Decision Letter
Submission Number: 11547
Decision Date: February 26, 2024
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Maryam Rifai
Student Email: 21mb91@queensu.ca
Course: DEVS 100
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2022
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: DEVS 220
Term: Summer
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Maryam Rifai:
I have carefully considered your petition request to drop DEVS 100 (FW22/23) and DEVS 220 (S23) past the academic deadline. After reviewing your file, I have decided the following:
To grant your request to drop DEVS 100 (FW22/23) after the academic deadline. I recognize that you were given an Incomplete Grade in this course by your instructor, and I will allow this course to be dropped for the same reasons as your prior petition request related to the 2022/2023 academic year. Your grade in this course will be replaced with a DR notation on your transcript.
To deny your request to drop DEVS 220 (S23) after the academic deadline. 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 sympathetic to your situation and understand that this is a difficult decision, however, I want you to know that I considered this request very thoroughly. In making this decision, I reviewed your petition letter, the documentation that you supplied and your academic transcript.
I acknowledge that you are connected with a variety of support services within the University, and I want to commend you on your strong 2023 Fall term grades. I recognize that the documentation that you supplied confirms the extenuating circumstances that you described in your petition letter however, I have denied this request as during the 2023 Summer term, you were aware that these circumstances caused previous impacts to your academic performance. The academic drop deadline for DEVS 220 (S23) was June 23, 2023, and I want to remind you of your previous petition decision from May of 2023 where you were informed of the importance of dropping courses by the academic deadline going forward. As the petition process is not meant to be used to manage a chronic condition and the documentation that you supplied does not suggest a new or different extenuating circumstance that impacted DEVS 220 (S23), I cannot grant this request.
As you know, academic impacts from ongoing circumstances should be managed proactively by utilizing options such as academic consideration or accommodations
through Queen’s Student Accessibility Services (QSAS). 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, as they have been outlined in the “Important Dates” section on the Arts and Science web page, have been established by the Faculty of Arts and Science to ensure fair and equitable treatment of all students.
If you are concerned with the impact that this course has on your 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 grade 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 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 queensu.ca/ombuds/appeal-process/procedural-fairness and guidance on policy and procedure by visiting their website at queensu.ca/ombuds/.
Sincerely,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic)
Decision Date: February 26, 2024
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Maryam Rifai
Student Email: 21mb91@queensu.ca
Course: DEVS 100
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2022
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: DEVS 220
Term: Summer
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Maryam Rifai:
I have carefully considered your petition request to drop DEVS 100 (FW22/23) and DEVS 220 (S23) past the academic deadline. After reviewing your file, I have decided the following:
To grant your request to drop DEVS 100 (FW22/23) after the academic deadline. I recognize that you were given an Incomplete Grade in this course by your instructor, and I will allow this course to be dropped for the same reasons as your prior petition request related to the 2022/2023 academic year. Your grade in this course will be replaced with a DR notation on your transcript.
To deny your request to drop DEVS 220 (S23) after the academic deadline. 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 sympathetic to your situation and understand that this is a difficult decision, however, I want you to know that I considered this request very thoroughly. In making this decision, I reviewed your petition letter, the documentation that you supplied and your academic transcript.
I acknowledge that you are connected with a variety of support services within the University, and I want to commend you on your strong 2023 Fall term grades. I recognize that the documentation that you supplied confirms the extenuating circumstances that you described in your petition letter however, I have denied this request as during the 2023 Summer term, you were aware that these circumstances caused previous impacts to your academic performance. The academic drop deadline for DEVS 220 (S23) was June 23, 2023, and I want to remind you of your previous petition decision from May of 2023 where you were informed of the importance of dropping courses by the academic deadline going forward. As the petition process is not meant to be used to manage a chronic condition and the documentation that you supplied does not suggest a new or different extenuating circumstance that impacted DEVS 220 (S23), I cannot grant this request.
As you know, academic impacts from ongoing circumstances should be managed proactively by utilizing options such as academic consideration or accommodations
through Queen’s Student Accessibility Services (QSAS). 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, as they have been outlined in the “Important Dates” section on the Arts and Science web page, have been established by the Faculty of Arts and Science to ensure fair and equitable treatment of all students.
If you are concerned with the impact that this course has on your 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 grade 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 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 queensu.ca/ombuds/appeal-process/procedural-fairness and guidance on policy and procedure by visiting their website at queensu.ca/ombuds/.
Sincerely,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic)
Generated February 26, 2024 at 9:41:23 AM.