Decision Letter
Submission Number: 10561
Decision Date: June 12, 2023
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Veronica O'Hara
Student Email: 21voh@queensu.ca
Course: PSYC 370
Term: Winter
Year: 2023
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Dr. Monica Valsangkar-Smyth
Course: DEVS 221
Term: Winter
Year: 2023
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Ian Fanning
Dear Veronica:
I was sorry to read in your petition letter the challenges you reported, and I carefully considered your request for Credit standing in PSYC 370 and DEVS 221 (W 2023). 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, often which took place after the drop date deadline. 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 documentation you submitted shows that the onset of your circumstances began on February 9, 2023 which was prior to the March 4, 2023 drop deadline. It is a student’s responsibility to assess the impact their circumstances may be having on their studies prior to the drop deadline. Additionally, you were enrolled in 6 courses during Winter term 2023 which exceeds the Faculty recommendation of enrolling in 5 courses per term. And finally, it is not clear to me why these courses were significantly impacted by your circumstances more so than your other courses where you achieved three A range grades and a B range grade.
Going forward, I encourage you to carefully evaluate your progress in courses 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. The drop deadlines, outlined in the “Important Dates” section on the Faculty of Arts and Science web page, have been established to ensure fair and equitable treatment of all students.
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
Veronica, 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.
If you wish to appeal the Associate Dean’s decision to the Board of Studies, information and deadlines can be found at https://www.queensu.ca/artsci/undergraduate/student-services/academic-petitions-and-appeals (click on “Submit a Board of Studies Appeal Here”). 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/.
Sincerely,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic)
20308033O’Hara
Decision Date: June 12, 2023
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Veronica O'Hara
Student Email: 21voh@queensu.ca
Course: PSYC 370
Term: Winter
Year: 2023
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Dr. Monica Valsangkar-Smyth
Course: DEVS 221
Term: Winter
Year: 2023
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Ian Fanning
Dear Veronica:
I was sorry to read in your petition letter the challenges you reported, and I carefully considered your request for Credit standing in PSYC 370 and DEVS 221 (W 2023). 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, often which took place after the drop date deadline. 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 documentation you submitted shows that the onset of your circumstances began on February 9, 2023 which was prior to the March 4, 2023 drop deadline. It is a student’s responsibility to assess the impact their circumstances may be having on their studies prior to the drop deadline. Additionally, you were enrolled in 6 courses during Winter term 2023 which exceeds the Faculty recommendation of enrolling in 5 courses per term. And finally, it is not clear to me why these courses were significantly impacted by your circumstances more so than your other courses where you achieved three A range grades and a B range grade.
Going forward, I encourage you to carefully evaluate your progress in courses 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. The drop deadlines, outlined in the “Important Dates” section on the Faculty of Arts and Science web page, have been established to ensure fair and equitable treatment of all students.
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
Veronica, 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.
If you wish to appeal the Associate Dean’s decision to the Board of Studies, information and deadlines can be found at https://www.queensu.ca/artsci/undergraduate/student-services/academic-petitions-and-appeals (click on “Submit a Board of Studies Appeal Here”). 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/.
Sincerely,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic)
20308033O’Hara
Generated June 12, 2023 at 9:17:58 AM.