Decision Letter
Submission Number: 13567
Decision Date: November 14, 2025
Associate Dean: Dorit Naaman (Associate Dean Academic)
Student Name: Phoenix King
Student Email: 20pak3@queensu.ca
Dear Phoenix:
Thank you for your petition request to drop FILM 260 (S24) past the academic deadline. I have carefully reviewed your petition, and while I’m unable to grant your request, I want to assure you that your circumstances were considered thoughtfully and with care as part of the decision-making process.
As outlined in the Academic Petitions and Appeal Regulations 1.1, petitions are only granted in cases where extenuating circumstances significantly impaired a student’s ability to meet academic responsibilities, and where these impacts can be clearly supported by documentation. The regulations also emphasize the importance of demonstrating how these circumstances directly prevented the student from taking academic actions within established timelines, such as dropping a course by the published deadline.
I understand that during the 2024 Summer term you were also preparing for a Fall term internship. According to your onQ grades in FILM 260 (S24), I see that you were able to complete all components of this course except for the 1% intro forum and the final assignment worth 30%. While I do not doubt the sincerity of your efforts or the time spent preparing for the internship, a competing commitment of this nature is not considered an unexpected circumstance as the grounds for a petition.
While I appreciate the document that you supplied dated September 15, 2025 that speaks to extenuating circumstances experienced during the 2024 Fall and 2025 Winter terms, with the absence of documentation demonstrating that an extenuating circumstance affected your ability to meet course requirements within the 2024 Summer term, I am unable to grant this request.
If you are concerned about the impact that this course has on your GPA, I would suggest that you consider repeating it in a future term. If you repeat the exact same course code, both attempts will appear on your transcript, but only the higher grade will be included within the calculation of your cumulative GPA.
Going forward, you should know that it is your responsibility to pause and evaluate the impact of extenuating circumstances on your coursework prior to the drop deadline of the term. If you fall behind in a course or find the material too difficult, you should drop the course by 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 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.
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.
Sincerely,
Dorit Naaman, PhD
Associate Dean (Academic)
Decision Date: November 14, 2025
Associate Dean: Dorit Naaman (Associate Dean Academic)
Student Name: Phoenix King
Student Email: 20pak3@queensu.ca
Dear Phoenix:
Thank you for your petition request to drop FILM 260 (S24) past the academic deadline. I have carefully reviewed your petition, and while I’m unable to grant your request, I want to assure you that your circumstances were considered thoughtfully and with care as part of the decision-making process.
As outlined in the Academic Petitions and Appeal Regulations 1.1, petitions are only granted in cases where extenuating circumstances significantly impaired a student’s ability to meet academic responsibilities, and where these impacts can be clearly supported by documentation. The regulations also emphasize the importance of demonstrating how these circumstances directly prevented the student from taking academic actions within established timelines, such as dropping a course by the published deadline.
I understand that during the 2024 Summer term you were also preparing for a Fall term internship. According to your onQ grades in FILM 260 (S24), I see that you were able to complete all components of this course except for the 1% intro forum and the final assignment worth 30%. While I do not doubt the sincerity of your efforts or the time spent preparing for the internship, a competing commitment of this nature is not considered an unexpected circumstance as the grounds for a petition.
While I appreciate the document that you supplied dated September 15, 2025 that speaks to extenuating circumstances experienced during the 2024 Fall and 2025 Winter terms, with the absence of documentation demonstrating that an extenuating circumstance affected your ability to meet course requirements within the 2024 Summer term, I am unable to grant this request.
If you are concerned about the impact that this course has on your GPA, I would suggest that you consider repeating it in a future term. If you repeat the exact same course code, both attempts will appear on your transcript, but only the higher grade will be included within the calculation of your cumulative GPA.
Going forward, you should know that it is your responsibility to pause and evaluate the impact of extenuating circumstances on your coursework prior to the drop deadline of the term. If you fall behind in a course or find the material too difficult, you should drop the course by 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 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.
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.
Sincerely,
Dorit Naaman, PhD
Associate Dean (Academic)
Generated November 14, 2025 at 1:22:24 PM.