Decision Letter
Submission Number: 11269
Decision Date: February 20, 2024
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Paige Lowman
Student Email: 20pml@queensu.ca
Course: BIOL 339
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Paige:
I have carefully considered your petition request to drop BIOL 339 (F23) 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, your transcript, and the input that you supplied from Professor Moyes.
I acknowledge the extenuating circumstances that you reported within your petition letter and I can see from your 2023 Fall grades that you had a difficult term. I appreciate the input that you supplied from Professor Moyes yet I was sorry to read that you were not able to obtain documentation from a health care provider or from your QSAS Advisor. I want to remind you that a successful petition would include documentation that supports the timeline, severity and academic impacts of a student’s extenuating circumstance as reported in their petition letter. With the absence of documentation to confirm these things, I cannot grant this request. I am happy to reconsider this decision if documentation can be supplied.
Paige, I am worried about you and want to ensure that you are supported at this time. If you are experiencing ongoing academic impacts that relate to a disability that you are registered with QSAS for, I suggest that you meet with your Advisor so that they can provide you with ongoing support. Alternately, I encourage you to visit Student Wellness Services in Mitchell Hall to book an appointment with a Counsellor who can provide you with short-term care for things such as personal difficulties and urgent issues.
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: February 20, 2024
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Paige Lowman
Student Email: 20pml@queensu.ca
Course: BIOL 339
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Paige:
I have carefully considered your petition request to drop BIOL 339 (F23) 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, your transcript, and the input that you supplied from Professor Moyes.
I acknowledge the extenuating circumstances that you reported within your petition letter and I can see from your 2023 Fall grades that you had a difficult term. I appreciate the input that you supplied from Professor Moyes yet I was sorry to read that you were not able to obtain documentation from a health care provider or from your QSAS Advisor. I want to remind you that a successful petition would include documentation that supports the timeline, severity and academic impacts of a student’s extenuating circumstance as reported in their petition letter. With the absence of documentation to confirm these things, I cannot grant this request. I am happy to reconsider this decision if documentation can be supplied.
Paige, I am worried about you and want to ensure that you are supported at this time. If you are experiencing ongoing academic impacts that relate to a disability that you are registered with QSAS for, I suggest that you meet with your Advisor so that they can provide you with ongoing support. Alternately, I encourage you to visit Student Wellness Services in Mitchell Hall to book an appointment with a Counsellor who can provide you with short-term care for things such as personal difficulties and urgent issues.
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 February 20, 2024 at 9:41:14 AM.