Decision Letter
Submission Number: 12155
Decision Date: August 19, 2024
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Shaney Nelson
Student Email: 21scn2@queensu.ca
Course: MATH121
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: PSYC 100
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: MATH 121
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2024
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: PSYC 100
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2024
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Shaney:
I have carefully considered your petition request to drop MATH 121, PSYC 100 (FW22/23), MATH 121 and PSYC 100 (FW232/24) 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 Petitions and Appeal Regulations 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. 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 academic transcript and the documentation that you supplied.
I acknowledge the circumstances that you have been experiencing for the past few years as described within your petition letter. I understand that you will be taking the 2024/2025 academic year away from your studies so that you can work on managing your financial situation so that it won’t impact your academic performance going forward.
I have however denied this petition request as the petition process isn’t meant to be used to manage a chronic situation. Both your letter and the documentation that you supplied confirms that this situation was not an unexpected extenuating circumstance as you had begun experiencing it prior to the drop deadline of the terms that you are petitioning. 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.
Upon your return to studies, I want you to know that a student can request short term academic consideration if they need more time to complete a component or have to miss a class as a result of an illness or other 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 these courses have on your cumulative 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 but only the higher attempt will be included within the calculation of your 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: August 19, 2024
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Shaney Nelson
Student Email: 21scn2@queensu.ca
Course: MATH121
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: PSYC 100
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: MATH 121
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2024
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: PSYC 100
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2024
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Shaney:
I have carefully considered your petition request to drop MATH 121, PSYC 100 (FW22/23), MATH 121 and PSYC 100 (FW232/24) 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 Petitions and Appeal Regulations 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. 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 academic transcript and the documentation that you supplied.
I acknowledge the circumstances that you have been experiencing for the past few years as described within your petition letter. I understand that you will be taking the 2024/2025 academic year away from your studies so that you can work on managing your financial situation so that it won’t impact your academic performance going forward.
I have however denied this petition request as the petition process isn’t meant to be used to manage a chronic situation. Both your letter and the documentation that you supplied confirms that this situation was not an unexpected extenuating circumstance as you had begun experiencing it prior to the drop deadline of the terms that you are petitioning. 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.
Upon your return to studies, I want you to know that a student can request short term academic consideration if they need more time to complete a component or have to miss a class as a result of an illness or other 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 these courses have on your cumulative 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 but only the higher attempt will be included within the calculation of your 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 August 19, 2024 at 11:02:34 AM.