Decision Letter
Submission Number: 11309
Decision Date: January 22, 2024
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Jacob Fong
Student Email: 22jf4@queensu.ca
Course: PSYC 271
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Instructor: Jordan Poppenk
Dear Jacob:
I have carefully considered your petition to drop PSYC 271 (F23) 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 and I want you to know that I considered this request very thoroughly. In making this decision, I reviewed your Petition Letter and your academic transcript.
Jacob, I want you to know that I do acknowledge the multiple health-related extenuating circumstances that you experienced during the 2023 Fall term as reported in your petition letter however, I have denied your request for the following reasons.
The first circumstance that you reported – an illness - occurred prior to the drop deadline of the term. 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.
The second circumstance that you reported – an injury – I can see that you were accommodated through Academic Considerations in all of your 2023 Fall term classes (including PSYC 271) for this circumstance in November. I also want to remind you that your petition did not include documentation to support the timeline and academic impacts of your extenuating circumstances.
If you are concerned with the impact that this course has on your cumulative 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 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 22, 2024
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Jacob Fong
Student Email: 22jf4@queensu.ca
Course: PSYC 271
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Instructor: Jordan Poppenk
Dear Jacob:
I have carefully considered your petition to drop PSYC 271 (F23) 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 and I want you to know that I considered this request very thoroughly. In making this decision, I reviewed your Petition Letter and your academic transcript.
Jacob, I want you to know that I do acknowledge the multiple health-related extenuating circumstances that you experienced during the 2023 Fall term as reported in your petition letter however, I have denied your request for the following reasons.
The first circumstance that you reported – an illness - occurred prior to the drop deadline of the term. 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.
The second circumstance that you reported – an injury – I can see that you were accommodated through Academic Considerations in all of your 2023 Fall term classes (including PSYC 271) for this circumstance in November. I also want to remind you that your petition did not include documentation to support the timeline and academic impacts of your extenuating circumstances.
If you are concerned with the impact that this course has on your cumulative 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 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 22, 2024 at 2:41:24 PM.