Decision Letter
Submission Number: 10457
Decision Date: May 29, 2023
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Alyah Opel
Student Email: 18ato@queensu.ca
Course: ANAT 316
Term: Winter
Year: 2022
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Ron Easteal
Course: KNPE 331
Term: Winter
Year: 2022
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: David Ross
Course: KNPE 491
Term: Fall
Year: 2022
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: HLTH 334
Term: Winter
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Aleyah:
I am sorry to have read of the circumstances reported in your petition letter and I have carefully considered your request to drop KNPE 491 (F 2022) and HLTH 334 (W 2023) past the academic deadline as well as receive Credit standing in ANAT 316 and KNPE 331 (W 2022) based on those circumstances. 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, often which took place after the drop date deadline. In addition, courses must be dropped on SOLUS within the published deadlines. 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 sure this is a disappointing decision, but the circumstances outlined seemed to only impact certain courses and there is no explanation as to why that is the case. You did very well in other courses completed during those terms. Additionally, during the winter term 2023 you exceeded the recommended course load of 5 courses which may have contributed to challenges in successfully completing HLTH 334.
Going forward, should you take additional courses, I encourage you to carefully evaluate your progress in courses by week 7 of the term and if you are finding the material too difficult or have not kept up with the course work, you should drop the course by the week 8 drop deadline. The drop deadline is set at Week 8 to allow students plenty of time to assess their progress in a class and withdraw without any academic penalty if they feel that they cannot keep up with the demands or have the academic background needed to successfully complete it. The drop deadlines, outlined in the ??Important Dates? section on the Faculty of Arts and Science web page, have been established to ensure fair and equitable treatment of all students.
Alayah, let me remind you that if a student repeats a course, the lower grade is excluded from their GPA and the higher grade is included.
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/.
Sincerely,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic)
20172146Opel
Decision Date: May 29, 2023
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Alyah Opel
Student Email: 18ato@queensu.ca
Course: ANAT 316
Term: Winter
Year: 2022
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Ron Easteal
Course: KNPE 331
Term: Winter
Year: 2022
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: David Ross
Course: KNPE 491
Term: Fall
Year: 2022
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: HLTH 334
Term: Winter
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Aleyah:
I am sorry to have read of the circumstances reported in your petition letter and I have carefully considered your request to drop KNPE 491 (F 2022) and HLTH 334 (W 2023) past the academic deadline as well as receive Credit standing in ANAT 316 and KNPE 331 (W 2022) based on those circumstances. 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, often which took place after the drop date deadline. In addition, courses must be dropped on SOLUS within the published deadlines. 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 sure this is a disappointing decision, but the circumstances outlined seemed to only impact certain courses and there is no explanation as to why that is the case. You did very well in other courses completed during those terms. Additionally, during the winter term 2023 you exceeded the recommended course load of 5 courses which may have contributed to challenges in successfully completing HLTH 334.
Going forward, should you take additional courses, I encourage you to carefully evaluate your progress in courses by week 7 of the term and if you are finding the material too difficult or have not kept up with the course work, you should drop the course by the week 8 drop deadline. The drop deadline is set at Week 8 to allow students plenty of time to assess their progress in a class and withdraw without any academic penalty if they feel that they cannot keep up with the demands or have the academic background needed to successfully complete it. The drop deadlines, outlined in the ??Important Dates? section on the Faculty of Arts and Science web page, have been established to ensure fair and equitable treatment of all students.
Alayah, let me remind you that if a student repeats a course, the lower grade is excluded from their GPA and the higher grade is included.
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/.
Sincerely,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic)
20172146Opel
Generated May 29, 2023 at 8:28:53 AM.