Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 3849
Decision Date: October 10, 2017
Associate Dean: Jill Atkinson, Ph.D.
Student Name: James Lappin
Student Email: 11jl126@queensu.ca
Course: ECON 255
Term: Winter
Year: 2015
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: ECON 255
Term: Winter
Year: 2016
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Mr. Lappin:
I have carefully considered your appeal to drop ECON 255 (W 2015) and ECON 255 (W 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.
Your appeal states that you were misadvised by the Department of Economics and the Faculty of Arts and Science Student Services office, specifically that you received advice from both offices directing you to take ECON 250 and ECON 255, which are not specifically required courses for the Bachelor of Arts General degree Plan in Economics. Your appeal also argues that had you not received this advice you would have taken two different courses and been 6.0 units closer to graduation by now. I have investigated your claims based on the information presented in your appeal, the information in your student file and the information obtained from the Department of Economics and my findings are as follows:
Your transcript and ARR show that you were registered in a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Applied Economics as of May 18, 2014 and you switched into the Bachelor of Arts General degree in Economics on September 6, 2017. The transcript and ARR are the official record and tools used to assess a student€™s eligibility to graduate. It is the student€™s responsibility to ensure that these records are correct and up-to-date.
Your student file contains a record of your correspondence with the Faculty Office. You emailed with an inquiry about Internship Transfer Credit on May 23, 2015 to which you stated that you were an €œEconomics Major€. You consulted with an academic advisor on February 22, 2016 and stated that you wished to transfer to another school or explore the General Degree Plan option. The Academic Advisor reviewed the Degree Plan Requirements for the ECON General Plan with you (including the specific courses required) and confirmed that once the current term was over you would have met your ECON Plan requirements so long as you successfully passed your current courses and your Plan GPA met the 1.60 threshold required for graduation. During the time of this meeting, you were in Week 7 of the 2016 Winter term and you were registered in ECON 240, ECON 250 (for the second time) and ECON 255 (for the second time).
You consulted with an academic advisor again on May 16, 2016 stating that you were in the Bachelor of Arts Honours degree but wanted to know how close you were to graduating with the General degree. You were advised that you required 6.0 more units of ECON courses at any level (as you failed both ECON 240 and ECON 255 from the winter term). You asked about taking ECON courses on a letter of permission through Athabasca University and you were supplied with information and instructions on the process.
You consulted with an academic advisor on July 10, 2016 and asked to review the requirements for the Bachelor of Arts General Degree in Economics again. You received the same information from the previous appointment.
The Undergraduate Chair of the Economics Department did not find any record of meeting with you for academic advising and was unable to confirm whether or not you received any advice from him but pointed out that the course requirements for both the General and Honours plan are clearly outlined on the Departmental website.
I have also compared the requirements for the Bachelor of Arts Honours degree in Applied Economics and the Bachelor of Arts General degree in Economics. Both ECON 250 and 255 are Core requirements for the Honours Plan. ECON 255 is not a Core requirement for the General Plan but it can be used to fulfill the Option Requirements; therefore, had you successfully passed ECON 255 that credit would have counted toward the requirements for the General Plan.
Based on the information gathered and in the absence of any documentation to support your claims, I cannot reasonably conclude that you received incorrect advice from the University.
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,
Jill Atkinson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Studies)
10058286Lappin2
Decision Date: October 10, 2017
Associate Dean: Jill Atkinson, Ph.D.
Student Name: James Lappin
Student Email: 11jl126@queensu.ca
Course: ECON 255
Term: Winter
Year: 2015
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: ECON 255
Term: Winter
Year: 2016
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Mr. Lappin:
I have carefully considered your appeal to drop ECON 255 (W 2015) and ECON 255 (W 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.
Your appeal states that you were misadvised by the Department of Economics and the Faculty of Arts and Science Student Services office, specifically that you received advice from both offices directing you to take ECON 250 and ECON 255, which are not specifically required courses for the Bachelor of Arts General degree Plan in Economics. Your appeal also argues that had you not received this advice you would have taken two different courses and been 6.0 units closer to graduation by now. I have investigated your claims based on the information presented in your appeal, the information in your student file and the information obtained from the Department of Economics and my findings are as follows:
Your transcript and ARR show that you were registered in a Bachelor of Arts (Honours) degree in Applied Economics as of May 18, 2014 and you switched into the Bachelor of Arts General degree in Economics on September 6, 2017. The transcript and ARR are the official record and tools used to assess a student€™s eligibility to graduate. It is the student€™s responsibility to ensure that these records are correct and up-to-date.
Your student file contains a record of your correspondence with the Faculty Office. You emailed with an inquiry about Internship Transfer Credit on May 23, 2015 to which you stated that you were an €œEconomics Major€. You consulted with an academic advisor on February 22, 2016 and stated that you wished to transfer to another school or explore the General Degree Plan option. The Academic Advisor reviewed the Degree Plan Requirements for the ECON General Plan with you (including the specific courses required) and confirmed that once the current term was over you would have met your ECON Plan requirements so long as you successfully passed your current courses and your Plan GPA met the 1.60 threshold required for graduation. During the time of this meeting, you were in Week 7 of the 2016 Winter term and you were registered in ECON 240, ECON 250 (for the second time) and ECON 255 (for the second time).
You consulted with an academic advisor again on May 16, 2016 stating that you were in the Bachelor of Arts Honours degree but wanted to know how close you were to graduating with the General degree. You were advised that you required 6.0 more units of ECON courses at any level (as you failed both ECON 240 and ECON 255 from the winter term). You asked about taking ECON courses on a letter of permission through Athabasca University and you were supplied with information and instructions on the process.
You consulted with an academic advisor on July 10, 2016 and asked to review the requirements for the Bachelor of Arts General Degree in Economics again. You received the same information from the previous appointment.
The Undergraduate Chair of the Economics Department did not find any record of meeting with you for academic advising and was unable to confirm whether or not you received any advice from him but pointed out that the course requirements for both the General and Honours plan are clearly outlined on the Departmental website.
I have also compared the requirements for the Bachelor of Arts Honours degree in Applied Economics and the Bachelor of Arts General degree in Economics. Both ECON 250 and 255 are Core requirements for the Honours Plan. ECON 255 is not a Core requirement for the General Plan but it can be used to fulfill the Option Requirements; therefore, had you successfully passed ECON 255 that credit would have counted toward the requirements for the General Plan.
Based on the information gathered and in the absence of any documentation to support your claims, I cannot reasonably conclude that you received incorrect advice from the University.
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,
Jill Atkinson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Studies)
10058286Lappin2
Generated October 10, 2017 at 10:52:45 AM.