Decision Letter
Submission Number: 12605
Decision Date: February 10, 2025
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Josée Touesnard
Student Email: joseetouesnard@gmail.com
Course: PSYC 100
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2023
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Meghan Norris
Course: CHEM 112
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2023
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Alaina Boyd
Dear Josee Touesnard,
Thank you for your petition regarding Credit Standing in PSYC 100 and CHEM 112 (FW23/24). I have carefully reviewed your request and the supporting documentation that you supplied, and while I’m unable to grant your petition, I want to assure you that I’ve taken your circumstances into account as part of this decision.
Academic Petition and Appeal regulation 1.1. stresses 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.
Official documentation does not need to outline the specifics of the particular condition or matter affecting the student, but it must clearly indicate ways in which the extenuating circumstances directly affected the student’s performance in terms of timing and impact, and should verify that these effects were substantial enough to cause the academic problem.
While I acknowledge the multiple extenuating circumstances that you experienced during both the 2023 Fall and 2024 Winter terms, I want to remind you that the last date to drop these courses was in March of 2024. I recognize the severity of the situation that you had experienced in December of 2023 as confirmed within the documentation that you supplied however your petition didn’t include documentation to suggest impacts to your academic performance during the 2024 Winter term.
I am sympathetic to your situation and understand that this is a difficult decision however, after consulting with the instructors of PSYC 100 and CHEM 112 it was clear that you had information about your academic performance well ahead of the March drop deadline. While I appreciate that you remained enrolled in these classes as you enjoyed the course content, 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 the 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.
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.
Additionally, if you wish to appeal this decision, 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: February 10, 2025
Associate Dean: Jenn Stephenson, Ph.D.
Student Name: Josée Touesnard
Student Email: joseetouesnard@gmail.com
Course: PSYC 100
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2023
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Meghan Norris
Course: CHEM 112
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2023
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Alaina Boyd
Dear Josee Touesnard,
Thank you for your petition regarding Credit Standing in PSYC 100 and CHEM 112 (FW23/24). I have carefully reviewed your request and the supporting documentation that you supplied, and while I’m unable to grant your petition, I want to assure you that I’ve taken your circumstances into account as part of this decision.
Academic Petition and Appeal regulation 1.1. stresses 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.
Official documentation does not need to outline the specifics of the particular condition or matter affecting the student, but it must clearly indicate ways in which the extenuating circumstances directly affected the student’s performance in terms of timing and impact, and should verify that these effects were substantial enough to cause the academic problem.
While I acknowledge the multiple extenuating circumstances that you experienced during both the 2023 Fall and 2024 Winter terms, I want to remind you that the last date to drop these courses was in March of 2024. I recognize the severity of the situation that you had experienced in December of 2023 as confirmed within the documentation that you supplied however your petition didn’t include documentation to suggest impacts to your academic performance during the 2024 Winter term.
I am sympathetic to your situation and understand that this is a difficult decision however, after consulting with the instructors of PSYC 100 and CHEM 112 it was clear that you had information about your academic performance well ahead of the March drop deadline. While I appreciate that you remained enrolled in these classes as you enjoyed the course content, 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 the 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.
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.
Additionally, if you wish to appeal this decision, 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 February 10, 2025 at 1:31:07 PM.