Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Submission Number: 10869
Decision Date: September 11, 2023
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Ajish Shawar Mangral Rajput
Student Email: ajish_m786@hotmail.com

Course: PHIL 260
Term: Fall
Year: 2021
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Course: PHIL 247
Term: Fall
Year: 2021
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Course: ENGL 276
Term: Fall
Year: 2021
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Course: PSYC 251
Term: Winter
Year: 2022
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Course: BIOL 102
Term: Winter
Year: 2022
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Course: ANAT 100
Term: Winter
Year: 2022
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Dear Ajish Rajput:

I have carefully considered your appeal request to drop ENGL 276, PHIL 247, PHIL 260 (F21), ANAT 100, BIOL 102, and PSYC 251 (W22) after the academic deadline. After reviewing your file, I have decided the following:

To grant your request to drop ANAT 100, BIOL 102, and PSYC 251 (W22) after the academic deadline due to the timeline of your circumstances as confirmed by the documentation that you supplied. I acknowledge that you dropped two other Winter term classes in January of 2022 in an attempt to lighten your work-load, and the documentation that you supplied confirms that you were unable to attend school from January 1 – Feb 27, 2022. Your grades in these classes will be replaced with a ‘DR’ notation on your transcript.

To deny your request to drop ENGL 276, PHIL 247, PHIL 260 (F21). As you know, courses must be dropped on SOLUS within the published deadlines. The Academic Regulations (Appeal of Academic Decisions, IIIb) stress that exceptions to this will only be waived under "extenuating circumstances." 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.

I am certainly sympathetic to your situation and realize that this is a disappointing decision however, your petition request did not include documentation that speaks to the 2021 Fall term that you are petitioning from. I also want you to know that competing commitments, such as work-related responsibilities, are not typically grounds for a petition. 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.

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)