Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Submission Number: 13119
Decision Date: June 19, 2025
Associate Dean: Scott-Morgan Straker (Acting Associate Dean)
Student Name: Angela Dong
Student Email: 23cj61@queensu.ca

Course: PHYS 115
Term: Fall
Year: 2024
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Dear Angela:

Thank you for your petition request to drop PHYS 115 (F24) past the academic deadline. I have carefully reviewed your petition and while I’m unable to grant your request, I want to assure you that your circumstances were considered thoughtfully and with care as part of the decision-making process.

I want to first express my sincere condolences for your loss. I understand how personal events, such as the death of a loved one, can affect many areas of life, including academics.

As outlined in the Academic Petitions and Appeal Regulations 1.1, petitions and appeals are only granted in cases where extenuating circumstances significantly impaired a student’s ability to meet academic responsibilities, and where these impacts can be clearly supported by documentation. The regulations also emphasize the importance of demonstrating how these circumstances directly prevented the student from taking academic actions within established timelines, such as dropping a course by the published deadline.

While I do not doubt the sincerity or the emotional impact of your bereavement, your petition did not contain evidence that you pursued available remedies at the time, such as seeking academic consideration, requesting an extension, or deferring the final exam. Although your petition letter references an email sent to the request an extension in BCHM 102, it remains unclear why consideration wasn’t also requested for PHYS 115.

Moreover, your petition did not include documentation to explain why you were unable to drop PHYS 115 by the academic deadline. With the absence of documentation to demonstrate how the circumstances affected your ability to meet course requirements or act within the drop deadline, I am unable to grant this request.

Going forward, please remember that students are responsible for evaluating their standing in their courses 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 about the impact that this course has on your GPA, I would suggest that you consider repeating it in a future term. When repeating the exact same course code, both attempts will appear on your transcript, but only the higher grade will be included within the calculation of your cumulative GPA.

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.

Sincerely,

Scott-Morgan Straker
Associate Dean (Acting)