Decision Letter
Submission Number: 12166
Decision Date: September 16, 2024
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: William White
Student Email: 20wtw@queensu.ca
Course: BIOL 300
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Paul Martin, Anna Christine Rooke
Dear Liam:
I was sorry to read of the passing of your grandmother and I want to offer my condolences. I have carefully considered your petition request for Credit Standing in BIOL 300 (F23). After reviewing your file, I have decided to deny your request.
The Academic Petitions and Appeals Regulation 3.3.1.4 at https://www.queensu.ca/academic-calendar/arts-science/appeal-regulations/ state 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.
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 the information that I received from your instructor related to your individual grade in this course.
I acknowledge that you had experienced a difficult end to the 2023 Fall term due to the family related extenuating circumstances that you reported within your petition letter. I have however denied this request as your lower grades in BIOL 300 don’t appear to correlate with the timeline of these unexpected circumstances. The instructor of the course has confirmed that you achieved a 16% on lecture participation throughout the term as well as other lower grades on some weekly deliverables. I also see that you were able to achieve a stronger grade of 72% on the final assignment which was due on December 1.
Going forward, 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 as well as guidance on policy and procedure (queensu.ca/ombuds).
Sincerely,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic)
Decision Date: September 16, 2024
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: William White
Student Email: 20wtw@queensu.ca
Course: BIOL 300
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Paul Martin, Anna Christine Rooke
Dear Liam:
I was sorry to read of the passing of your grandmother and I want to offer my condolences. I have carefully considered your petition request for Credit Standing in BIOL 300 (F23). After reviewing your file, I have decided to deny your request.
The Academic Petitions and Appeals Regulation 3.3.1.4 at https://www.queensu.ca/academic-calendar/arts-science/appeal-regulations/ state 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.
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 the information that I received from your instructor related to your individual grade in this course.
I acknowledge that you had experienced a difficult end to the 2023 Fall term due to the family related extenuating circumstances that you reported within your petition letter. I have however denied this request as your lower grades in BIOL 300 don’t appear to correlate with the timeline of these unexpected circumstances. The instructor of the course has confirmed that you achieved a 16% on lecture participation throughout the term as well as other lower grades on some weekly deliverables. I also see that you were able to achieve a stronger grade of 72% on the final assignment which was due on December 1.
Going forward, 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 as well as guidance on policy and procedure (queensu.ca/ombuds).
Sincerely,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic)
Generated September 16, 2024 at 10:22:17 AM.