Decision Letter
Submission Number: 10604
Decision Date: June 12, 2023
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Trevor Sokolowski
Student Email: 16ts51@queensu.ca
Course: PHYS 216
Term: Winter
Year: 2022
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Sarah Sadavoy
Dear Trevor:
I have read your petition requesting Credit standing in PHYS 216 (W 2022) and I am sorry to read that you struggled in that 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, often which took place after the drop date deadline. 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, and I can see that you had a difficult term, but there are no extenuating circumstances that seemed to impact this course in particular or prevent you from dropping it by the drop deadline. Additionally, the information we received from the instructor indicates that they offered very generous marking scheme options and you benefitted from those options, thus ensuring you had a passing grade in the course.
Going forward, should you continue to take courses in Arts and Science, 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.
Trevor, 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. You may want to discuss with your Con-Ed Advisor, the possibility of taking an Arts and Science course while you are enrolled in your final Concurrent Education year. That options would hopefully raise your Physics teachable GPA.
If you wish to appeal the Associate Dean’s decision to the Board of Studies, information and deadlines can be found at https://www.queensu.ca/artsci/undergraduate/student-services/academic-petitions-and-appeals (click on “Submit a Board of Studies Appeal Here”). 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)
20061824Sokolowski
Decision Date: June 12, 2023
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Trevor Sokolowski
Student Email: 16ts51@queensu.ca
Course: PHYS 216
Term: Winter
Year: 2022
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Sarah Sadavoy
Dear Trevor:
I have read your petition requesting Credit standing in PHYS 216 (W 2022) and I am sorry to read that you struggled in that 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, often which took place after the drop date deadline. 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, and I can see that you had a difficult term, but there are no extenuating circumstances that seemed to impact this course in particular or prevent you from dropping it by the drop deadline. Additionally, the information we received from the instructor indicates that they offered very generous marking scheme options and you benefitted from those options, thus ensuring you had a passing grade in the course.
Going forward, should you continue to take courses in Arts and Science, 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.
Trevor, 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. You may want to discuss with your Con-Ed Advisor, the possibility of taking an Arts and Science course while you are enrolled in your final Concurrent Education year. That options would hopefully raise your Physics teachable GPA.
If you wish to appeal the Associate Dean’s decision to the Board of Studies, information and deadlines can be found at https://www.queensu.ca/artsci/undergraduate/student-services/academic-petitions-and-appeals (click on “Submit a Board of Studies Appeal Here”). 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)
20061824Sokolowski
Generated June 12, 2023 at 9:21:00 AM.