Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Submission Number: 11875
Decision Date: September 3, 2024
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Aprateem Chatterjee
Student Email: aprateemch@gmail.com

Course: ECON 250
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Category: Request an extension of an incomplete grade
Instructor: Mehtab Hanzroh

Course: ECON 241
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Category: Request an extension of an incomplete grade
Instructor: Raymond De Souza

Course: STAT 463
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Course: ECON 239
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Course: STAT 361
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Category: Request an extension of an incomplete grade
Instructor: Wenyu Jiang

Course: Math 339
Term: Winter
Year: 2024
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Course: COMM 211
Term: Winter
Year: 2024
Category: Request an extension of an incomplete grade
Instructor: Jing Wang

Course: BIO 300
Term: Winter
Year: 2024
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Course: Math 281
Term: Winter
Year: 2024
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Dear Aprateem Chatterjee:

I have carefully considered your petition request for an Extension of an Incomplete Grade in ECON 250, ECON 241, and STAT 361 (F23) and to drop STAT 463, ECON 239 (F23), MATH 339, BIOM 300, and MATH 281 (W24) past the academic deadline. After reviewing your file, I have decided the following:

1) To grant your request to drop STAT 463 and ECON 239 (F23) as the documentation that you supplied confirms the timeline of extenuating circumstances during this term. Your grades in these courses will be replaced with a DR on your transcript.

2) To deny your request for an Extension of an Incomplete Grade in ECON 250, ECON 241 and STAT 361 (F23). The Academic Petitions and Appeal Regulations 1.1 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, the documentation that you supplied and the information that I received from the instructors of these courses.

I recognize that you were not able to complete your 2023 Fall term courses due to the extenuating circumstances that you described in your petition letter however, I have denied an Extension of an Incomplete Grade in ECON 250, ECON 241 and STAT 361 as it is unclear why you didn’t complete the outstanding components in them during the 2024 Winter term once your circumstances had been resolved. The documentation that you supplied confirms that you were able to resume normal activities in March and the instructor of STAT 361 confirmed that they had offered you two opportunities to complete their during the 2024 Winter term.

Aprateem, as I acknowledge the impacts of your circumstances on ECON 250, ECON 241 and STAT 361 (F23) during the 2023 Fall term, I am willing to allow you to drop these courses after the academic deadline. If you would like to accept this offer, please email asc.petitions@queensu.ca within 15 business days of receiving this letter.

3) To deny your request to drop MATH 339, BIOM 300, and MATH 281 (W24) after the academic deadline. I have denied this part of your request as your petition did not include information or documentation to suggest academic impacts from an extenuating circumstance during the 2024 Winter term. 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 as well as guidance on policy and procedure (queensu.ca/ombuds).

Sincerely,

Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic)