Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Submission Number: 12224
Decision Date: December 5, 2024
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Brooke Simons-Vatch
Student Email: 21bdsv@queensu.ca

Course: WRIT 120
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

Course: HIST 200
Term: Summer
Year: 2024
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Course: HIST 242
Term: Winter
Year: 2024
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Dear Brooke Simons-Vatch:

Thank you for your petition requesting to drop HIST 242 (W24), HIST 200, HIST 260 and WRIT 120 (S24) after the academic deadline. I have carefully reviewed your request and the supporting documentation that you supplied, and while I’m unable to grant all of these requests, I want to assure you that I’ve taken your circumstances into account as part of this decision.

I will allow you to drop HIST 242 (W24) past the academic deadline due to the timeline and academic impacts of extenuating circumstances as confirmed by the documentation you supplied. Your grade in this course will be replaced with a DR notation on your transcript.

Regarding your requests to drop HIST 200, HIST 260 and WRIT 120 (S24) after the academic deadline, as you know, courses must be dropped through SOLUS within the deadlines outlined in the academic calendar. According to the Academic Petitions and Appeal Regulations 1.1, petitions and appeals are typically considered only when there are significant extenuating circumstances that justify waiving a particular Faculty regulation or decision. For this to be considered, it’s important that the situation is supported by official documentation from a healthcare provider or another relevant professional.

I do acknowledge the health-related extenuating circumstances that you experienced during the 2024 Winter term as confirmed within the documentation that you supplied. However, as your petition did not include documentation to address the ongoing impacts on your 2024 Summer term courses, I cannot grant this part of your request.

Going forward, 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 deadline. 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 these courses have on your cumulative 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.

Additionally, if you wish to appeal this decision, you are welcome to submit an appeal to the Board of Studies. Information on the appeal process and deadlines is available at queensu.ca/artsci/undergraduate/student-services/academic-petitions-and-appeals (click on “Second Level”). The Office of the University Ombudsperson offers guidance on student rights and procedural fairness at queensu.ca/ombuds/appeal-process/procedural-fairness, and they are also available to support you at queensu.ca/ombuds.

Sincerely,

Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic)