Decision Letter
Submission Number: 10571
Decision Date: June 19, 2023
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Nelly Kaliza
Student Email: 19nk44@queensu.ca
Course: BIOL 102
Term: Summer
Year: 2022
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Kenton Ko
Course: CISC 181
Term: Summer
Year: 2022
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Carolyn Lamb
Course: PSYC 236
Term: Fall
Year: 2022
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Tim Salomons
Course: PSYC 241
Term: Fall
Year: 2022
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Jillian Joanna May O'Connor
Course: PSYC 336
Term: Fall
Year: 2022
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Kate Harkness
Course: PSYC 337
Term: Fall
Year: 2022
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Luis Flores
Dear Nelly:
I have read your petition requesting Credit standing in BIOL 102, CISC 181 (S 2022) and PSYC 236, PSYC 241, PSYC 336, PSYC 337 (F 2022) based on the circumstances outlined. 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 but based on the information I received from your instructors, it is difficult for me to see the impacts your challenges had on these courses that justifies changing grades. I can see that some components of the courses were well done, while some components were missed entirely.
Going forward, 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.
Another tool to manage your academics in addition to dropping a course by the drop deadline is our Academic Consideration protocol. A student can request short term consideration if they need more time to complete an assignment or miss a class due to documented extenuating circumstances. Here is the link for information about that process:
https://www.queensu.ca/artsci/undergrad-students/academic-consideration-for-students
Nelly, 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 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)
20216817Kaliza
Decision Date: June 19, 2023
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Nelly Kaliza
Student Email: 19nk44@queensu.ca
Course: BIOL 102
Term: Summer
Year: 2022
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Kenton Ko
Course: CISC 181
Term: Summer
Year: 2022
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Carolyn Lamb
Course: PSYC 236
Term: Fall
Year: 2022
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Tim Salomons
Course: PSYC 241
Term: Fall
Year: 2022
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Jillian Joanna May O'Connor
Course: PSYC 336
Term: Fall
Year: 2022
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Kate Harkness
Course: PSYC 337
Term: Fall
Year: 2022
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Luis Flores
Dear Nelly:
I have read your petition requesting Credit standing in BIOL 102, CISC 181 (S 2022) and PSYC 236, PSYC 241, PSYC 336, PSYC 337 (F 2022) based on the circumstances outlined. 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 but based on the information I received from your instructors, it is difficult for me to see the impacts your challenges had on these courses that justifies changing grades. I can see that some components of the courses were well done, while some components were missed entirely.
Going forward, 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.
Another tool to manage your academics in addition to dropping a course by the drop deadline is our Academic Consideration protocol. A student can request short term consideration if they need more time to complete an assignment or miss a class due to documented extenuating circumstances. Here is the link for information about that process:
https://www.queensu.ca/artsci/undergrad-students/academic-consideration-for-students
Nelly, 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 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)
20216817Kaliza
Generated June 19, 2023 at 10:05:03 AM.