Decision Letter
Submission Number: 11330
Decision Date: January 15, 2024
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Nicole Li
Student Email: 21nl46@queensu.ca
Course: MATH 121
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2022
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Ping LI
Course: PHYS 115
Term: Fall
Year: 2022
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Anne Topper
Dear Nicole Li:
I have carefully considered your petition for Credit Standing in PHYS 115 (F22), and MATH 121 (FW22/23) past the academic deadline. After reviewing your file, I have decided to deny your request.
The Academic Petitions and Appeals Regulation 1.1 at 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, I want you to know that I considered this request very thoroughly. In making this decision, I reviewed your Petition Letter, your transcript, the documentation that you supplied dated December 21, 2023 and information related to your grades as supplied by the instructors.
While I acknowledge the health-related extenuating circumstance that you experienced during the 2022 Fall term, the specific impacts from these circumstances on your lower graded assessments in these courses is not evident within the documentation that you supplied. Your instructors indicated that your lower grades in these classes stem from the mid-term exams. Please know that academic impacts of ongoing extenuating circumstances should be managed proactively by utilizing options such as academic consideration or accommodations through Queens Student Accessibility Services (QSAS). It is never suggested that a student write an exam while unwell.
I also want you to know that the petition process is not meant to be used to manage a chronic or ongoing condition. Your petition letter suggests that the impacts of your circumstances occurred during the first two months of the term, prior to the academic drop deadline. 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.
If you are concerned with the impact that these courses have on your cumulative GPA, I would suggest that you consider repeating them in a future term. When repeating the exact same course code, both attempts will appear on your transcript however only the higher attempt 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 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 (queensu.ca/ombuds).
Sincerely,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic)
Decision Date: January 15, 2024
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Nicole Li
Student Email: 21nl46@queensu.ca
Course: MATH 121
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2022
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Ping LI
Course: PHYS 115
Term: Fall
Year: 2022
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Anne Topper
Dear Nicole Li:
I have carefully considered your petition for Credit Standing in PHYS 115 (F22), and MATH 121 (FW22/23) past the academic deadline. After reviewing your file, I have decided to deny your request.
The Academic Petitions and Appeals Regulation 1.1 at 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, I want you to know that I considered this request very thoroughly. In making this decision, I reviewed your Petition Letter, your transcript, the documentation that you supplied dated December 21, 2023 and information related to your grades as supplied by the instructors.
While I acknowledge the health-related extenuating circumstance that you experienced during the 2022 Fall term, the specific impacts from these circumstances on your lower graded assessments in these courses is not evident within the documentation that you supplied. Your instructors indicated that your lower grades in these classes stem from the mid-term exams. Please know that academic impacts of ongoing extenuating circumstances should be managed proactively by utilizing options such as academic consideration or accommodations through Queens Student Accessibility Services (QSAS). It is never suggested that a student write an exam while unwell.
I also want you to know that the petition process is not meant to be used to manage a chronic or ongoing condition. Your petition letter suggests that the impacts of your circumstances occurred during the first two months of the term, prior to the academic drop deadline. 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.
If you are concerned with the impact that these courses have on your cumulative GPA, I would suggest that you consider repeating them in a future term. When repeating the exact same course code, both attempts will appear on your transcript however only the higher attempt 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 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 (queensu.ca/ombuds).
Sincerely,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic)
Generated January 15, 2024 at 4:34:07 PM.