Submit an Academic Petition or Appeal

Submission Number: 13973
Decision Date: March 3, 2026
Associate Dean: Dorit Naaman (Associate Dean Academic)
Student Name: nathaniel shaw-tsoukalas
Student Email: 20njst@queensu.ca

Course: PHAR 100
Term: Fall
Year: 2025
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Course: POLS 320
Term: Fall
Year: 2025
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Course: POLS 391
Term: Fall
Year: 2025
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Course: POLS 395
Term: Fall
Year: 2025
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline

Dear Nathaniel Shaw-Tsoukalas,

I have carefully considered your request to drop PHAR 100, POLS 320, POLS 391 and POLS 295 (F25) after the academic deadline 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.

According to the Academic Appeal and Petition Regulation 1.7.1.2. a petition to drop a class late must clearly demonstrate the significant extenuating circumstances, beyond the student’s control, which prevented them from dropping the class by the deadline, as indicated in the Faculty’s Sessional Dates. A medical certificate or other documentation that outlines how the personal extenuating circumstances hindered the student’s ability to drop the class prior to the deadline should be provided with the petition.

I acknowledge that you returned to studies for the 2025 Fall term and experienced a health-related condition that worsened throughout the term. I understand from the documentation that you supplied dated September 6, 2024 that this is a chronic condition and I see that you had submitted prior petition requests for similar extenuating circumstances.

While the documentation that you supplied dated November of 2025 confirms that you were unable to attend classes between November 12 until November 18, 2025, it does not suggest any academic impacts beyond that period. In the absence of documentation demonstrating that an unexpected extenuating circumstance affected your ability to drop these courses prior to the Fall term academic drop deadline, I am unable to grant this request.

If you are concerned about the impact that your grades these courses have on your cumulative 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.

Going forward, 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 QSAS. It is your responsibility to pause and evaluate the

impact of extenuating circumstances on your coursework prior to the drop deadline of the term. If you fall behind in a course or find the material too difficult, you should drop the course by deadline. 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.

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.

Sincerely,

Dorit Naaman, PhD
Associate Dean (Academic)