Decision Letter
Submission Number: 11351
Decision Date: January 29, 2024
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Andleeb Haide
Student Email: 21anah@queensu.ca
Course: psyc370
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Instructor: Valsangkar-Smyth,Monica
Course: psyc 100
Term: Summer
Year: 2023
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Fowlie,Devin Ivan
Course: psyc 271
Term: Winter
Year: 2023
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Dringenberg,Hans C
Course: psyc 305
Term: Winter
Year: 2023
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Olmstead,Mary Cella
Course: psyc331
Term: Winter
Year: 2023
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Stewart,Jeremy
Dear Andleeb:
I have carefully considered your petition request to drop PSYC 370 (F23) after the academic deadline and for Credit Standing in PSYC 271, PSYC 305, PSYC 331 (W23), and PSYC 100 (S23). After reviewing your file, I have decided the following:
To grant your request to drop PSYC 370 (F23) after the academic deadline due to the ongoing academic impacts of your extenuating circumstances as confirmed within the documentation that you supplied. Your grade in this course will be replaced with a DR notation on your transcript. I want you to know that this was a lenient decision as the petition process is not meant to be used to manage a chronic condition. 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.
To deny your request for Credit Standing in PSYC 271, PSYC 305, PSYC 331 (W23), and PSYC 100 (S23). 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, the documentation that you supplied, the additional information that you supplied the petitions office in an email dated January 9, 2023, your academic transcript and the information that I received from the instructors related to your individual grades in these courses.
I acknowledge the multiple health related extenuating circumstances that you have experienced over the years and I want to commend you on your perseverance. I have
denied this part of your request as the correlation between your extenuating circumstances and your achieved grades in these courses is unclear.
Looking at your final grades in each of these courses, I see that they aren’t so different from your grades in previous terms. The information that I received from your instructors indicate that you failed almost all of the midterms and final exams in these classes which suggests to me that the learning outcomes may not have been met. The instructor of PSYC 271 reported that you passed some components of the course to high standards but failed others throughout the term. The instructor of PSYC 305 reported that your grades stayed pretty consistent throughout the term with component grades of 62%, 53%, 55%, 70% and 65%. The instructors of PSYC 100 and PSYC 331 suggest that you actually failed these courses however your final grade was raised which allowed you to pass.
Andleeb, I want to remind you that a student can request short term academic consideration if they need more time to complete a component or had to miss a class as a result of an illness or a personal circumstance. Here is the link for information about that process: https://www.queensu.ca/artsci/undergrad-students/student-services/academic-consideration-for-students.
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 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 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: January 29, 2024
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Andleeb Haide
Student Email: 21anah@queensu.ca
Course: psyc370
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Instructor: Valsangkar-Smyth,Monica
Course: psyc 100
Term: Summer
Year: 2023
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Fowlie,Devin Ivan
Course: psyc 271
Term: Winter
Year: 2023
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Dringenberg,Hans C
Course: psyc 305
Term: Winter
Year: 2023
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Olmstead,Mary Cella
Course: psyc331
Term: Winter
Year: 2023
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Stewart,Jeremy
Dear Andleeb:
I have carefully considered your petition request to drop PSYC 370 (F23) after the academic deadline and for Credit Standing in PSYC 271, PSYC 305, PSYC 331 (W23), and PSYC 100 (S23). After reviewing your file, I have decided the following:
To grant your request to drop PSYC 370 (F23) after the academic deadline due to the ongoing academic impacts of your extenuating circumstances as confirmed within the documentation that you supplied. Your grade in this course will be replaced with a DR notation on your transcript. I want you to know that this was a lenient decision as the petition process is not meant to be used to manage a chronic condition. 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.
To deny your request for Credit Standing in PSYC 271, PSYC 305, PSYC 331 (W23), and PSYC 100 (S23). 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, the documentation that you supplied, the additional information that you supplied the petitions office in an email dated January 9, 2023, your academic transcript and the information that I received from the instructors related to your individual grades in these courses.
I acknowledge the multiple health related extenuating circumstances that you have experienced over the years and I want to commend you on your perseverance. I have
denied this part of your request as the correlation between your extenuating circumstances and your achieved grades in these courses is unclear.
Looking at your final grades in each of these courses, I see that they aren’t so different from your grades in previous terms. The information that I received from your instructors indicate that you failed almost all of the midterms and final exams in these classes which suggests to me that the learning outcomes may not have been met. The instructor of PSYC 271 reported that you passed some components of the course to high standards but failed others throughout the term. The instructor of PSYC 305 reported that your grades stayed pretty consistent throughout the term with component grades of 62%, 53%, 55%, 70% and 65%. The instructors of PSYC 100 and PSYC 331 suggest that you actually failed these courses however your final grade was raised which allowed you to pass.
Andleeb, I want to remind you that a student can request short term academic consideration if they need more time to complete a component or had to miss a class as a result of an illness or a personal circumstance. Here is the link for information about that process: https://www.queensu.ca/artsci/undergrad-students/student-services/academic-consideration-for-students.
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 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 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 January 29, 2024 at 11:36:08 AM.