Decision Letter
Submission Number: 12505
Decision Date: February 3, 2025
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Tian Cheng Dong
Student Email: 21tcd2@queensu.ca
Course: ECON 232
Term: Winter
Year: 2024
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Ian Keay
Course: MATH 281
Term: Winter
Year: 2024
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Tyler Meadows
Course: STAT 263
Term: Winter
Year: 2024
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Charles Molson
Dear Rina,
Thank you for your petition regarding Credit Standing in ECON 232, MATH 281, and STAT 263 (W24). I have carefully reviewed your request and the supporting documentation that you supplied, and while I’m unable to grant your petition, I want to assure you that I’ve taken your circumstances into account as part of this decision.
Academic Petition and Appeal regulation 1.1. stresses 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. The petitions and appeals process does not compensate for extenuating circumstances that the student is unable to resolve.
I acknowledge the severity of the health issue that your family member had experienced, and I understand that you travelled home during the 2024 Winter term more frequently to provide them with support. I have however denied this request as the documentation that you supplied suggests that you were aware of the severity of your family members health issue and expected recovery time prior to the 2024 Winter term beginning. As you remained enrolled in these courses despite the ongoing academic impacts that you experienced, I cannot grant this request.
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, 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 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, 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.
I hope that you continue to seek out the support and resources available to you, and I wish you the best in navigating your next steps.
Warm regards,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic)
Decision Date: February 3, 2025
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Tian Cheng Dong
Student Email: 21tcd2@queensu.ca
Course: ECON 232
Term: Winter
Year: 2024
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Ian Keay
Course: MATH 281
Term: Winter
Year: 2024
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Tyler Meadows
Course: STAT 263
Term: Winter
Year: 2024
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Charles Molson
Dear Rina,
Thank you for your petition regarding Credit Standing in ECON 232, MATH 281, and STAT 263 (W24). I have carefully reviewed your request and the supporting documentation that you supplied, and while I’m unable to grant your petition, I want to assure you that I’ve taken your circumstances into account as part of this decision.
Academic Petition and Appeal regulation 1.1. stresses 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. The petitions and appeals process does not compensate for extenuating circumstances that the student is unable to resolve.
I acknowledge the severity of the health issue that your family member had experienced, and I understand that you travelled home during the 2024 Winter term more frequently to provide them with support. I have however denied this request as the documentation that you supplied suggests that you were aware of the severity of your family members health issue and expected recovery time prior to the 2024 Winter term beginning. As you remained enrolled in these courses despite the ongoing academic impacts that you experienced, I cannot grant this request.
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, 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 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, 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.
I hope that you continue to seek out the support and resources available to you, and I wish you the best in navigating your next steps.
Warm regards,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic)
Generated February 3, 2025 at 2:00:23 PM.