Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 4135
Decision Date: February 21, 2018
Associate Dean: Jill Atkinson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Maclite Tesfaye
Student Email: 14mt68@queensu.ca
Course: PHGY 350
Term: Fall
Year: 2017
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Dr. Allan R. Baer
Dear Ms. Tesfaye:
I have carefully considered your appeal to receive Credit standing in PHGY 350 (F 2017). After reviewing your file I must unfortunately 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€. Credit standing is only granted in cases where there are well documented and unforeseen extenuating circumstances outside of a student€™s control. 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.
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 does certainly describe some circumstances that are extenuating in nature, and I am very sorry for your loss. In this case however, you earned a final grade of B in PHGY 350. Credit standing is not intended for students who receive such a grade. I note from your grade breakdown in the class that your final MCQ exam performance (70) was the same as your midterm MCQ exam (72) performance; therefore there is no direct evidence to show that your final grade of B in this relatively challenging course was significantly impacted by your circumstances. Furthermore, the instructor reports that your grade would not have changed even if he had reweighted it. I therefore, cannot justify removing your grade of B from your transcript.
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)
10186653Tesfaye
Decision Date: February 21, 2018
Associate Dean: Jill Atkinson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Maclite Tesfaye
Student Email: 14mt68@queensu.ca
Course: PHGY 350
Term: Fall
Year: 2017
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Dr. Allan R. Baer
Dear Ms. Tesfaye:
I have carefully considered your appeal to receive Credit standing in PHGY 350 (F 2017). After reviewing your file I must unfortunately 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€. Credit standing is only granted in cases where there are well documented and unforeseen extenuating circumstances outside of a student€™s control. 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.
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 does certainly describe some circumstances that are extenuating in nature, and I am very sorry for your loss. In this case however, you earned a final grade of B in PHGY 350. Credit standing is not intended for students who receive such a grade. I note from your grade breakdown in the class that your final MCQ exam performance (70) was the same as your midterm MCQ exam (72) performance; therefore there is no direct evidence to show that your final grade of B in this relatively challenging course was significantly impacted by your circumstances. Furthermore, the instructor reports that your grade would not have changed even if he had reweighted it. I therefore, cannot justify removing your grade of B from your transcript.
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)
10186653Tesfaye
Generated February 21, 2018 at 10:46:26 AM.