Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 3854
Decision Date: October 31, 2017
Associate Dean: Jill Atkinson, Ph.D.
Student Name: William Cameron Allen
Student Email: cameron.allen@queensu.ca
Dear Mr. Allen:
I have carefully considered your request to have your appeal heard after the one-term 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 one-term 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 (instructors are required to retain course records for one year only). 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 supply any evidence of extenuating circumstances that prevented you from submitting an appeal until the present time. Without such evidence, I cannot waive the appeal deadline. Your letter indicates that while you had a difficult year, you did not follow up or seek information or advice concerning your grades because you assumed that your transcript would only include the courses you took toward your Bachelor of Commerce degree, as you never completed nor advertised yourself as completing any secondary degree. Your transcript shows that you were admitted into the Bachelor of Arts (General) degree program in Economics in July 2013, which required an application through the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. Furthermore, the transcript serves as an official record of the student€™s academic history at Queen€™s so every course taken, regardless of the Faculty in which it was offered (not including those dropped within the drop deadlines) must be recorded. Even if you did not fully understand the implications of your actions at the time, this does not warrant going back several years later to change this record for the purpose of applying to professional schools. My recommendation would be to include a letter with your applications to the schools you are applying to, explaining your circumstances from that time period.
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)
06104559Allen
Decision Date: October 31, 2017
Associate Dean: Jill Atkinson, Ph.D.
Student Name: William Cameron Allen
Student Email: cameron.allen@queensu.ca
Dear Mr. Allen:
I have carefully considered your request to have your appeal heard after the one-term 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 one-term 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 (instructors are required to retain course records for one year only). 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 supply any evidence of extenuating circumstances that prevented you from submitting an appeal until the present time. Without such evidence, I cannot waive the appeal deadline. Your letter indicates that while you had a difficult year, you did not follow up or seek information or advice concerning your grades because you assumed that your transcript would only include the courses you took toward your Bachelor of Commerce degree, as you never completed nor advertised yourself as completing any secondary degree. Your transcript shows that you were admitted into the Bachelor of Arts (General) degree program in Economics in July 2013, which required an application through the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. Furthermore, the transcript serves as an official record of the student€™s academic history at Queen€™s so every course taken, regardless of the Faculty in which it was offered (not including those dropped within the drop deadlines) must be recorded. Even if you did not fully understand the implications of your actions at the time, this does not warrant going back several years later to change this record for the purpose of applying to professional schools. My recommendation would be to include a letter with your applications to the schools you are applying to, explaining your circumstances from that time period.
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)
06104559Allen
Generated October 31, 2017 at 11:25:20 AM.