Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 7253
Decision Date: February 16, 2021
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Alexander Ghai
Student Email: 15atgk@queensu.ca
Course: ECON 212
Term: Fall
Year: 2020
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Eliane Hamel
Course: ECON 351
Term: Fall
Year: 2020
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Michael Barber
Course: ECON 255
Term: Fall
Year: 2020
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: CISC 121
Term: Fall
Year: 2020
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Ting Hu
Dear Alexander Ghai:
I am sorry to have read of your reported extenuating circumstances during the Fall term 2020 and I have carefully considered your appeal to drop ECON 255 (F 2020) past the academic deadline as well as request Credit standing in ECON 212, ECON 351 and CISC 121 (F 2020) based on those circumstances. After reviewing your file I have decided to deny your request.
As you know, Academic Regulation 10.3.2. states that, Credit standing in a course is reserved for situations in which a student, who has completed all of the work in the course including the final examination, and achieved a passing grade in the course, but because of illness or other extenuating circumstances beyond their control, earned a substantially lower grade than might have been expected, normally a grade of C or lower.€ Credit standing is only granted in cases where there are well documented and unforeseen extenuating circumstances outside of a student€™s control. In addition, courses must be dropped on SOLUS within the published deadlines. 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.
I am sure this is a disappointing decision, but the information we received from the instructors of ECON 212, ECON 351 and CISC 102 suggest that your grades in these courses was fairly consistent throughout the Fall term and that your final grades accurately reflects your learning outcomes. In addition, in ECON 351, you knew you were not doing well early in the term since you received a 41 on your midterm and in fact, the information we received from the instructor notes that an adjustment was already made to your grade so that you could reach a 50 passing mark in the course. Further, the letter from Student Wellness Services is somewhat helpful but does not suggest that your health-related challenges were acute, nor does it outline reasons why you could not drop your courses by the November 2nd drop date deadline. And finally, although the Wi-Fi issues may have created challenges, that does not warrant the adjustment of a transcript.
Alexander, let me remind you that if a student repeats a course, the lower grade is excluded from their GPA and the higher grade is included.
Going forward, I suggest that you inform yourself of the academic regulations concerning deadlines as they are outlined in the Important Dates section on the Arts and Science web page and assess your progress in your courses during week 7 or 8 of the term. I see that you are enrolled in six courses this term and I would strongly suggest that you carefully assess your progress in those and if you find that you have fallen behind in your attendance, readings or assignments, it is your responsibility to drop by the end of week 8.
If you wish to appeal the Associate Dean€™s decision to the Board of Studies, you must do so within 21 days of receiving this letter. Information 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).
Best of luck with your degree progression.
Sincerely,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic)
10208429Ghai2
Decision Date: February 16, 2021
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Alexander Ghai
Student Email: 15atgk@queensu.ca
Course: ECON 212
Term: Fall
Year: 2020
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Eliane Hamel
Course: ECON 351
Term: Fall
Year: 2020
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Michael Barber
Course: ECON 255
Term: Fall
Year: 2020
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: CISC 121
Term: Fall
Year: 2020
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Ting Hu
Dear Alexander Ghai:
I am sorry to have read of your reported extenuating circumstances during the Fall term 2020 and I have carefully considered your appeal to drop ECON 255 (F 2020) past the academic deadline as well as request Credit standing in ECON 212, ECON 351 and CISC 121 (F 2020) based on those circumstances. After reviewing your file I have decided to deny your request.
As you know, Academic Regulation 10.3.2. states that, Credit standing in a course is reserved for situations in which a student, who has completed all of the work in the course including the final examination, and achieved a passing grade in the course, but because of illness or other extenuating circumstances beyond their control, earned a substantially lower grade than might have been expected, normally a grade of C or lower.€ Credit standing is only granted in cases where there are well documented and unforeseen extenuating circumstances outside of a student€™s control. In addition, courses must be dropped on SOLUS within the published deadlines. 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.
I am sure this is a disappointing decision, but the information we received from the instructors of ECON 212, ECON 351 and CISC 102 suggest that your grades in these courses was fairly consistent throughout the Fall term and that your final grades accurately reflects your learning outcomes. In addition, in ECON 351, you knew you were not doing well early in the term since you received a 41 on your midterm and in fact, the information we received from the instructor notes that an adjustment was already made to your grade so that you could reach a 50 passing mark in the course. Further, the letter from Student Wellness Services is somewhat helpful but does not suggest that your health-related challenges were acute, nor does it outline reasons why you could not drop your courses by the November 2nd drop date deadline. And finally, although the Wi-Fi issues may have created challenges, that does not warrant the adjustment of a transcript.
Alexander, let me remind you that if a student repeats a course, the lower grade is excluded from their GPA and the higher grade is included.
Going forward, I suggest that you inform yourself of the academic regulations concerning deadlines as they are outlined in the Important Dates section on the Arts and Science web page and assess your progress in your courses during week 7 or 8 of the term. I see that you are enrolled in six courses this term and I would strongly suggest that you carefully assess your progress in those and if you find that you have fallen behind in your attendance, readings or assignments, it is your responsibility to drop by the end of week 8.
If you wish to appeal the Associate Dean€™s decision to the Board of Studies, you must do so within 21 days of receiving this letter. Information 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).
Best of luck with your degree progression.
Sincerely,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic)
10208429Ghai2
Generated February 16, 2021 at 9:53:06 AM.