Decision Letter
Submission Number: 12269
Decision Date: October 21, 2024
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Precious Ifearulundu
Student Email: 20pci@queensu.ca
Course: EMPR 200
Term: Winter
Year: 2024
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: SOCY 227
Term: Winter
Year: 2024
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: SOCY 276
Term: Winter
Year: 2024
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: ENGL 215
Term: Summer
Year: 2024
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: HIST 260
Term: Summer
Year: 2024
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Precious Ifearulundu,
I have carefully considered your petition request to drop EMPR 200, SOCY 227, SOCY 276 (W24), ENGL 215, and HIST 260 (S24) 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 at queensu.ca/academic-calendar/arts-science/appeal-regulations/ 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 and your academic transcript.
I was sorry to read about the multiple extenuating circumstances that you experienced during the 2024 Winter and Summer terms and was glad to see from the documentation that you supplied that you were able to obtain support.
I have denied your request to drop EMPR 200, SOCY 227, SOCY 276 (W24) past the academic drop deadline as the documentation that you supplied doesn’t specify the timeline of the academic impacts surrounding the Winter term drop deadline. I recognize that the documentation that you supplied dated September 4th confirms a significant impact to your academic functioning, however it also suggests that you have been engaged with professional support for these circumstances since the 2023 Fall term. I understand that you reported in your petition letter that your health issues got worse in the Winter of 2024 however, with the absence of documentation to confirm that you were not able to drop these courses by the academic drop deadline, I cannot grant this request.
I have denied your request to drop ENGL 215, and HIST 260 (S24) past the academic deadline as the documentation that you supplied does not suggest academic impacts from the extenuating circumstances that occurred on both July 13 and July 18, 2024. I want to remind you that a student can request academic consideration if they need more time to complete a component or had to miss a class as a result of an illness or other personal circumstance. Here is the link for information about that process: queensu.ca/artsci/undergrad-students/student-services/academic-consideration-for-students
Also, it is the student’s responsibility to pause and evaluate the impact of extenuating circumstances on their classes prior to the drop deadline of the term. If they have fallen behind in a course or find the material too difficult, they should drop the course by the deadline. 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: October 21, 2024
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Precious Ifearulundu
Student Email: 20pci@queensu.ca
Course: EMPR 200
Term: Winter
Year: 2024
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: SOCY 227
Term: Winter
Year: 2024
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: SOCY 276
Term: Winter
Year: 2024
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: ENGL 215
Term: Summer
Year: 2024
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: HIST 260
Term: Summer
Year: 2024
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Precious Ifearulundu,
I have carefully considered your petition request to drop EMPR 200, SOCY 227, SOCY 276 (W24), ENGL 215, and HIST 260 (S24) 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 at queensu.ca/academic-calendar/arts-science/appeal-regulations/ 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 and your academic transcript.
I was sorry to read about the multiple extenuating circumstances that you experienced during the 2024 Winter and Summer terms and was glad to see from the documentation that you supplied that you were able to obtain support.
I have denied your request to drop EMPR 200, SOCY 227, SOCY 276 (W24) past the academic drop deadline as the documentation that you supplied doesn’t specify the timeline of the academic impacts surrounding the Winter term drop deadline. I recognize that the documentation that you supplied dated September 4th confirms a significant impact to your academic functioning, however it also suggests that you have been engaged with professional support for these circumstances since the 2023 Fall term. I understand that you reported in your petition letter that your health issues got worse in the Winter of 2024 however, with the absence of documentation to confirm that you were not able to drop these courses by the academic drop deadline, I cannot grant this request.
I have denied your request to drop ENGL 215, and HIST 260 (S24) past the academic deadline as the documentation that you supplied does not suggest academic impacts from the extenuating circumstances that occurred on both July 13 and July 18, 2024. I want to remind you that a student can request academic consideration if they need more time to complete a component or had to miss a class as a result of an illness or other personal circumstance. Here is the link for information about that process: queensu.ca/artsci/undergrad-students/student-services/academic-consideration-for-students
Also, it is the student’s responsibility to pause and evaluate the impact of extenuating circumstances on their classes prior to the drop deadline of the term. If they have fallen behind in a course or find the material too difficult, they should drop the course by the deadline. 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 October 21, 2024 at 11:27:30 AM.