Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 5822
Decision Date: July 2, 2019
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Samara Lijiam
Student Email: samaralijiam@gmail.com
Course: CLST 103
Term: Winter
Year: 2019
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Samara Lijiam:
I was sorry to read in your appeal the challenges you experienced during Winter term 2019. I have reviewed your request to drop CLST 103 (W 2019) late and after reviewing your appeal fully, 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 extenuating 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. Extenuating circumstances normally involve a significant physical or psychological event that is beyond your control and debilitating to your overall academic performance.
I am certainly sympathetic to your situation and realize that this is a disappointing decision, however since you note that you were having a difficult period with your health from December to March, you did have ample time to drop this course if you had fallen behind due to your circumstances by the March 1st drop date deadline. In addition to that, you had received accommodation in your fall term courses and catching up in those courses during the Winter term should have been an indicator that you should have lightened your course load. In the future, I encourage you to carefully 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 or have the academic background needed to successfully complete it.
This is a difficult learning experience Samara but one that will be valuable as you proceed with the pursuit of your university degree. The long term impact of a failure or low grade should not weigh particularly heavy when, and if, you apply to a graduate program. You also might like to be reminded of the repeat policy which is that if a student repeats a course, the lower grade will be excluded from their GPA and the higher grade will be included.
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)
20126194Lijiam
Decision Date: July 2, 2019
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Samara Lijiam
Student Email: samaralijiam@gmail.com
Course: CLST 103
Term: Winter
Year: 2019
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Samara Lijiam:
I was sorry to read in your appeal the challenges you experienced during Winter term 2019. I have reviewed your request to drop CLST 103 (W 2019) late and after reviewing your appeal fully, 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 extenuating 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. Extenuating circumstances normally involve a significant physical or psychological event that is beyond your control and debilitating to your overall academic performance.
I am certainly sympathetic to your situation and realize that this is a disappointing decision, however since you note that you were having a difficult period with your health from December to March, you did have ample time to drop this course if you had fallen behind due to your circumstances by the March 1st drop date deadline. In addition to that, you had received accommodation in your fall term courses and catching up in those courses during the Winter term should have been an indicator that you should have lightened your course load. In the future, I encourage you to carefully 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 or have the academic background needed to successfully complete it.
This is a difficult learning experience Samara but one that will be valuable as you proceed with the pursuit of your university degree. The long term impact of a failure or low grade should not weigh particularly heavy when, and if, you apply to a graduate program. You also might like to be reminded of the repeat policy which is that if a student repeats a course, the lower grade will be excluded from their GPA and the higher grade will be included.
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)
20126194Lijiam
Generated July 2, 2019 at 8:30:08 AM.