Decision Letter
Submission Number: 10552
Decision Date: June 12, 2023
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Isabella Henderson
Student Email: 21iah6@queensu.ca
Course: MATH 121
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2023
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Dr. Ping Li
Dear Bella:
I have carefully considered your petition for Credit Standing in MATH 121 (FW22/23). After reviewing your file, I have decided to deny your request.
As you know, Academic Appeal and Petition Regulation 3.3.1.4. states that, "Credit standing is reserved for a course in which a student who has completed all of the work of the class, including the final examination, and achieved a passing grade in the class, but due to illness or other extenuating circumstances beyond their control, earned a substantially lower grade than might have been expected.” 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.
While I acknowledge the extenuating circumstances that you experienced during the 2022/2023 academic year, the documentation that you supplied indicates that your circumstances were chronic and not unexpected and the specific on MATH 121 is not made clear. I see that your mid-year letter grade in this course was a D- which indicates that you knew how you were doing in it before the March deadline to drop the course. It is the student’s responsibility to pause and evaluate the impact of extenuating circumstances on their classes during week 7 of the term. If they have fallen behind in a course or find the material too difficult, they should drop the course by week 8 of term. 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.
I am sympathetic to your situation and understand that this is a difficult decision however I want to remind you that it is not recommended for students to attempt more than 15.0 units per term as I see that you were enrolled in 18.0 units for the 2023 Winter term. If you are concerned with the impact that this course has on your cumulative GPA, I would suggest that you consider repeating it in a future term. When repeating the exact same course code, both attempts will appear on your transcript however only the higher attempt will be included within the calculation of your cumulative 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 as well as guidance on policy and procedure (www.queensu.ca/ombuds).
Sincerely,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic)
Decision Date: June 12, 2023
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Isabella Henderson
Student Email: 21iah6@queensu.ca
Course: MATH 121
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2023
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Dr. Ping Li
Dear Bella:
I have carefully considered your petition for Credit Standing in MATH 121 (FW22/23). After reviewing your file, I have decided to deny your request.
As you know, Academic Appeal and Petition Regulation 3.3.1.4. states that, "Credit standing is reserved for a course in which a student who has completed all of the work of the class, including the final examination, and achieved a passing grade in the class, but due to illness or other extenuating circumstances beyond their control, earned a substantially lower grade than might have been expected.” 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.
While I acknowledge the extenuating circumstances that you experienced during the 2022/2023 academic year, the documentation that you supplied indicates that your circumstances were chronic and not unexpected and the specific on MATH 121 is not made clear. I see that your mid-year letter grade in this course was a D- which indicates that you knew how you were doing in it before the March deadline to drop the course. It is the student’s responsibility to pause and evaluate the impact of extenuating circumstances on their classes during week 7 of the term. If they have fallen behind in a course or find the material too difficult, they should drop the course by week 8 of term. 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.
I am sympathetic to your situation and understand that this is a difficult decision however I want to remind you that it is not recommended for students to attempt more than 15.0 units per term as I see that you were enrolled in 18.0 units for the 2023 Winter term. If you are concerned with the impact that this course has on your cumulative GPA, I would suggest that you consider repeating it in a future term. When repeating the exact same course code, both attempts will appear on your transcript however only the higher attempt will be included within the calculation of your cumulative 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 as well as guidance on policy and procedure (www.queensu.ca/ombuds).
Sincerely,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic)
Generated June 12, 2023 at 9:40:53 AM.