Decision Letter
Submission Number: 11828
Decision Date: June 10, 2024
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Kendra Shillington
Student Email: 15kls2@queensu.ca
Course: RELS 131
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2024
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Kendra:
I have carefully considered your appeal request to waive the petition deadline related to the 2019 Winter, 2019 Summer, and 2019 Fall terms and to drop ENGL 100 (FW18/19), ENIN 240, WRIT 240 (W19), ARTH 120 (S19), PSYC 221, PSYC 370 (F19) and RELS 131 (FW23/24) past the academic deadline. After reviewing your file, I have decided the following:
To grant your request to waive the petition deadline related to the 2019 Winter, 2019 Summer and 2019 Fall terms as I acknowledge that you took time away from your studies after these terms and have since experienced multiple life changes which have prevented you from petitioning these terms sooner.
To deny your request to drop ENGL 100 (FW18/19), ENIN 240, WRIT 240 (W19), ARTH 120 (S19), PSYC 221, PSYC 370 (F19) and RELS 131 (FW23/24) past the academic deadline. Academic Appeal and Petition Regulation 1.1 states 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. These kinds of extraordinary situations should be supported by official documentation from a health care practitioner or other relevant professional. 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, and the documentation that you supplied.
I appreciate the timeline of events that you included within your petition however I have denied this request as it did not demonstrate the presence of a significant unexpected circumstance that would have impacted your academic ability in the courses that you are asking to be dropped.
I recognize that your timeline does include information about the 2019 Summer term however, I want to remind you that competing commitments such as working a job while taking classes not considered to be an unexpected circumstance. I also see that you were pregnant with your first child during that 2019 Summer term but your request didn’t
demonstrate how this life event directly impacted your academic ability in your Summer term course. I acknowledge that your pregnancy continued on until the birth of your child in March of 2020 however, it was your responsibility to drop your 2019 Fall term courses by the academic deadline if they were impacted by this circumstance. 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 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 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: June 10, 2024
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Kendra Shillington
Student Email: 15kls2@queensu.ca
Course: RELS 131
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2024
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Kendra:
I have carefully considered your appeal request to waive the petition deadline related to the 2019 Winter, 2019 Summer, and 2019 Fall terms and to drop ENGL 100 (FW18/19), ENIN 240, WRIT 240 (W19), ARTH 120 (S19), PSYC 221, PSYC 370 (F19) and RELS 131 (FW23/24) past the academic deadline. After reviewing your file, I have decided the following:
To grant your request to waive the petition deadline related to the 2019 Winter, 2019 Summer and 2019 Fall terms as I acknowledge that you took time away from your studies after these terms and have since experienced multiple life changes which have prevented you from petitioning these terms sooner.
To deny your request to drop ENGL 100 (FW18/19), ENIN 240, WRIT 240 (W19), ARTH 120 (S19), PSYC 221, PSYC 370 (F19) and RELS 131 (FW23/24) past the academic deadline. Academic Appeal and Petition Regulation 1.1 states 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. These kinds of extraordinary situations should be supported by official documentation from a health care practitioner or other relevant professional. 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, and the documentation that you supplied.
I appreciate the timeline of events that you included within your petition however I have denied this request as it did not demonstrate the presence of a significant unexpected circumstance that would have impacted your academic ability in the courses that you are asking to be dropped.
I recognize that your timeline does include information about the 2019 Summer term however, I want to remind you that competing commitments such as working a job while taking classes not considered to be an unexpected circumstance. I also see that you were pregnant with your first child during that 2019 Summer term but your request didn’t
demonstrate how this life event directly impacted your academic ability in your Summer term course. I acknowledge that your pregnancy continued on until the birth of your child in March of 2020 however, it was your responsibility to drop your 2019 Fall term courses by the academic deadline if they were impacted by this circumstance. 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 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 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 June 10, 2024 at 12:04:22 PM.