Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 1963
Decision Date: April 18, 2016
Associate Dean: Johanne Benard, Ph.D.
Student Name: Mary Reynolds
Student Email: 9mfrr@queensu.ca
Dear Ms. Reynolds:
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 any document which support the reasons for delay. Unfortunately, your appeal does not describe any circumstances beyond your personal control that prevented you from making this appeal from the time you returned to studies in 2013 until the present day.
I greatly commend your strength and determination to return to your studies and finish your degree. This is a tremendous success that you should be very proud of. I can also appreciate your desire to clean up your transcript from the periods of time that you were ill as a way to move forward onto the next steps of your life. However, your transcript must reflect as accurately as possible a record of your academic history at Queen€™s. While that history may not necessarily be positive at times over your academic career, it cannot be erased or removed because to do so would compromise the integrity of the transcript itself. It is important to keep in mind that your transcript also tells a story to a reader. Your transcript shows that you indeed had a difficult first two years but you realized that you needed to make a change and you made the decision to take a break from your studies to deal with the challenges that were preventing you from being successful. Your transcript also shows that you made a strong return by coming back and improving your grades, raising your GPA and successfully completing your degree. This story shows your perseverance and personal accomplishments as a student.
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 421 Robert Sutherland Hall and he can be reached by phone (533-6495) or e-mail (ombuds@queensu.ca).
Sincerely,
Johanne Bénard
Associate Dean (Studies)
06322404Reynolds
Decision Date: April 18, 2016
Associate Dean: Johanne Benard, Ph.D.
Student Name: Mary Reynolds
Student Email: 9mfrr@queensu.ca
Dear Ms. Reynolds:
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 any document which support the reasons for delay. Unfortunately, your appeal does not describe any circumstances beyond your personal control that prevented you from making this appeal from the time you returned to studies in 2013 until the present day.
I greatly commend your strength and determination to return to your studies and finish your degree. This is a tremendous success that you should be very proud of. I can also appreciate your desire to clean up your transcript from the periods of time that you were ill as a way to move forward onto the next steps of your life. However, your transcript must reflect as accurately as possible a record of your academic history at Queen€™s. While that history may not necessarily be positive at times over your academic career, it cannot be erased or removed because to do so would compromise the integrity of the transcript itself. It is important to keep in mind that your transcript also tells a story to a reader. Your transcript shows that you indeed had a difficult first two years but you realized that you needed to make a change and you made the decision to take a break from your studies to deal with the challenges that were preventing you from being successful. Your transcript also shows that you made a strong return by coming back and improving your grades, raising your GPA and successfully completing your degree. This story shows your perseverance and personal accomplishments as a student.
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 421 Robert Sutherland Hall and he can be reached by phone (533-6495) or e-mail (ombuds@queensu.ca).
Sincerely,
Johanne Bénard
Associate Dean (Studies)
06322404Reynolds
Generated April 18, 2016 at 10:10:19 AM.