Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Appeal Number: 9407
Decision Date: August 22, 2022
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Donovan Bisson
Student Email: 19dcb2@queensu.ca

Course: SOCY 122
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2021
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Course: COGS 100
Term: Fall
Year: 2021
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Course: STAT 263
Term: Fall
Year: 2021
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Charles Molson

Course: CISC 203
Term: Fall
Year: 2021
Category: Request aegrotat (AG) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Farkan Alaca

Course: CISC 221
Term: Winter
Year: 2022
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Course: CISC 223
Term: Winter
Year: 2022
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Course: CISC 235
Term: Winter
Year: 2022
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Course: CISC 271
Term: Winter
Year: 2022
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Dear Donovan Bisson:

I have carefully considered your appeal for Credit Standing in STAT 263 (F21), for Aegrotat Standing in CISC 203 (F21) and to drop SOCY 122 (FW2020/2021), COGS 100 (F21), CISC 221, CISC 223, CISC 235, CISC 271 (W22) after the academic deadline. After reviewing your file, I have decided the following:

To grant your request to drop CISC 221, CISC 223, CISC 235, CISC 271 (W22) after the academic deadline as the documentation that you supplied confirmed that your 2022 Winter term courses were directly impacted by your extenuating circumstances. I want you to know that this was a lenient decision, as your documentation also reports that you were provided with support for these extenuating circumstances before the academic drop deadline of the Winter 2022 term. Going forward, it is your responsibility to assess the impacts of extenuating circumstances on your academics during week 7 of each term. If you have fallen behind in a course or find the material too difficult, you should drop the course by week 8 of the term. The drop deadlines, as they have been outlined in the ??Important Dates? section on the Arts and Science web page, have been established by the Faculty of Arts and Science to ensure a fair and equitable treatment of all students.

To deny your request for Credit Standing in STAT 263 (F21), for Aegrotat Standing in CISC 203 (F21) and to drop SOCY 122 (FW2020/2021) and COGS 100 (F21) after the academic deadline. 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 their control.

I am sympathetic to your situation and understand that this is a disappointing decision however, the documentation that you supplied dated 2019 confirms a the existence of a pre-existing condition that began prior to your time at Queen??s. I want you to know that the appeal process is not meant to be used to manage a chronic condition. With the absence of documentation to confirm an unexpected academic impact on these specific courses, I cannot grant this request. As you mention in your letter of appeal, I sincerely hope that you follow through with registering with Queen??s Student Accessibility Services (QSAS) so that you can work with an Advisor who can help you best manage the impacts of your health on your academics.

Please also know that repeating courses is a recommended strategy for students who are concerned about their GPA. When repeating a course, both attempts will appear on your transcript but only the higher grade will be included within the calculation of 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 ??Board of Studies?). 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).

??Student Academic Appeals Policy (SAAP) or Rules of Procedure for USAB are Queen??s university Senate approved appeal policies. In the event that an inconsistency arises between these policies and Arts & Science regulations, SAAP and USAB will supersede.??

Sincerely,

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