¹û½´ÊÓƵ

The Academic Accommodations Interim Working Group is making good progress in addressing some of the issues identified in the external review of Queen’s academic accommodations and procedures.

As announced in July 2024, the working group, comprised of faculty, staff, and student representatives, has been tasked by the Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) with helping to improve several pressing accommodation issues, as outlined under recommendation 9 of the external review report, including:

• Addressing the misunderstanding and dissatisfaction with the up to 7-day extension accommodation and its interaction with the Self-Declaration of a Brief Absence.
• Clarifying who has the authority to determine the suitability of dropping, delaying, or reweighting assignments and/or finding alternatives to meet course essential requirements.
• Clarifying who should approve retroactive accommodations.
• Exploring possible violations of confidentiality and intellectual property through the use of technology such as GLEAN or NoteQ and approved alternatives.
• Defining under what circumstances the implementation of accommodations extends beyond the sole responsibility of a course instructor, such as the provision of technology and support to provide virtual or hybrid classes, labs, or fieldwork, and the subsequent procedure to provide approved accommodation.

The group has been meeting monthly since September 2024 and is committed to developing meaningful recommendations that can improve Queen’s academic accommodation processes for both faculty and students. The group’s initial findings and recommendations will be shared with the Queen’s community for consultation in early spring.

The membership and mandate of the interim working group can be found on the Office of the Provost and Vice-Principal (Academic) website.