Decision Letter
Submission Number: 10846
Decision Date: August 21, 2023
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Ahmad Pottinger
Student Email: 20ap23@queensu.ca
Course: ENGL 215
Term: Summer
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Ahmad:
I have carefully considered your petition to drop ENGL 215 (S23) 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 Petitions and Appeals Regulation 1.1 at https://www.queensu.ca/academic-calendar/arts-science/appeal-regulations/ stress that petitions and appeals are only granted where there are significantly extenuating circumstances, which would merit the waiving of a particular Faculty regulation or decision. Extenuating circumstances normally involve a significant physical or psychological event that is beyond a student’s control and debilitating to their academic performance. 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 difficult decision, however, your petition letter suggests that the technical issues that you experienced during the 2023 Summer term began before the academic drop deadline. I want to remind you that it is the student’s responsibility to pause and evaluate the impact of extenuating circumstances on their classes during week 7 of the term. If they have fallen behind in a course or find the material too difficult, they should drop the course by week 8 of term. 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.
I see that you were also enrolled in HIST 252 during the same May to July session of the 2023 Summer term and so I hope that you were able to complete that course successfully despite the impacts of your extenuating circumstances.
If you are concerned with the impact that this course has on your GPA, I would suggest that you consider repeating it in a future term. When repeating the exact same course code, both attempts will appear on your transcript however, only the higher grade will be included within the calculation of your cumulative GPA.
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 queensu.ca/ombuds/appeal-process/procedural-fairness and guidance on policy and procedure by visiting their website at queensu.ca/ombuds/.
Sincerely,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic)
Decision Date: August 21, 2023
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Ahmad Pottinger
Student Email: 20ap23@queensu.ca
Course: ENGL 215
Term: Summer
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Ahmad:
I have carefully considered your petition to drop ENGL 215 (S23) 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 Petitions and Appeals Regulation 1.1 at https://www.queensu.ca/academic-calendar/arts-science/appeal-regulations/ stress that petitions and appeals are only granted where there are significantly extenuating circumstances, which would merit the waiving of a particular Faculty regulation or decision. Extenuating circumstances normally involve a significant physical or psychological event that is beyond a student’s control and debilitating to their academic performance. 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 difficult decision, however, your petition letter suggests that the technical issues that you experienced during the 2023 Summer term began before the academic drop deadline. I want to remind you that it is the student’s responsibility to pause and evaluate the impact of extenuating circumstances on their classes during week 7 of the term. If they have fallen behind in a course or find the material too difficult, they should drop the course by week 8 of term. 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.
I see that you were also enrolled in HIST 252 during the same May to July session of the 2023 Summer term and so I hope that you were able to complete that course successfully despite the impacts of your extenuating circumstances.
If you are concerned with the impact that this course has on your GPA, I would suggest that you consider repeating it in a future term. When repeating the exact same course code, both attempts will appear on your transcript however, only the higher grade will be included within the calculation of your cumulative GPA.
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 queensu.ca/ombuds/appeal-process/procedural-fairness and guidance on policy and procedure by visiting their website at queensu.ca/ombuds/.
Sincerely,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic)
Generated August 21, 2023 at 4:42:21 PM.