Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 3491
Decision Date: June 7, 2017
Associate Dean: Johanne Benard, Ph.D.
Student Name: Matthew Demmings
Student Email: m.demmings@queensu.ca
Course: CHEM 281
Term: Summer
Year: 2016
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: John Carran
Dear Mr. Demmings:
I have carefully considered your appeal to receive Credit standing in CHEM 281 (S 2016). After reviewing your file I have decided to deny your request.
As you know, Academic Regulation 10.3.2. states that, Credit standing in a course is reserved for situations in which a student, who has completed and passed all of the work of the course including the final examination, but because of illness or other extenuating circumstances beyond their control, earned a substantially lower grade than might have been expected, normally a grade of C or lower€. The Calendar goes on to stress that Credit standing will only be granted 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 her control.
According to your file, this is the fourth time you have taken CHEM 281. At your request we granted an extension to allow you to write a deferred exam in the summer 2016 attempt, giving you more time to review the course material and prepare for the exam. You were extensively accommodated for your concussion symptoms in consultation with QSAS. You also did well in other science courses during that term; therefore, I do not accept your argument that your performance in CHEM 281 prior to the final exam is the direct cause of your D grade in the course.
In regards to your accommodation, your instructor granted you an incomplete grade to allow you to write the exam at the end of the Fall 2016 term, as per your accommodation requirements. At that time you were well aware of your current standing in the course and you had the opportunity to appeal to drop it late if you were not satisfied with the grade you had going into the final exam or if you were concerned with your learning and understanding of the material or how you would perform on the final exam. You also had the opportunity to retake the course that term. However, you made the decision to appeal for a further extension to defer the exam and your request was granted. Although you were encouraged to write the exam as soon as possible, you were given until the end of the Winter 2017 term at the latest to write (the standard timeline given for an extension). Despite Dr. Carran€™s advice to write it early in the term, you chose to wait until the final exam period to write the exam. You were registered with Accessibility Services and with consultation among your Accessibility Advisor, your instructor and the Faculty Office, you were offered accommodation in the form of a split exam, with the multiple choice section on one day and the long answer section on another day, permission of a memory aid and an extra 30 minutes per hour (for both parts). You had two full terms (September to April) to review the course material for the exam and to my understanding you also hired a private tutor to assist you with preparing for the final exam. Furthermore, you assured both Dean Blake and Dr. Carran that you would be fully prepared to write the exam.
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)
10122081Demmings4
Decision Date: June 7, 2017
Associate Dean: Johanne Benard, Ph.D.
Student Name: Matthew Demmings
Student Email: m.demmings@queensu.ca
Course: CHEM 281
Term: Summer
Year: 2016
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: John Carran
Dear Mr. Demmings:
I have carefully considered your appeal to receive Credit standing in CHEM 281 (S 2016). After reviewing your file I have decided to deny your request.
As you know, Academic Regulation 10.3.2. states that, Credit standing in a course is reserved for situations in which a student, who has completed and passed all of the work of the course including the final examination, but because of illness or other extenuating circumstances beyond their control, earned a substantially lower grade than might have been expected, normally a grade of C or lower€. The Calendar goes on to stress that Credit standing will only be granted 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 her control.
According to your file, this is the fourth time you have taken CHEM 281. At your request we granted an extension to allow you to write a deferred exam in the summer 2016 attempt, giving you more time to review the course material and prepare for the exam. You were extensively accommodated for your concussion symptoms in consultation with QSAS. You also did well in other science courses during that term; therefore, I do not accept your argument that your performance in CHEM 281 prior to the final exam is the direct cause of your D grade in the course.
In regards to your accommodation, your instructor granted you an incomplete grade to allow you to write the exam at the end of the Fall 2016 term, as per your accommodation requirements. At that time you were well aware of your current standing in the course and you had the opportunity to appeal to drop it late if you were not satisfied with the grade you had going into the final exam or if you were concerned with your learning and understanding of the material or how you would perform on the final exam. You also had the opportunity to retake the course that term. However, you made the decision to appeal for a further extension to defer the exam and your request was granted. Although you were encouraged to write the exam as soon as possible, you were given until the end of the Winter 2017 term at the latest to write (the standard timeline given for an extension). Despite Dr. Carran€™s advice to write it early in the term, you chose to wait until the final exam period to write the exam. You were registered with Accessibility Services and with consultation among your Accessibility Advisor, your instructor and the Faculty Office, you were offered accommodation in the form of a split exam, with the multiple choice section on one day and the long answer section on another day, permission of a memory aid and an extra 30 minutes per hour (for both parts). You had two full terms (September to April) to review the course material for the exam and to my understanding you also hired a private tutor to assist you with preparing for the final exam. Furthermore, you assured both Dean Blake and Dr. Carran that you would be fully prepared to write the exam.
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)
10122081Demmings4
Generated June 7, 2017 at 9:16:07 AM.