Academic options in times of difficulty

At the start of the term, you were provided with a course outline for each of your courses which should be available to you on myCourses. The course outline provides you with the method of assessment for the course, information on how to contact your course instructor as well as information on late submissions and/or acceptable circumstances for extensions. In order to accurately assess your progress in each course, consult your course outline to assist you in completing the second page of the Academic options form

Once you have completed the form, consider the following questions and review the three options below:

1. Have you completed all the required assessments for this course? What remains to be completed? Do you understand the course material?
2. How much time have you invested in this course? If you are behind, is it realistic for you to catch up on what you have missed without compromising your achievement in other courses? Is repeating the course at another time a better option?
3. Will a change in course load or a break in enrolment impact the timely completion of program requirements, your academic goals and/or access to any university services, financial assistance or your student visa? If you plan to reduce your course load to below 12 credits, will you have documentation to support this decision should you need to justify your reduced course load to a service provider, immigration authorities or graduate school admissions committee at a later date?
4. Have you contacted your course instructors and/or your departmental program advisors for assistance? What information does the course outline include about late submissions or acceptable circumstances for extensions?

Extensions

You can contact your course instructors to discuss if it would be feasible to receive extensions to complete any remaining components of your coursework (excluding final exams). It is up to the course instructor to decide if your academic and personal circumstances warrant an extension. If an extension is granted at the end of the semester, a grade of K is entered on your student record.

Deferring a final exam

If your circumstances prevent you from writing a final exam for a course, you may decide to apply for permission to write a deferred exam. You must apply for permission to do so on Minerva and you must obtain documentation explaining your inability to write the exam on the original date and provide this documentation to Service Point. Please note that it is not possible to request a deferred exam if the final exam for any course(s) has been written. If your application is accepted by Service Point, you will be permitted to write the exam during the next deferred exam period. Remember that deferring a final exam may impact your course load for next semester. If your request is approved, an L will appear in place of a grade for the course. The grade you obtain on the deferred examination will replace the grade of L on your official transcript.

Course or university withdrawals

Our website explains the course and university withdrawal procedure in further detail. Please note that it is not possible to request a course withdrawal if the final exam for any course has been written. Permission to request a course or university withdrawal after withdrawal deadlines have passed may be granted only under exceptional circumstances. You may need to submit appropriate documentation with your request. If you decide to request a course or university withdrawal, you must apply for permission to do so through Service Point and complete a late course withdrawal form to initiate this request.

Other Options

If you are failing a course, or if you are ill during a course or final exam; please read go to the next two tabs.

What to do in case of illness in a course or exam

Missed assignments

If, due to illness, you have missed assignments or mid-term examinations,听contact听your professor and try to make alternative arrangements. At the start of the term, you were provided with a course outline for each of your courses which should be available to you on myCourses. The course outline provides you with the method of assessment for the course, information on how to contact your course instructor as well as information on late submissions and/or acceptable circumstances for extensions.You should听be prepared to provide听medical documentation if you are requesting special accommodations. Examinations for multi-term ("D1/D2" courses)听courses during the Fall semester听final examination period in December are treated as mid-terms and alternative arrangements must be made with the professor.

If you have fallen too far behind to catch up in a course, you should meet with an听advisor at听Arts OASIS to discuss your options. Depending on your situation, you may be able to request a late course withdrawal, an exam deferral or an extension on your coursework.听 An advisor can help you听go through all the possibilities, find the best solution based on your circumstances and听figure out what the steps involved would be.听 As a BA student, all requests for late course withdrawals and deferred exams will be handled by Service Point.

To meet with an Advisor, please refer to听our Contact Page听to book an appointment.听

Missed final exam

If you have missed a final examination (one that is on the Final Exam Schedule and held during the final exam period), you can request听permission from Service Point to write a deferred exam. 听Medical documentation may be required to support your request. The medical note must cover the date of the missed examination and indicate the nature and duration of the illness.听 You can find details on the deferred exam policy here. If the missed final examination is a take-home exam that appears on the Final Exam Schedule, you will need to apply for a on Minerva. If it is approved, you must contact the professor to agree on a time frame and deadline to submit the take-home exam.

Illness during an exam

If you attend your exam, you are no longer eligible to defer it. You should not begin an exam if you are too ill to complete it.

In cases of incidental illness (e.g., a cold, cramps, nausea, etc.) that affected your study time leading up to the exam, but where you recovered on the day of your exam, you are expected to write your exam, and a deferral will not be granted.

You can find details on the official听Exam Regulations听here, under "Illness during examinations."

蘑菇短视频's Health Services has very specific procedures for issuing medical notes. Please review these carefully here

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Options when failing a course

If you fail a course, you may wish to consult with an advisor in Arts OASIS to discuss your options. Depending on the type of course (required or elective course), the grade ("D", a conditional pass, "F", failure, 鈥淯", unsatisfactory or 鈥淛鈥�, unexcused absence), your performance in your other courses, and the surrounding circumstances for the failure, there are three alternatives:

1. Repeat the course
2. Take a different course to earn credit for the one you failed
3. Apply to write a supplemental examination听(see below for info)

If you repeat a course for which you have already earned a grade of "D", you will only receive credits for the course once.

Please note:听Grades of D , F or J continue to be used in the CGPA/GPA calculation even after you repeat the course or take a supplemental examination. Information on how the CGPA/GPA is calculated can be found here.

Supplemental Exams aren鈥檛 always appropriate to your academic situation, and in some instances may actually hinder your degree progression. Review the information on the website, and meet with a Faculty Adviser to go over your options. Note that there are no Supplemental Exams offered for Summer courses.

Required Courses
If you fail a required course for your program, you should consult with a departmental advisor about modifying your course selection. For example, you should not take Calculus II if you have failed Calculus I.

Required courses must be passed with a "C" or better. You must either repeat required or prerequisite courses in which you received a grade of less than "C", OR you may choose to write a supplemental examination (see note, above).

Prerequisite Courses
If you fail a prerequisite course for your program, you should consult with a departmental advisor. You may need to repeat the prerequisite course in which you received a grade of less than "C" OR you may choose to write a supplemental examination (see note, above).

Complementary Courses
Ordinarily, you are not required to repeat complementary courses, although that is an option. You also have the option to take a different complementary course to count towards your program requirements, in consultation with a departmental advisor, or write a supplemental examination (see note, above).

Elective Courses
If you fail an elective course, you may take a different elective course to earn credit towards your BA degree. There is no academic reason to retake a failed elective course to improve your grade.

Repeating a course for the third time
Normally, you are permitted to repeat a failed course only once. Failure is considered to be a grade of less than C or the administrative failures of J or KF. To attempt a required course for the third time, you are strongly urged to meet with your Arts OASIS Faculty Academic Advisor so as to determine if you should continue in your academic program. If the failed course is a complementary course for your program, you may choose to replace it with another appropriate complementary course with permission from the departmental program adviser. If you choose to substitute another complementary course for a complementary course in which a D was received, credit for the first course will still be given, but as an elective. If you repeat a required course in which a D was received, credit will be given only once.