Decision Letter
Submission Number: 12078
Decision Date: July 22, 2024
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Emily Harvey
Student Email: 21emh25@queensu.ca
Course: PSYC 271
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Instructor: Jordan Poppenk
Course: HLTH 230
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Jeffrey Lalonde
Dear Emily:
I have carefully considered your appeal request to drop PSYC 271 (F23) and for Credit Standing in HLTH 230 (F23) past the academic deadline. After reviewing your file, I have decided to deny your request.
As you know, courses must be dropped on SOLUS within the published deadlines. The Academic Petitions and Appeal Regulations 1.1 stress that petitions and appeals are only granted where there are significantly extenuating circumstances, which would merit the waiving of a particular Faculty regulation or decision. Extenuating circumstances normally involve a significant physical or psychological event that is beyond a student’s control and debilitating to their academic performance. These kinds of extraordinary situations should be supported by official documentation from a health care practitioner or other relevant professional. 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, your academic transcript and the information that I received from the instructors related to your individual grades in the courses.
I acknowledge the extenuating circumstances that you experienced during the 2023 Fall term as reported within your petition letter. I have denied this request as the documentation that you supplied confirms a chronic condition for which you are receiving support and does not suggest any unexpected academic impacts during the term you are petitioning. Please know that the petition process is not meant to be used to manage chronic circumstances. 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).
I also see from your transcript that you attempted 18.0 units during the 2023 Fall term. I want you to know that taking more than the recommended number of courses is not typically grounds for a petition request. The information that I received from your instructors confirms that you were not successful at passing either mid-term exam which occurred prior to the drop deadline of the 2023 Fall term. It is always 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 are concerned with the impact that these courses have on your GPA, I would suggest that you consider repeating them 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: July 22, 2024
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Emily Harvey
Student Email: 21emh25@queensu.ca
Course: PSYC 271
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Instructor: Jordan Poppenk
Course: HLTH 230
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Jeffrey Lalonde
Dear Emily:
I have carefully considered your appeal request to drop PSYC 271 (F23) and for Credit Standing in HLTH 230 (F23) past the academic deadline. After reviewing your file, I have decided to deny your request.
As you know, courses must be dropped on SOLUS within the published deadlines. The Academic Petitions and Appeal Regulations 1.1 stress that petitions and appeals are only granted where there are significantly extenuating circumstances, which would merit the waiving of a particular Faculty regulation or decision. Extenuating circumstances normally involve a significant physical or psychological event that is beyond a student’s control and debilitating to their academic performance. These kinds of extraordinary situations should be supported by official documentation from a health care practitioner or other relevant professional. 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, your academic transcript and the information that I received from the instructors related to your individual grades in the courses.
I acknowledge the extenuating circumstances that you experienced during the 2023 Fall term as reported within your petition letter. I have denied this request as the documentation that you supplied confirms a chronic condition for which you are receiving support and does not suggest any unexpected academic impacts during the term you are petitioning. Please know that the petition process is not meant to be used to manage chronic circumstances. 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).
I also see from your transcript that you attempted 18.0 units during the 2023 Fall term. I want you to know that taking more than the recommended number of courses is not typically grounds for a petition request. The information that I received from your instructors confirms that you were not successful at passing either mid-term exam which occurred prior to the drop deadline of the 2023 Fall term. It is always 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 are concerned with the impact that these courses have on your GPA, I would suggest that you consider repeating them 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 July 22, 2024 at 3:39:35 PM.