Decision Letter
Submission Number: 11611
Decision Date: April 1, 2024
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Josie Doering
Student Email: 19jmpd@queensu.ca
Course: BCHM317
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Josie Doering:
I have carefully considered your petition request to drop BCHM 317 (FW22/23) 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 documentation that you supplied and your academic transcript.
Josie, I want to remind you of your previous petition decision from December of 2022, where you were granted the late drop of a 2022 Fall term course. This suggests to me that you were aware of academic impacts of the circumstances that you experienced during the 2022 Fall term and that you chose to remain in BCHM 317 at that time.
I acknowledge the health-related circumstance that you reported experiencing during the 2023 Winter term and I see from the documentation that you supplied that you were seen by an urgent care center on March 29 and prescribed medications. This documentation however, does not suggest any academic impacts from this circumstance and I see that you were able to successfully complete other courses during this term. I have denied this request as you knew how you were progressing in this course going into the 2023 Winter term and it was your responsibility to manage the academic impacts of extenuating circumstances that occurred in the Winter term proactively at that time. Academic Consideration is a process for the university community to provide a compassionate response to assist students experiencing a short-term extenuating circumstance. I see that you are familiar with this process as you had requested academic consideration for a written assignment in another course in the 2022 Fall term.
Going forward, 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, as they have been outlined in the “Important Dates” section on the Arts and Science web page, have been established by the Faculty of Arts and Science to ensure fair and equitable treatment of all 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: April 1, 2024
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Josie Doering
Student Email: 19jmpd@queensu.ca
Course: BCHM317
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Josie Doering:
I have carefully considered your petition request to drop BCHM 317 (FW22/23) 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 documentation that you supplied and your academic transcript.
Josie, I want to remind you of your previous petition decision from December of 2022, where you were granted the late drop of a 2022 Fall term course. This suggests to me that you were aware of academic impacts of the circumstances that you experienced during the 2022 Fall term and that you chose to remain in BCHM 317 at that time.
I acknowledge the health-related circumstance that you reported experiencing during the 2023 Winter term and I see from the documentation that you supplied that you were seen by an urgent care center on March 29 and prescribed medications. This documentation however, does not suggest any academic impacts from this circumstance and I see that you were able to successfully complete other courses during this term. I have denied this request as you knew how you were progressing in this course going into the 2023 Winter term and it was your responsibility to manage the academic impacts of extenuating circumstances that occurred in the Winter term proactively at that time. Academic Consideration is a process for the university community to provide a compassionate response to assist students experiencing a short-term extenuating circumstance. I see that you are familiar with this process as you had requested academic consideration for a written assignment in another course in the 2022 Fall term.
Going forward, 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, as they have been outlined in the “Important Dates” section on the Arts and Science web page, have been established by the Faculty of Arts and Science to ensure fair and equitable treatment of all 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 April 1, 2024 at 10:42:51 AM.