Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Submission Number: 13455
Decision Date: September 8, 2025
Associate Dean: Dorit Naaman (Associate Dean Academic)
Student Name: Seyed Arman Hosseinifar
Student Email: 24tjp1@queensu.ca

Course: CISC 102
Term: Fall
Year: 2024
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Erin Meger

Course: STAT 263
Term: Winter
Year: 2025
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Charles Arthur Molson

Course: MATH 112
Term: Fall
Year: 2024
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Course: CLST 103
Term: Winter
Year: 2025
Category: Request credit (CR) standing in a course or courses
Instructor: Beatrice Poletti

Dear Seyed Arman Hosseinifar,

Thank you for your petition requesting to drop MATH 112 (F24) after the academic deadline and for Credit Standing in CISC 102 (F24), STAT 263 and CLST 103 (W25). After a thorough review, I regret to inform you that I’m unable to grant all of these requests however, I want to assure you that your circumstances were considered thoughtfully and with care as part of the decision-making process.

I will grant your request to drop MATH 112 (F24) after the academic deadline and for Credit Standing in CISC 102 (F24) as the documentation that you supplied attests to an unaccommodated disability during the 2024 Fall term. I will also allow you to drop CISC 121 (F24) after the academic deadline as I recognize that this course was also impacted by these circumstances. Your grades in these courses will be replaced with a DR or CR notation on your transcript accordingly.

I will also grant your request for Credit Standing in CLST 103 (W25) in recognition of how the PSAC Local 901 strike and labor disruption affected this course during the 2025 Winter term. Your grade will be replaced with a CR notation on your transcript. I will also allow you to drop COGS 100 (W25) for these same reasons. If you would like to accept this offer, please email asc.petitions@queensu.ca within 10 business days of receiving this letter.

Going forward, I encourage you to take advantage of the various academic supports that are available at Queen’s University, such as meeting with an Academic Advisor to discuss degree progress and your academic goals as well as the resources offered by the Student Academic Success Services (SASS). While I hope that you never again encounter circumstances like the PSAC Local 901 strike during your studies, even in normal times it’s good practice to familiarize yourself with the services offered by the University to help students succeed. 

Note that any change in academic registration may impact government or private-firm student financial assistance eligibility and/or funding. Please consult with the Student Awards Office, Office of the University Registrar, Gordon Hall, to understand the potential implications of changes to course or program registration and/or the consequences of not successfully completing the required course load.

Regarding your request for Credit Standing in STAT 263 (W25), according to the Academic Appeal and Petition Regulation 1.7.1.4, Credit Standing is reserved for a course in which a student has completed all of the work of the class, including the final

examination, and achieved a passing grade in the class, but due to illness or other extenuating circumstances beyond their control, earned a substantially lower grade than might have been expected. A medical certificate or other documentation outlining how the personal extenuating circumstances affected the student’s academic performance must be provided with the petition

I recognize the concerns that you reported within your petition letter regarding the impacts that you experienced due to the labour disruption in the Winter term. I have however denied this request as information that I received from the instructor of STAT 263 (W25) indicates that you were achieving strong grades in all of the unproctored components of the course, despite these circumstances. With the absence of documentation to confirm academic impacts of an extenuating circumstance during the timeline of your low grade in this course, the proctored final exam in April, I cannot grant Credit Standing in it.

If you are concerned with 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 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.

Sincerely,

Dorit Naaman, PhD
Associate Dean (Academic)