Developing a Protocol for Academic Consideration for Arts and Science Students

The Faculty of Arts and Science is pleased to announce the recent appointment of Caroline Teske as the newest staff member of the Student Services team.  Caroline is the Academic Accommodation Counsellor, and joins our team of academic advisors who provide academic advising for undergraduate students on all Faculty programs, regulations and policies.

Caroline’s particular focus is to implement and administer the policies and procedures related to student requests for academic accommodation and/or academic consideration within the Faculty of Arts and Science.  This new position was created in response to the recently-approved Senate Policy on Academic Consideration for Students in Extenuating Circumstances, recognizing the need to provide a central resource for Arts and Science students facing difficult or challenging personal circumstances that are impacting their ability to meet academic requirements.  In this role, Caroline will liaise with students, instructors, and various units on campus, including Student Wellness Services, to facilitate the implementation of academic accommodations and/or academic considerations for students in these situations.

Caroline is especially well-suited for this role because of her background in social work and coordination of programs aimed at preventing bullying and peer victimization.  She has worked at Queen’s for 9 years, holding a variety of administrative and research positions in the Department of Psychology, the Faculty of Arts and Science, the School of Nursing and most recently at Queen’s Student Accessibility Services.  Caroline holds a BA (Honours) in Psychology from Queen’s and a Master of Social Work from the University of Toronto.

Over the summer Caroline has been working closely with the Associate Deans (Academic) and the Executive Director, Student Wellness Services, to develop a Protocol for Short-Term Academic Consideration that will be implemented during the upcoming Fall Term.  This protocol will guide students, instructors, Undergraduate Chairs and academic advisors in situations where extenuating circumstances are interfering with a student’s ability to complete academic requirements related to a course(s) for a short period of time, not to exceed three months.  A webpage is also being developed that will provide an online portal for students to submit requests for academic consideration and to securely upload supporting documentation.  When the protocol, webpage and portal are ready to be launched, the details will be widely distributed and presented, first to Undergraduate Chairs and then to all faculty members.

For further information or to welcome Caroline to the Faculty, please contact her at asc.accommodations@queensu.ca