Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Appeal Number: 3785
Decision Date: October 17, 2017
Associate Dean: Johanne Benard, Ph.D.
Student Name: Vaithini Vijayakumar
Student Email: vaithini.vijayakumar@queensu.ca

Course: CHEM 281
Term: Summer
Year: 2017
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Course: CHEM 282
Term: Summer
Year: 2017
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Course: MATH 121
Term: Winter
Year: 2014
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Course: BIOL 103
Term: Winter
Year: 2014
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline


Dear Ms. Vijayakumar:

I have carefully considered your appeal to drop CHEM 281 and CHEM 282 (S 2017) past the academic deadline. After reviewing your file, I have decided to grant your request.

Although I have reservations, I am granting this appeal solely on the basis of your grandfather€™s illness and passing. From your transcript, I can see that you registered in an excessively heavy course load for the summer term. Once your grandfather became ill and your family circumstances changed, you should have made some proactive decisions concerning your academics and reduced your load accordingly to avoid failing courses. I will remind you as I did in my last decision letter to you from January, the appeals system is not designed to compensate for circumstances that are ongoing in nature and remain unresolved to such a degree that they continue to impact a student€™s academic progress. You must take responsibility for your academics by enrolling in a course load that you can realistically handle and drop courses within the drop deadlines. You are also registered in an excessively heavy load for both the fall and winter terms. If you are not able to successfully complete these courses to your usual standard of performance, I would urge you to drop accordingly. The last day to drop a fall term course is Friday, November 3 and the last day to drop a winter term course is Friday, March 2.

Note that any change in academic registration (e.g. dropping courses) may impact government or private-firm student financial assistance eligibility and/or funding such as OSAP, scholarships, or bursaries. Please consult with the Student Awards Office (Office of the University Registrar, Gordon Hall) to understand the potential implications of changes to course or program registration and/or the consequences of not successfully completing the required course load. A change in academic registration may also affect a student€™s enrollment status as a full or part-time student, eligibility for student visas, or benefits through external agencies.

I am confident that in the future you will make every effort to inform yourself of the academic regulations concerning deadlines as they are outlined in Important Dates Section on the Arts and Science web page. These deadlines have been established by the Faculty of Arts and Science to ensure a fair and equitable treatment of all students and to facilitate the timely completion of university studies at Queen's.

Yours sincerely,



Johanne Bénard, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Studies)


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