Decision Letter
Submission Number: 14199
Decision Date: May 11, 2026
Associate Dean: Dorit Naaman (Associate Dean Academic)
Student Name: Hannah Thomas
Student Email: 23gqgc@queensu.ca
Course: ENGL 200
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2025
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: ENGL 273
Term: Fall
Year: 2025
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: ENGL 238
Term: Fall
Year: 2025
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: FILM 111
Term: Fall
Year: 2025
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Hannah,
I have carefully considered your petition to drop ENGL 238, ENGL 273, FILM 111 (F25) and ENGL 200 (FW25/26) after the academic deadline. While I am unable to grant all of these requests, I want to assure you that I have taken your circumstances into account as part of this decision.
According to the Academic Petition and Appeals Regulation 1.7.1.2, a petition to drop a class late must clearly demonstrate the significant extenuating circumstance, 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.
After reviewing your petition letter and the documentation provided, I am able to grant your request to drop ENGL 238, ENGL 273, and FILM 111 (F25) after the academic deadline. Your final grades in these courses will be replaced with a DR notation on your transcript once this has been processed by the Office of the University Registrar.
With respect to your request to drop ENGL 200 (FW25/26) after the academic deadline, I acknowledge the health-related extenuating circumstances outlined in your petition letter and recognize the efforts you made to access professional support in November 2025. That said, I must consider the timing of your request within the framework of the petition regulations.
It is the student’s responsibility to pause and evaluate the impact of extenuating circumstances on their coursework prior to the drop deadline of the term. If a student falls behind in a course or find the material too difficult, they should drop the course by deadline. The drop deadlines, outlined in the “Important Dates” section on the Faculty of Arts and Science website, have been established to ensure fair and equitable treatment of all students.
I appreciate the documentation you provided dated April 22, 2026, which confirms the academic impacts of extenuating circumstances from November 1 until December 20, 2025. However, as the circumstances described in this Off-Campus Physician’s Note occurred prior to the 2026 Winter term, and as your petition did not include documentation demonstrating that an unexpected extenuating circumstance prevented
you from dropping ENGL 200 (FW25/26) prior to the April 6 drop deadline, I am unable to grant this request.
Going forward, I encourage you to consider registering with Queen’s Student Accessibility Services (QSAS) if you have not done so already, so that you can 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 your grade in ENGL 200 has on your cumulative 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. Appeals to the Board of Studies must be submitted within 10 business days of the date of 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.
Sincerely,
Dorit Naaman, PhD
Associate Dean (Academic)
Decision Date: May 11, 2026
Associate Dean: Dorit Naaman (Associate Dean Academic)
Student Name: Hannah Thomas
Student Email: 23gqgc@queensu.ca
Course: ENGL 200
Term: Fall/Winter
Year: 2025
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: ENGL 273
Term: Fall
Year: 2025
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: ENGL 238
Term: Fall
Year: 2025
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Course: FILM 111
Term: Fall
Year: 2025
Category: Drop a course after the academic deadline
Dear Hannah,
I have carefully considered your petition to drop ENGL 238, ENGL 273, FILM 111 (F25) and ENGL 200 (FW25/26) after the academic deadline. While I am unable to grant all of these requests, I want to assure you that I have taken your circumstances into account as part of this decision.
According to the Academic Petition and Appeals Regulation 1.7.1.2, a petition to drop a class late must clearly demonstrate the significant extenuating circumstance, 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.
After reviewing your petition letter and the documentation provided, I am able to grant your request to drop ENGL 238, ENGL 273, and FILM 111 (F25) after the academic deadline. Your final grades in these courses will be replaced with a DR notation on your transcript once this has been processed by the Office of the University Registrar.
With respect to your request to drop ENGL 200 (FW25/26) after the academic deadline, I acknowledge the health-related extenuating circumstances outlined in your petition letter and recognize the efforts you made to access professional support in November 2025. That said, I must consider the timing of your request within the framework of the petition regulations.
It is the student’s responsibility to pause and evaluate the impact of extenuating circumstances on their coursework prior to the drop deadline of the term. If a student falls behind in a course or find the material too difficult, they should drop the course by deadline. The drop deadlines, outlined in the “Important Dates” section on the Faculty of Arts and Science website, have been established to ensure fair and equitable treatment of all students.
I appreciate the documentation you provided dated April 22, 2026, which confirms the academic impacts of extenuating circumstances from November 1 until December 20, 2025. However, as the circumstances described in this Off-Campus Physician’s Note occurred prior to the 2026 Winter term, and as your petition did not include documentation demonstrating that an unexpected extenuating circumstance prevented
you from dropping ENGL 200 (FW25/26) prior to the April 6 drop deadline, I am unable to grant this request.
Going forward, I encourage you to consider registering with Queen’s Student Accessibility Services (QSAS) if you have not done so already, so that you can 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 your grade in ENGL 200 has on your cumulative 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. Appeals to the Board of Studies must be submitted within 10 business days of the date of 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.
Sincerely,
Dorit Naaman, PhD
Associate Dean (Academic)
Generated May 11, 2026 at 10:16:20 AM.