Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Appeal Number: 7037
Decision Date: November 16, 2020
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Sarina Khan
Student Email: 18sk11@queensu.ca

Course: FREN342
Term: Fall
Year: 2020
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Dear Sarina Khan:

I have carefully considered your appeal request to drop FREN 342 (Fall 2020) after the academic deadline. After reviewing your file and the information that you presented, 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.

I am sure this is a disappointing decision Sarina, but as a third year student, the week 8 drop deadline allows for plenty of time for you to assess your progress and make the decision to drop classes if you find that you cannot keep up with their academic demands. Also, taking 6 courses in one term is a very heavy course load and choosing to take more than the recommended number of classes does not constitute sufficient grounds to appeal to retroactively drop a class after the deadline.

Please know that repeating courses is a recommended strategy if you are concerned about a lower grade impacting your grade point average. When repeating the exact same course, both grades remain on your transcript but only the higher one is included within your cumulative GPA.

Going forward, I encourage you to connect with the Student Academic Success Services at https://sass.queensu.ca/ as they provide a range of services including workshops and support to help improve study skills and develop strategies for meeting the demands of academic life.

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 University Ombudsperson for information about student rights and responsibilities as well as guidance on policy and procedure (www.queensu.ca/ombuds).

Sincerely,

Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic)