Decision Letter
Submission Number: 14096
Decision Date: April 30, 2026
Associate Dean: Dorit Naaman (Associate Dean Academic)
Student Name: Bikram Dhanoa
Student Email: 24jbn@queensu.ca
Course: CISC 102
Term: Fall
Year: 2025
Category: Request an extension of an exam deferral
Instructor: Dr. Erin Meger
Additional Information: Final Exam
Dear Bikram Dhanoa,
Thank you for your petition regarding a mid-term exam deferral in CISC 102 (F25). I have carefully reviewed your request and while I’m unable to grant your petition, I want to assure you that your circumstances were considered thoughtfully and with care as part of the decision-making process.
The Academic Petitions and Appeal Regulation 1.1 states that petitions 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.
I understand that you were originally scheduled to write the deferred exam for CISC 102 (F25) in January of 2026. Due to an unexpected illness and pain from a physical injury, you submitted a prior petition, which was granted to allow you to complete the exam during the 2026 Winter term. Your instructor has since reported that they provided you with multiple opportunities to write the exam in March however these were not completed.
From your current petition, I acknowledge that you were not able to write the exam on March 13 due to previously arranged travel, on March 19 due to an unexpected illness, and on March 26 due to a disability-related flare up. While I recognize these circumstances, travel plans are not considered unexpected extenuating circumstances that are typical grounds for a petition request.
While I appreciate the letter from your mother confirming the circumstances that you outlined in your petition letter, in the absence of documentation from a healthcare professional to support that an unexpected extenuating circumstance prevented you from writing the deferred final exam as scheduled in March, I am unable to grant this request.
I want you to know that I also explored other academic options, including Aegrotat Standing. Under Academic Petition and Appeal regulation 1.7.1.3, Aegrotat standing is available only when a student is unable to complete all course work due to illness or other extenuating circumstances, and when the instructor confirms that the student has met the essential learning outcomes based on the work that they were able to complete. In this case, as the instructor of CISC 102 (F25) has indicated that you do not meet the criteria for this academic option as you did not meet all of the learning outcomes based on the work that you were able to complete in the course during the 2025 Fall term.
However, in recognition of the chronic circumstances related to your disability that have affected your progress in this course to date, I will allow you to drop CISC 102 (F25) after the academic deadline. If you accept this option, your final grade will be replaced with a DR notation on your transcript and will not be included within the calculation of your cumulative GPA. Please email asc.petitions@queensu.ca within 10 business days of receiving this letter if you would like to proceed with this academic option.
I understand that this is a difficult outcome, as CISC 102 is a pre-requisite course for some upper year computing courses. Going forward, you may wish to consider repeating this course 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”). Appeals to the Board of Studies must be submitted within 10 business days of the date of this decision. 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, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic)
Decision Date: April 30, 2026
Associate Dean: Dorit Naaman (Associate Dean Academic)
Student Name: Bikram Dhanoa
Student Email: 24jbn@queensu.ca
Course: CISC 102
Term: Fall
Year: 2025
Category: Request an extension of an exam deferral
Instructor: Dr. Erin Meger
Additional Information: Final Exam
Dear Bikram Dhanoa,
Thank you for your petition regarding a mid-term exam deferral in CISC 102 (F25). I have carefully reviewed your request and while I’m unable to grant your petition, I want to assure you that your circumstances were considered thoughtfully and with care as part of the decision-making process.
The Academic Petitions and Appeal Regulation 1.1 states that petitions 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.
I understand that you were originally scheduled to write the deferred exam for CISC 102 (F25) in January of 2026. Due to an unexpected illness and pain from a physical injury, you submitted a prior petition, which was granted to allow you to complete the exam during the 2026 Winter term. Your instructor has since reported that they provided you with multiple opportunities to write the exam in March however these were not completed.
From your current petition, I acknowledge that you were not able to write the exam on March 13 due to previously arranged travel, on March 19 due to an unexpected illness, and on March 26 due to a disability-related flare up. While I recognize these circumstances, travel plans are not considered unexpected extenuating circumstances that are typical grounds for a petition request.
While I appreciate the letter from your mother confirming the circumstances that you outlined in your petition letter, in the absence of documentation from a healthcare professional to support that an unexpected extenuating circumstance prevented you from writing the deferred final exam as scheduled in March, I am unable to grant this request.
I want you to know that I also explored other academic options, including Aegrotat Standing. Under Academic Petition and Appeal regulation 1.7.1.3, Aegrotat standing is available only when a student is unable to complete all course work due to illness or other extenuating circumstances, and when the instructor confirms that the student has met the essential learning outcomes based on the work that they were able to complete. In this case, as the instructor of CISC 102 (F25) has indicated that you do not meet the criteria for this academic option as you did not meet all of the learning outcomes based on the work that you were able to complete in the course during the 2025 Fall term.
However, in recognition of the chronic circumstances related to your disability that have affected your progress in this course to date, I will allow you to drop CISC 102 (F25) after the academic deadline. If you accept this option, your final grade will be replaced with a DR notation on your transcript and will not be included within the calculation of your cumulative GPA. Please email asc.petitions@queensu.ca within 10 business days of receiving this letter if you would like to proceed with this academic option.
I understand that this is a difficult outcome, as CISC 102 is a pre-requisite course for some upper year computing courses. Going forward, you may wish to consider repeating this course 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”). Appeals to the Board of Studies must be submitted within 10 business days of the date of this decision. 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, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic)
Generated April 30, 2026 at 10:00:02 AM.