Decision Letter
Appeal Number: 9537
Decision Date: October 31, 2022
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Youssef Taher
Student Email: 21ymt@queensu.ca
Dear Youssef:
I am sorry to have read in your letter of appeal the challenges you reported, and I have carefully considered your request to drop CISC 121 and MATH 121 (S 2022) past the academic deadline. 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 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 circumstances and documentation indicating that the student??s performance was significantly compromised.
I am certainly sympathetic to your situation and realize that this is a disappointing decision, however much of the documentation you submitted is related to Winter term 2022 and these courses were taken during the Summer term 2022. The two pieces of documentation submitted related to Summer term are dated May 25th and June 10th which are prior to the drop deadline dates (July 1st for MATH 121, and July 29th for CISC 121). Therefore, you could have dropped these courses by the drop deadlines if your circumstances were impacting your studies.
The appeals process is not meant to manage an ongoing and/or chronic condition. Instead, students should pause and evaluate their progress in courses prior to drop deadlines. If they have fallen behind or their health is impacting their progress, they should drop courses by the deadline.
Another tool to manage your academics in addition to dropping a course by the drop deadline is our Academic Consideration protocol. A student can request short term consideration if they need more time to complete an assignment or miss a class due to documented extenuating circumstances. Here is the link for information about that process:
https://www.queensu.ca/artsci/undergrad-students/academic-consideration-for-students
Youssef, let me remind you that if a student repeats a course, the low grade is excluded from their GPA and the higher grade is included, which would mean there would be no long-term negative impact on 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 https://www.queensu.ca/ombuds/appeal-process/procedural-fairness and guidance on policy and procedure by visiting their website at https://www.queensu.ca/ombuds/.
Student Academic Appeals Policy (SAAP) https://www.queensu.ca/secretariat/policies/senate/student-academic-appeals-policyE and Rules of Procedure for USAB https://www.queensu.ca/secretariat/policies/senate/student-academic-appeals-policy/usab-rules-of-procedure 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)
20299811Taher
Decision Date: October 31, 2022
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Youssef Taher
Student Email: 21ymt@queensu.ca
Dear Youssef:
I am sorry to have read in your letter of appeal the challenges you reported, and I have carefully considered your request to drop CISC 121 and MATH 121 (S 2022) past the academic deadline. 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 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 circumstances and documentation indicating that the student??s performance was significantly compromised.
I am certainly sympathetic to your situation and realize that this is a disappointing decision, however much of the documentation you submitted is related to Winter term 2022 and these courses were taken during the Summer term 2022. The two pieces of documentation submitted related to Summer term are dated May 25th and June 10th which are prior to the drop deadline dates (July 1st for MATH 121, and July 29th for CISC 121). Therefore, you could have dropped these courses by the drop deadlines if your circumstances were impacting your studies.
The appeals process is not meant to manage an ongoing and/or chronic condition. Instead, students should pause and evaluate their progress in courses prior to drop deadlines. If they have fallen behind or their health is impacting their progress, they should drop courses by the deadline.
Another tool to manage your academics in addition to dropping a course by the drop deadline is our Academic Consideration protocol. A student can request short term consideration if they need more time to complete an assignment or miss a class due to documented extenuating circumstances. Here is the link for information about that process:
https://www.queensu.ca/artsci/undergrad-students/academic-consideration-for-students
Youssef, let me remind you that if a student repeats a course, the low grade is excluded from their GPA and the higher grade is included, which would mean there would be no long-term negative impact on 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 https://www.queensu.ca/ombuds/appeal-process/procedural-fairness and guidance on policy and procedure by visiting their website at https://www.queensu.ca/ombuds/.
Student Academic Appeals Policy (SAAP) https://www.queensu.ca/secretariat/policies/senate/student-academic-appeals-policyE and Rules of Procedure for USAB https://www.queensu.ca/secretariat/policies/senate/student-academic-appeals-policy/usab-rules-of-procedure 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)
20299811Taher
Generated October 31, 2022 at 8:18:43 AM.