Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 1338
Decision Date: August 7, 2015
Associate Dean: Sue Blake
Student Name: Beatrice Downs
Student Email: 6bjd5@queensu.ca
Ms. Beatrice Downs
6bjd5@queensu.ca
Dear Ms. Downs:
I have carefully considered your request to have your appeal heard after the 21-day timeline for submission. After reviewing your file I have decided to deny your request.
The appeal timeline is in place to give students sufficient time to respond to an academic decision. The 21-day timeline offers students time to seek academic counseling, to write up and submit an appeal, and to collect the supporting documents necessary to the appeal. Further, the appeal timeline is in place to ensure that decision making takes place in a timely manner, allowing students to continue in their academic programs without ongoing concern for unresolved matters.
To consider appeals outside these timelines can easily compromise fair decision making. The interested parties and the original contexts within which the matter originated may not be available. Over time, instructors, course content, the norms of evaluating course materials, and program structures may and generally do change. Furthermore, the supporting documents necessary to any appeal may no longer be available or their credibility may more easily come into question. Therefore, the inability to reconstruct accurately the circumstances leading to the original matter under appeal can compromise the decision-making process.
Exceptions to this regulation can only be granted in cases where extenuating circumstances beyond a student's control render the student unable to appeal within the specified timeline. The student must be able to show that the extenuating circumstances were ongoing. The student must also be able to demonstrate that these circumstances prevented the student from acting between the time the original decision was received and the time at which the appeal was eventually initiated. Appeals of the regulation governing the timeline for appeals must be submitted in writing. An appeal of this type should include a presentation of the specific reasons for a delay and should include documentation which supports the reasons for the delay.
I am sympathetic to your situation and I understand the difficult financial situation that you are currently facing but unfortunately, this is not the type of circumstance that would warrant hearing an appeal nearly seven years past the deadline. All students are expected to manage their academic affairs in a timely manner by seeking information on how to resolve issues and take action accordingly. It appears from your file that you did meet with an Academic Advisor in July 2010 concerning your extenuating circumstances at the time and during that meeting you discussed appealing to drop your failed courses. You were also given information and some printed instructions on how to submit your appeal at that time. Unfortunately, it does not appear as though you followed through on this advice and there is no specific explanation provided as to why you were unable to do so until the present day. Therefore, out of fairness to all students, I cannot reasonably allow your appeal to be heard at this late date without any documented extenuating circumstances that prevented you from taking action until this time.
If you wish to appeal the Associate Dean€™s decision to the Board of Studies, you must submit an appeal to the Board of Studies within 21 days of the date this decision was sent. Guidelines for appealing to the Board of Studies and the appeal form can be found at: http://www.queensu.ca/artsci/students-at-queens/academic-appeals (click on €œBoard of Studies€) Do not use the on-line application for this process. You may contact Mr. Harry Smith, Office of the Ombudsperson for advice on matters of procedure and on obtaining a representative. His office is located in room 153 Richardson Hall and he can be reached by phone (533-6495) or e-mail (ombuds@queensu.ca).
Sincerely,
Sue Blake
Assistant Dean (Studies)
05716290Downs
Decision Date: August 7, 2015
Associate Dean: Sue Blake
Student Name: Beatrice Downs
Student Email: 6bjd5@queensu.ca
Ms. Beatrice Downs
6bjd5@queensu.ca
Dear Ms. Downs:
I have carefully considered your request to have your appeal heard after the 21-day timeline for submission. After reviewing your file I have decided to deny your request.
The appeal timeline is in place to give students sufficient time to respond to an academic decision. The 21-day timeline offers students time to seek academic counseling, to write up and submit an appeal, and to collect the supporting documents necessary to the appeal. Further, the appeal timeline is in place to ensure that decision making takes place in a timely manner, allowing students to continue in their academic programs without ongoing concern for unresolved matters.
To consider appeals outside these timelines can easily compromise fair decision making. The interested parties and the original contexts within which the matter originated may not be available. Over time, instructors, course content, the norms of evaluating course materials, and program structures may and generally do change. Furthermore, the supporting documents necessary to any appeal may no longer be available or their credibility may more easily come into question. Therefore, the inability to reconstruct accurately the circumstances leading to the original matter under appeal can compromise the decision-making process.
Exceptions to this regulation can only be granted in cases where extenuating circumstances beyond a student's control render the student unable to appeal within the specified timeline. The student must be able to show that the extenuating circumstances were ongoing. The student must also be able to demonstrate that these circumstances prevented the student from acting between the time the original decision was received and the time at which the appeal was eventually initiated. Appeals of the regulation governing the timeline for appeals must be submitted in writing. An appeal of this type should include a presentation of the specific reasons for a delay and should include documentation which supports the reasons for the delay.
I am sympathetic to your situation and I understand the difficult financial situation that you are currently facing but unfortunately, this is not the type of circumstance that would warrant hearing an appeal nearly seven years past the deadline. All students are expected to manage their academic affairs in a timely manner by seeking information on how to resolve issues and take action accordingly. It appears from your file that you did meet with an Academic Advisor in July 2010 concerning your extenuating circumstances at the time and during that meeting you discussed appealing to drop your failed courses. You were also given information and some printed instructions on how to submit your appeal at that time. Unfortunately, it does not appear as though you followed through on this advice and there is no specific explanation provided as to why you were unable to do so until the present day. Therefore, out of fairness to all students, I cannot reasonably allow your appeal to be heard at this late date without any documented extenuating circumstances that prevented you from taking action until this time.
If you wish to appeal the Associate Dean€™s decision to the Board of Studies, you must submit an appeal to the Board of Studies within 21 days of the date this decision was sent. Guidelines for appealing to the Board of Studies and the appeal form can be found at: http://www.queensu.ca/artsci/students-at-queens/academic-appeals (click on €œBoard of Studies€) Do not use the on-line application for this process. You may contact Mr. Harry Smith, Office of the Ombudsperson for advice on matters of procedure and on obtaining a representative. His office is located in room 153 Richardson Hall and he can be reached by phone (533-6495) or e-mail (ombuds@queensu.ca).
Sincerely,
Sue Blake
Assistant Dean (Studies)
05716290Downs
Generated August 7, 2015 at 10:09:11 AM.