Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 2809
Decision Date: November 24, 2016
Associate Dean: Johanne Benard, Ph.D.
Student Name: Margaret Cornett
Student Email: 13mrmc@queensu.ca
Course: PSYC 342
Term: Fall
Year: 2016
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Ms. Cornett:
I have carefully considered your appeal to drop PSYC 342 (F 2016) past the academic deadline. After reviewing your file I have decided to deny your request.
As you know, courses must be dropped on SOLUS within the published deadlines. The Academic Regulations (Appeal of Academic Decisions, IIIb) stress that exceptions to this will only be waived under exceptional circumstances. The integrity of Arts and Science transcripts in general would be greatly diminished if the Faculty were to effect changes to students€™ records without clear and compelling documentation indicating that the student€™s performance was significantly compromised by extenuating circumstances beyond his or her control.
The deadlines for dropping courses have been designed and established in order to provide sufficient time for students to determine their interest in the course material, to consider their ability to handle each course, and to evaluate their overall workload.
Extenuating circumstances normally involve a significant physical or psychological event that is beyond your control and debilitating to your overall academic performance. Additionally, these kinds of extraordinary situations are normally supported by documentation from a professional.
Having the midterm exam returned after the drop deadline is certainly not ideal, and I recognize the difficulty and complexity of your personal challenges as a 4th year student looking to seek admission to graduate programs. Unfortunately however, upper year students are expected to be able to gauge their academic progress in a course even without the benefit of receiving direct feedback and make academic decisions within the drop deadlines. Therefore, despite my sympathies, these are not considered to be the types of extenuating circumstances that would warrant waiving the academic regulations so out of fairness to all students I cannot allow a late drop. I would suggest that you meet with your TA and instructor for some advice and feedback on how to best prepare for the final exam so you can improve your mark.
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 Ombudsman 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, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Studies)
10102048Cornett
Decision Date: November 24, 2016
Associate Dean: Johanne Benard, Ph.D.
Student Name: Margaret Cornett
Student Email: 13mrmc@queensu.ca
Course: PSYC 342
Term: Fall
Year: 2016
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Ms. Cornett:
I have carefully considered your appeal to drop PSYC 342 (F 2016) past the academic deadline. After reviewing your file I have decided to deny your request.
As you know, courses must be dropped on SOLUS within the published deadlines. The Academic Regulations (Appeal of Academic Decisions, IIIb) stress that exceptions to this will only be waived under exceptional circumstances. The integrity of Arts and Science transcripts in general would be greatly diminished if the Faculty were to effect changes to students€™ records without clear and compelling documentation indicating that the student€™s performance was significantly compromised by extenuating circumstances beyond his or her control.
The deadlines for dropping courses have been designed and established in order to provide sufficient time for students to determine their interest in the course material, to consider their ability to handle each course, and to evaluate their overall workload.
Extenuating circumstances normally involve a significant physical or psychological event that is beyond your control and debilitating to your overall academic performance. Additionally, these kinds of extraordinary situations are normally supported by documentation from a professional.
Having the midterm exam returned after the drop deadline is certainly not ideal, and I recognize the difficulty and complexity of your personal challenges as a 4th year student looking to seek admission to graduate programs. Unfortunately however, upper year students are expected to be able to gauge their academic progress in a course even without the benefit of receiving direct feedback and make academic decisions within the drop deadlines. Therefore, despite my sympathies, these are not considered to be the types of extenuating circumstances that would warrant waiving the academic regulations so out of fairness to all students I cannot allow a late drop. I would suggest that you meet with your TA and instructor for some advice and feedback on how to best prepare for the final exam so you can improve your mark.
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 Ombudsman 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, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Studies)
10102048Cornett
Generated November 24, 2016 at 1:55:13 PM.