Decision Letter
Submission Number: 12250
Decision Date: December 4, 2024
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Sasha Lagoutine
Student Email: 20skl8@queensu.ca
Course: ECON 262
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: ECON 222
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: MUSC 171
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Sasha Lagoutine:
Thank you for your petition request to waive the petition deadline related to the 2022 Fall, 2023 Winter, and 2023 Summer terms and to drop ECON 222, ECON 262 and MUSC 171 (F23) past the academic deadline. I have carefully reviewed your petition and the supporting documentation that you supplied, and while I’m unable to grant all of these requests, I want to assure you that I’ve taken your circumstances into account as part of this decision.
I will grant your request to waive the deadline related to the 2022 Fall, 2023 Winter, and 2023 Summer terms as the documentation that you supplied confirms the timeline and academic impacts of extenuating circumstances during these terms. I will allow you to drop COMM 200 (F22), ECON 222, HIST 245, STAT 263 (W23), MATH 126 (FW22/23), and MATH 121 (S23) after the academic deadline without having to submit a subsequent petition request. Your grades in these courses will be replaced with a DR notation on your transcript.
Regarding your request to drop ECON 222, ECON 262 and MUSC 171 (F23), as you know, courses must be dropped in SOLUS within the deadlines outlined in the academic calendar. According to the Academic Petitions and Appeal Regulations 1.1, petitions and appeals are typically considered only when there are significant extenuating circumstances that justify waiving 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 do acknowledge the ongoing health-related extenuating circumstances that you had written about within your petition letter however, I want to let you know that the petition process is not meant to be used to manage a chronic condition. Academic impacts from ongoing circumstances should be managed proactively by utilizing options such as academic consideration or accommodations through Queen’s Student Accessibility Services (QSAS). Based on the documentation you provided, which shows you were assessed by a health-care professional in the Summer of 2023, I am unable to approve this part of your request as you were aware of the impact of these circumstances prior to the drop deadline of the Fall 2023 term.
It is the student’s responsibility to pause and evaluate the impact of extenuating circumstances on their classes prior to the drop deadline of the term. If they have fallen behind in a course or find the material too difficult, they should drop the course by deadline. 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.
Going forward, I would suggest that you consider registering with Queen’s Student Accessibility Services (QSAS) if you have not done so already, so that you obtain ongoing support from an Accessibility Advisor who can help manage the ongoing impacts of your health on your academics.
If you are concerned about 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.
Additionally, if you wish to appeal this decision, you are welcome to submit an appeal to the Board of Studies. Information on the appeal process and deadlines is available at queensu.ca/artsci/undergraduate/student-services/academic-petitions-and-appeals (click on “Second Level”). The Office of the University Ombudsperson offers guidance on student rights and procedural fairness at queensu.ca/ombuds/appeal-process/procedural-fairness, and they are also available to support you at queensu.ca/ombuds.
I hope that you continue to seek out the support and resources available to you, and I wish you the best in navigating your next steps.
Warm regards,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic)
Decision Date: December 4, 2024
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Sasha Lagoutine
Student Email: 20skl8@queensu.ca
Course: ECON 262
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: ECON 222
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: MUSC 171
Term: Fall
Year: 2023
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Sasha Lagoutine:
Thank you for your petition request to waive the petition deadline related to the 2022 Fall, 2023 Winter, and 2023 Summer terms and to drop ECON 222, ECON 262 and MUSC 171 (F23) past the academic deadline. I have carefully reviewed your petition and the supporting documentation that you supplied, and while I’m unable to grant all of these requests, I want to assure you that I’ve taken your circumstances into account as part of this decision.
I will grant your request to waive the deadline related to the 2022 Fall, 2023 Winter, and 2023 Summer terms as the documentation that you supplied confirms the timeline and academic impacts of extenuating circumstances during these terms. I will allow you to drop COMM 200 (F22), ECON 222, HIST 245, STAT 263 (W23), MATH 126 (FW22/23), and MATH 121 (S23) after the academic deadline without having to submit a subsequent petition request. Your grades in these courses will be replaced with a DR notation on your transcript.
Regarding your request to drop ECON 222, ECON 262 and MUSC 171 (F23), as you know, courses must be dropped in SOLUS within the deadlines outlined in the academic calendar. According to the Academic Petitions and Appeal Regulations 1.1, petitions and appeals are typically considered only when there are significant extenuating circumstances that justify waiving 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 do acknowledge the ongoing health-related extenuating circumstances that you had written about within your petition letter however, I want to let you know that the petition process is not meant to be used to manage a chronic condition. Academic impacts from ongoing circumstances should be managed proactively by utilizing options such as academic consideration or accommodations through Queen’s Student Accessibility Services (QSAS). Based on the documentation you provided, which shows you were assessed by a health-care professional in the Summer of 2023, I am unable to approve this part of your request as you were aware of the impact of these circumstances prior to the drop deadline of the Fall 2023 term.
It is the student’s responsibility to pause and evaluate the impact of extenuating circumstances on their classes prior to the drop deadline of the term. If they have fallen behind in a course or find the material too difficult, they should drop the course by deadline. 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.
Going forward, I would suggest that you consider registering with Queen’s Student Accessibility Services (QSAS) if you have not done so already, so that you obtain ongoing support from an Accessibility Advisor who can help manage the ongoing impacts of your health on your academics.
If you are concerned about 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.
Additionally, if you wish to appeal this decision, you are welcome to submit an appeal to the Board of Studies. Information on the appeal process and deadlines is available at queensu.ca/artsci/undergraduate/student-services/academic-petitions-and-appeals (click on “Second Level”). The Office of the University Ombudsperson offers guidance on student rights and procedural fairness at queensu.ca/ombuds/appeal-process/procedural-fairness, and they are also available to support you at queensu.ca/ombuds.
I hope that you continue to seek out the support and resources available to you, and I wish you the best in navigating your next steps.
Warm regards,
Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Associate Dean (Academic)
Generated December 4, 2024 at 3:51:00 PM.