Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 4076
Decision Date: February 21, 2018
Associate Dean: Jill Atkinson, Ph.D.
Student Name: jahid alefi
Student Email: 0ja17@queensu.ca
Dear Mr. Alefi:
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. 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 documents which support the reasons for delay.
There is no explanation supplied in your appeal to confirm the reasons why you were unable to address your DEVS 220 grade until the present day. Your file shows that you have made 8 previous appeals (July 2011, May 2013, April 2014, June 2015, September 2015, May 2016, September 2016 and July 2017) the majority of them based on the same circumstances and three of which granted your request to waive the one-term deadline. The appeal system is not designed to accommodate or compensate for chronic health conditions by allowing students to retroactively remove low grades. Students with known chronic illnesses are expected to register with Queen€™s Student Accessibility Services to receive academic accommodations. They are also expected to evaluate the impact of their health on their performance in classes; and drop classes as necessary by the Week 8 deadline. Only if a serious extenuating circumstance occurs after this deadline is an appeal an appropriate remedy. Furthermore, students have one full term to submit an appeal requesting to drop a class late due to those circumstances. Without having any documented, unforeseen circumstances that prevented you from making this appeal until now, I cannot reasonably waive the appeal deadline.
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)
06378419Alefi9
Decision Date: February 21, 2018
Associate Dean: Jill Atkinson, Ph.D.
Student Name: jahid alefi
Student Email: 0ja17@queensu.ca
Dear Mr. Alefi:
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. 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 documents which support the reasons for delay.
There is no explanation supplied in your appeal to confirm the reasons why you were unable to address your DEVS 220 grade until the present day. Your file shows that you have made 8 previous appeals (July 2011, May 2013, April 2014, June 2015, September 2015, May 2016, September 2016 and July 2017) the majority of them based on the same circumstances and three of which granted your request to waive the one-term deadline. The appeal system is not designed to accommodate or compensate for chronic health conditions by allowing students to retroactively remove low grades. Students with known chronic illnesses are expected to register with Queen€™s Student Accessibility Services to receive academic accommodations. They are also expected to evaluate the impact of their health on their performance in classes; and drop classes as necessary by the Week 8 deadline. Only if a serious extenuating circumstance occurs after this deadline is an appeal an appropriate remedy. Furthermore, students have one full term to submit an appeal requesting to drop a class late due to those circumstances. Without having any documented, unforeseen circumstances that prevented you from making this appeal until now, I cannot reasonably waive the appeal deadline.
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)
06378419Alefi9
Generated February 21, 2018 at 10:58:48 AM.