this course, and therefore denied your appeal for Credit Standing. The Board felt that the rounding up of your grade is not pertinent in this case, because you satisfy the criteria specified in Academic Regulation 10.3.2: you completed all of the work in this course, and your undiagnosed disability makes it plausible that you earned a lower grade than might have been expected. Similarly, with regard to PSYC 100, although the Board notes that Dr Norris does not recommend CR Standing because you were unable to achieve a passing grade in the course??s two summative assessments, it concludes that here too you satisfy the criteria specified by the Regulation: you completed all of the course??s assignments, and earned a lower grade than might be expected because of your undiagnosed disability. The Board therefore voted to overturn the Associate Dean??s decision in the case of GPHY 203 and PSYC 100, and to grant you Credit Standing in these courses.
Associate Dean Stephenson??s decision to grant your appeal to drop some courses but not others hinges on the timing of your receipt of your Letter of Accommodation from QSAS in Summer 2021. Your letter is dated 15 June 2021, so the Associated Dean granted permission for you to drop the 12 courses that concluded before that date, but not the four courses whose drop deadlines came after your receipt of your letter. In reviewing the Associate Dean??s decision, the Board noted that the deadline for dropping HLTH 101 and WRIT 125 was 1 July 2021, a very short time after you received your Letter of Accommodation; the Board could therefore not be confident that you were being adequately accommodated at the time of the drop deadline, or that you were in a position to decide whether to drop these courses. In the matter of GPHY 227 and 243, both taken during the Fall Term 2021 when your accommodations were in place, the Board noted your testimony that the adjustments to your medication caused you to experience debilitating side-effects, and also the new information you provided during your oral testimony that some terms of your accommodation (specifically, note-taking) were not being met. These two factors raised doubts for the Board about whether you were being adequately accommodated in these courses, and whether you were in a position to decide whether to drop these courses by the deadline. Because of these doubts, the Board voted to overturn the Associate Dean??s decision and to permit you to drop these four courses.
In April 2021, the Queen??s University Senate released a new appeals policy, which you can read here: https://www.queensu.ca/secretariat/policies/senate/student-academic-appeals-policy. According to this new policy, this is the last step in the appeal process for this matter, since your ability to progress to the next level is not affected by this decision.
The Board acknowledges the struggles you faced during your degree and respects the measured but forceful way in which you advocated for yourself. On behalf of the Board of Studies, I wish you every success in your future endeavours.
Sincerely,
Scott-Morgan Straker
Chair, Board of Studies
Decision Date: November 17, 2022
Associate Dean: 0
Student Name: Will McKay
Student Email: 16wjcm@queensu.ca
Course: GPHY 102
Term: Winter
Year: 2018
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: GPHY 319
Term: Summer
Year: 2021
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: GPHY 250
Term: Summer
Year: 2021
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: GPHY 227
Term: Winter
Year: 2020
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: HLTH 101
Term: Summer
Year: 2020
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: WRIT 125
Term: Summer
Year: 2020
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: DEVS 250
Term: Winter
Year: 2021
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: GPHY 330
Term: Winter
Year: 2021
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: GPHY 345
Term: Winter
Year: 2021
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: GPHY 370
Term: Winter
Year: 2021
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: GPHY 250
Term: Summer
Year: 2021
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: ENIN 340
Term: Summer
Year: 2021
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Will,
On Thursday, 10 November, the Board of Studies reviewed your appeal of Associate Dean (Academic) Jenn Stephenson??s decision to deny several of your appeals: to drop HLTH 101 (Summer 2021), WRIT 125 (Summer 2021), GPHY 227 (Fall 2021), and GPHY 243 (Fall 2021); and for Credit Standing in PSYC 100 (Fall/winter 2017??2018), GPHY 203 (Fall 2019), GPHY 362 (Fall 2020), GPHY 368 (Fall 2020), and GPHY 242 (Winter 2020). (The Board was not able to consider your request to add CLST 200 and POLS 261 to your appeal, because the Board has no authority in appeals that are withdrawn at Level 1.) Board members present that day were Scott-Morgan Straker (Chair), Allison Goebel (Faculty member), Devon Lin (Faculty member), and Yara Hussein (Student representative). You attended a portion of the meeting, along with the Associate Dean (Academic) Jenn Stephenson. Pamela Briand (Arts and Science resource staff) was also present. After you and Dr Stephenson left the meeting, the Board carefully considered the information from the oral statements along with the written submissions contained in your file. The Board voted to uphold the Associate Dean??s decision in the case of GPHY 362, 368, and 242, but to overturn her remaining decisions. Your letter grades will therefore be replaced with DR in HLTH 101, WRIT 125, GPHY 227, and GPHY 243, and you will be granted Credit standing in PSYC 100 and GPHY 203.
In the matter of GPHY 362, 368, and 242, the Board accepted the Associate Dean??s explanation that because not all of the course work was submitted in these courses, they do not qualify for Credit Standing under Academic Regulation 10.3.2. The Board is not empowered to set this regulation aside, and therefore had no option but uphold the Associate Dean??s decision. In the case of GPHY 203, Associate Dean Stephenson noted that the instructor of this course reassessed the grade for the course??s quizzes, and then rounded your final grade up to a D??; because of these interventions, she concluded that you had already been accommodated in this course, and therefore denied your appeal for Credit Standing. The Board felt that the rounding up of your grade is not pertinent in this case, because you satisfy the criteria specified in Academic Regulation 10.3.2: you completed all of the work in this course, and your undiagnosed disability makes it plausible that you earned a lower grade than might have been expected. Similarly, with regard to PSYC 100, although the Board notes that Dr Norris does not recommend CR Standing because you were unable to achieve a passing grade in the course??s two summative assessments, it concludes that here too you satisfy the criteria specified by the Regulation: you completed all of the course??s assignments, and earned a lower grade than might be expected because of your undiagnosed disability. The Board therefore voted to overturn the Associate Dean??s decision in the case of GPHY 203 and PSYC 100, and to grant you Credit Standing in these courses.
Associate Dean Stephenson??s decision to grant your appeal to drop some courses but not others hinges on the timing of your receipt of your Letter of Accommodation from QSAS in Summer 2021. Your letter is dated 15 June 2021, so the Associated Dean granted permission for you to drop the 12 courses that concluded before that date, but not the four courses whose drop deadlines came after your receipt of your letter. In reviewing the Associate Dean??s decision, the Board noted that the deadline for dropping HLTH 101 and WRIT 125 was 1 July 2021, a very short time after you received your Letter of Accommodation; the Board could therefore not be confident that you were being adequately accommodated at the time of the drop deadline, or that you were in a position to decide whether to drop these courses. In the matter of GPHY 227 and 243, both taken during the Fall Term 2021 when your accommodations were in place, the Board noted your testimony that the adjustments to your medication caused you to experience debilitating side-effects, and also the new information you provided during your oral testimony that some terms of your accommodation (specifically, note-taking) were not being met. These two factors raised doubts for the Board about whether you were being adequately accommodated in these courses, and whether you were in a position to decide whether to drop these courses by the deadline. Because of these doubts, the Board voted to overturn the Associate Dean??s decision and to permit you to drop these four courses.
In April 2021, the Queen??s University Senate released a new appeals policy, which you can read here: https://www.queensu.ca/secretariat/policies/senate/student-academic-appeals-policy. According to this new policy, this is the last step in the appeal process for this matter, since your ability to progress to the next level is not affected by this decision.
The Board acknowledges the struggles you faced during your degree and respects the measured but forceful way in which you advocated for yourself. On behalf of the Board of Studies, I wish you every success in your future endeavours.
Sincerely,
Scott-Morgan Straker
Chair, Board of Studies
Generated November 17, 2022 at 3:26:37 PM.