Decision Letter
Submission Number: 11243
Decision Date: December 20, 2023
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Maya Brennan
Student Email: 21mib4@queensu.ca
Course: CLST 205
Term: Summer
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Maya:
I have carefully considered your petition request to drop CLST 205 (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 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 difficult decision, however, I want you to know that I considered this request very thoroughly. In making this decision, I reviewed your petition letter, the three pieces of documentation that you supplied, the additional information that you provided asc.petitions@queensu.ca dated December 8, as well as information related to your grades in this course that I requested from the Arts and Science Online office.
Maya, I see that you enrolled yourself onto the CLST 205 waitlist on May 1 and that you were subsequently enrolled into this course on May 5. I regret to inform you that competing commitments, such as choosing to work a job while studying, is not considered to be an unexpected extenuating circumstance. While I recognize that you may have missed some of the communications regarding this course while you were busy at work, it was your responsibility to check your schedule in SOLUS to see if you were enrolled in this course from the waitlist.
I also acknowledge the health-related challenges that you reported in your petition letter. You mention that these impacts began around May 1 however, the information that I received from the Arts and Science Online office indicates that you did end up participating in this Summer term course, including on June 28, after the deadline to drop the course had already passed. As your petition did not provide evidence to support why you couldn’t drop this course by the June 23 drop deadline, I cannot grant your request.
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 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/.
Sincerely,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic
Decision Date: December 20, 2023
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Maya Brennan
Student Email: 21mib4@queensu.ca
Course: CLST 205
Term: Summer
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Maya:
I have carefully considered your petition request to drop CLST 205 (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 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 difficult decision, however, I want you to know that I considered this request very thoroughly. In making this decision, I reviewed your petition letter, the three pieces of documentation that you supplied, the additional information that you provided asc.petitions@queensu.ca dated December 8, as well as information related to your grades in this course that I requested from the Arts and Science Online office.
Maya, I see that you enrolled yourself onto the CLST 205 waitlist on May 1 and that you were subsequently enrolled into this course on May 5. I regret to inform you that competing commitments, such as choosing to work a job while studying, is not considered to be an unexpected extenuating circumstance. While I recognize that you may have missed some of the communications regarding this course while you were busy at work, it was your responsibility to check your schedule in SOLUS to see if you were enrolled in this course from the waitlist.
I also acknowledge the health-related challenges that you reported in your petition letter. You mention that these impacts began around May 1 however, the information that I received from the Arts and Science Online office indicates that you did end up participating in this Summer term course, including on June 28, after the deadline to drop the course had already passed. As your petition did not provide evidence to support why you couldn’t drop this course by the June 23 drop deadline, I cannot grant your request.
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 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/.
Sincerely,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic
Generated December 20, 2023 at 10:50:29 AM.