Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 4178
Decision Date: February 21, 2018
Associate Dean: Jill Atkinson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Vlad Ienceanu
Student Email: 14vai@queensu.ca
Course: CHEM 281
Term: Fall
Year: 2017
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Mr. Ienceanu:
I have carefully considered your appeal to drop CHEM 281 (F 2017) 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.
It appears that your primary reason for appealing to drop this class late is to raise your GPA, which in itself is not grounds to alter a transcript. While your appeal does cite two other circumstances, namely your travel to Toronto for appointments and coping with your grandfather€™s illness and subsequent passing, neither of these circumstances are documented. Decisions to alter a university transcript cannot be based solely on a student€™s self-report.
The medical documentation supplied indicates that you were seen on February 10, 2018 and you suffer from a chronic medical condition which was recently aggravated and indicated that this affected your CHEM 281 exam. Unfortunately, while this adequately documents your ongoing health issues, the effect on CHEM 281 is again a self-report. You reported that Dr. Carran suggested that you prioritize your health over your course but you did not. Instead, despite travelling to Toronto and dealing with your grandfather€™s illness you completed the course rather than dropping it by the deadline. You are now asking to go back and have the grade removed as it compromises your GPA.
Finally, there is no evidence of a pattern of grades nor timeline to suggest that this course was impacted more than the others from the fall term. There is evidence from your CHEM 112 grade and your self-report that you found this to be a €œtough course€. After weighing all of the documentation, I do not believe that there are sufficient grounds to indicate that CHEM 281 in particular, was affected by circumstances beyond your personal control.
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)
10180598Ienceanu
Decision Date: February 21, 2018
Associate Dean: Jill Atkinson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Vlad Ienceanu
Student Email: 14vai@queensu.ca
Course: CHEM 281
Term: Fall
Year: 2017
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Mr. Ienceanu:
I have carefully considered your appeal to drop CHEM 281 (F 2017) 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.
It appears that your primary reason for appealing to drop this class late is to raise your GPA, which in itself is not grounds to alter a transcript. While your appeal does cite two other circumstances, namely your travel to Toronto for appointments and coping with your grandfather€™s illness and subsequent passing, neither of these circumstances are documented. Decisions to alter a university transcript cannot be based solely on a student€™s self-report.
The medical documentation supplied indicates that you were seen on February 10, 2018 and you suffer from a chronic medical condition which was recently aggravated and indicated that this affected your CHEM 281 exam. Unfortunately, while this adequately documents your ongoing health issues, the effect on CHEM 281 is again a self-report. You reported that Dr. Carran suggested that you prioritize your health over your course but you did not. Instead, despite travelling to Toronto and dealing with your grandfather€™s illness you completed the course rather than dropping it by the deadline. You are now asking to go back and have the grade removed as it compromises your GPA.
Finally, there is no evidence of a pattern of grades nor timeline to suggest that this course was impacted more than the others from the fall term. There is evidence from your CHEM 112 grade and your self-report that you found this to be a €œtough course€. After weighing all of the documentation, I do not believe that there are sufficient grounds to indicate that CHEM 281 in particular, was affected by circumstances beyond your personal control.
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)
10180598Ienceanu
Generated February 21, 2018 at 10:53:27 AM.