Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 5729
Decision Date: June 4, 2019
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Aleem Shah
Student Email: 15ahs@queensu.ca
Course: CLST 304
Term: Winter
Year: 2019
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Aleem Shah:
I was saddened to read in your letter of appeal of the passing of your uncle and I am sorry for your loss. I have carefully considered your appeal to drop CLST 304 (W 2019). 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 €œextenuating 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 circumstances beyond his or her control.
I am certainly sympathetic to your situation and realize that this is a disappointing decision, however in the appeal decision letter you received on May 13, 2018 from Associate Dean Jill Atkinson, you were strongly warned to evaluate your progress in your courses during week 7 & 8 of the term and advised that you should drop any courses in which you had fallen behind in. The last date to drop a Winter term 2019 course was March 1st and the passing of your uncle was two weeks prior to that date. At that time, as you had been advised to do, you should have paused to evaluate the impact this circumstance was having on your studies and drop this course if you were falling behind or unable to focus on the course requirements. In the future, I strongly encourage you to consider this advice carefully and evaluate your progress in a course by week 7 of the term and if you are finding the material too difficult or have not kept up with the course work, you should drop the course by the week 8 drop deadline. The drop deadline is set at Week 8 to allow students plenty of time to assess their progress in a class and withdraw without any academic penalty if they feel that they cannot keep up with the demands of a course or have the academic background needed to successfully complete it.
This is a difficult learning experience Aleem but one that will be valuable as you proceed with the pursuit of your university degree. Please note that a student can repeat a course with a low grade. The higher grade would then be included in your GPA and the lower grade excluded from your GPA.
If you wish to appeal the Associate Dean€™s decision to the Board of Studies, information and deadlines can be found at 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 the Office of the Ombudsman (www.queensu.ca/ombudsman) for advice on matters of procedure and on obtaining a representative.
Sincerely,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Studies)
10191124Shah
Decision Date: June 4, 2019
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Aleem Shah
Student Email: 15ahs@queensu.ca
Course: CLST 304
Term: Winter
Year: 2019
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Aleem Shah:
I was saddened to read in your letter of appeal of the passing of your uncle and I am sorry for your loss. I have carefully considered your appeal to drop CLST 304 (W 2019). 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 €œextenuating 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 circumstances beyond his or her control.
I am certainly sympathetic to your situation and realize that this is a disappointing decision, however in the appeal decision letter you received on May 13, 2018 from Associate Dean Jill Atkinson, you were strongly warned to evaluate your progress in your courses during week 7 & 8 of the term and advised that you should drop any courses in which you had fallen behind in. The last date to drop a Winter term 2019 course was March 1st and the passing of your uncle was two weeks prior to that date. At that time, as you had been advised to do, you should have paused to evaluate the impact this circumstance was having on your studies and drop this course if you were falling behind or unable to focus on the course requirements. In the future, I strongly encourage you to consider this advice carefully and evaluate your progress in a course by week 7 of the term and if you are finding the material too difficult or have not kept up with the course work, you should drop the course by the week 8 drop deadline. The drop deadline is set at Week 8 to allow students plenty of time to assess their progress in a class and withdraw without any academic penalty if they feel that they cannot keep up with the demands of a course or have the academic background needed to successfully complete it.
This is a difficult learning experience Aleem but one that will be valuable as you proceed with the pursuit of your university degree. Please note that a student can repeat a course with a low grade. The higher grade would then be included in your GPA and the lower grade excluded from your GPA.
If you wish to appeal the Associate Dean€™s decision to the Board of Studies, information and deadlines can be found at 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 the Office of the Ombudsman (www.queensu.ca/ombudsman) for advice on matters of procedure and on obtaining a representative.
Sincerely,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Studies)
10191124Shah
Generated June 4, 2019 at 2:00:47 PM.