The following regulations govern final examinations and standings for
all students registered in courses in the Faculty of Arts. These regulations
also apply to students in part-time and special programs. Further details
concerning University Examination Regulations can be found in 'Examination
Regulations'.
Students should note that the Faculty of Arts operates under a course
system in which student progress is measured by courses successfully completed
rather than by years. Students who have successfully completed fewer than
ten term courses are considered Year One students; those who have successfully
completed at least ten term courses but fewer than 20 will be considered
Year Two students; those with at least 20 but fewer than 30, Year Three;
and those with 30 or more, Year Four.
- Normally all courses should be completed within the term in which they
are offered. Letter grades are used to signify evaluation in individual
courses.
For the purpose of calculating averages, the following weights will
be assigned to grades received in individual courses:
A+ 95 B+ 78 C+ 68 D+ 58 F+ 46
A 89 B 75 C 65 D 55 F 38
A- 83 B- 72 C- 62 D- 52 F- 32
Note
When a course is repeated, the two marks are not averaged together.
Rather, both marks are entered with all other marks in calculating the
student's cumulative overall average. A passed course may be repeated with the approval of the department concerned.
- Students may request that their performance in any given Arts course
outside their major or Honours program requirements be marked as either
Credit (Cr) or Fail (F). Permission for this arrangement must be granted
by the course instructor and the student's department at the outset of
the course and the student must communicate the decision in writing to
the Arts Faculty Examinations and Standings Committee, using a standard
petition form for the purpose, before the end of the two week add period.
In satisfaction of the minimum degree requirements students in General
programs may present up to six term courses with a grade of Credit (Cr)
in courses outside their major. Students in Honours programs may present
up to eight term courses with a grade of Credit (Cr) in courses outside
their Honours area. These limits include transfer credits.
In all normal circumstances, students are expected to take the courses
of their major and Honours program requirements on a letter-grade basis
rather than on a Credit/Fail basis. Any request for exception to this rule
is subject to the specific approval or disapproval of the student's department.
Some departments of the Faculty of Arts permit no credit-graded courses
at all among the courses presented in satisfaction of the discipline's
major or Honours requirements.
Students considering teaching careers should especially note that the
Ministry of Education will not accept courses with credit grades as satisfying
the minimum requirements in defined specialist fields.
- An Incomplete (INC) may be assigned by an instructor in exceptional
circumstances, with the consent of the department. This extension of completion
date is granted to students as a privilege for a limited and specified
time and in normal circumstances shall be no longer than three months.
Students should make themselves familiar with the internal procedures
established by their major department in handling incomplete courses. A
student with outstanding incompletes on her/his record will be unable to
graduate until the INC has been replaced by a letter grade or an F- grade
has been factored into the averages. In such cases, the student must meet
all graduation requirements, including grade average and number of courses.
- Students may request to register for Audit (AUD) in a course. No credit
is granted for a course in which an AUD grade is awarded. Students interested
in an Audit must consult with the course instructor at the beginning of
the course to ascertain what conditions are attached to the granting of
an AUD by the course instructor. Audits must be approved by the course
instructor and the student's advisor during the two week add period. Failure
to satisfy the conditions of Audit will result in the course being dropped
from the academic record.
- There are a number of courses in the Faculty of Arts which are essentially
year courses (of two terms duration) although they are listed as two separate
term courses. Letter grades are not awarded until the second half of the
course is complete and then the same grade is applied to both term courses.
An In Progress (IP) grade is assigned to the first term course until a
grade is designated for the second term course.
The use of the IP grade is normally limited to 400-level courses which
are Senior Honours Essay or Senior Seminar courses and which normally require
eight months or so to complete. The grade may be used in other courses
only with the prior approval of the Undergraduate Affairs Group of the
Arts Faculty.
- A grade of WD (withdrew after the course drop deadline) is normally
assigned by the Arts Faculty Examinations and Standings Committee. This
mark is used when it is not appropriate to completely remove a course from
a student's record and not in the academic interests of the student to
continue with the course.
The WD mark has no effect on average or credit calculations.
- Some courses which are listed under separate labels or numbers have
overlapping content. Only one of these courses may be taken for credit.
These are designated with notes after the courses which would indicate
one of the following:
- the courses are cross-listed;
- credit will only be granted for one of a pair of courses;
- a course formerly was designated with a different number and/or label;
- the courses are antirequisites.
A student who wishes to enrol in a course which
seems to have overlapping content with another course should consult with
her/his Undergraduate Officer to be certain that credit will be awarded
for both courses. Should a student register in and complete courses with
overlapping content, mark reports will indicate the two repeated courses
when the second course is completed.
The following table indicates sets of statistics or research methods
courses which have overlapping content. A student in an Arts Faculty program
may take only one course from each set for credit.
Set A -- Basic Statistics Courses
ARCH 103*, BIOL 460*, ECON 221,
ENV S 178,
271*, 277*, ISS 250R,
KIN 222, PSCI 214,
PSYCH 201*, 283*, 292, REC 371,
371A*, SOC 202*, 280, STAT 202,
204,
210*, 211, 221, 231, 241
Set B -- Advanced Statistics Courses
BIOL 461,
ENV S 278,
PSYCH 202*, 284*, 391, STAT 205*, 304, 321, 331
Set C -- Research Methods Courses
ISS 251R,
KIN 330,
PSCI 315,
PSYCH 291,
REC 270,
270A*, SOC 281*, 321
*No longer offered
- Students wishing to have a cross-listed course fulfill a Group
A or B requirement which does not correspond to the course discipline in
which they are registering must notify the Faculty of Arts Examinations
and Standings Committee (by petition) of their intention within the first
three weeks of the term in which the course is to be taken.
Course Load
- Full-time students in the Faculty of Arts will normally carry a maximum
five-course load in a term.
- Exceptions are allowed for students in Joint Honours programs and Honours
programs where six term courses per term may be required.
- Students in programs other than Joint Honours or Honours programs as
indicated above may take six courses by permission of their Undergraduate
Advisor provided that they have an overall average, based on a minimum
of ten term courses from the Faculty of Arts, of 75% or better. Students
with less than 75% require the permission of the Examinations and Standings
Committee before enrolling in the sixth course.
- Students in the Faculty of Arts who wish to enrol in courses in other
faculties are expected to balance Arts and non-Arts courses, choosing a
minimum of 50% of each term's course load in Arts disciplines.
- In the Spring and Summer terms the combined total course load shall
not exceed the normal course load permitted in one term.
- Exceptions to these regulations may be sought by petition to the Arts
Examinations and Standings Committee.
Distance Education Courses
Because of the different start dates and the different final exam periods
for distance education and on-campus courses, students enrolled full-time
in on-campus courses must have the permission of their Undergraduate Advisor
to register for a distance education course.
Part-Time Studies
Students enrolled in one or two term courses in a given term are considered
to be in Part-Time Studies. Students may enrol part-time in most General
and Honours programs in Arts. Courses taken on a part-time basis may be
scheduled in either the day or evening, or in offerings by Distance Education
(see the University of Waterloo Distance Education Calendar). No distinction
is made between part-time and full-time students as to admission and degree
requirements and standards, grading practices, or promotion policies.
Academic Standing (Degree Students)
- Academic standing is a measure of the student's eligibility to proceed
in his or her program or to qualify for graduation.
- The minimum criterion required to establish and maintain 'good standing'
in the Faculty of Arts is achievement of a cumulative Arts average of 65.0%
and a cumulative overall average of 60.0% in University of Waterloo courses.
Some programs of the Faculty of Arts, such as Applied Studies, Accountancy
Studies and Social Development Studies, may require higher averages for
good standing.
- To be considered in good standing in a General program, a student must
maintain a cumulative overall average of at least 60.0%, as well as an
average of at least 65.0% in all courses taken in the Major discipline
(unless the department specifies a higher average), or an average of at
least 65.0% in Arts courses in the Non-major. If a student's overall average
falls between 58.0% and 60.0%, or the major or non-major average falls
below 65.0% (unless the department specifies a different average), the
student may be granted conditional status for one academic term. During
this period the student must make reasonable progress toward obtaining
good standing or the student will be required to withdraw from the Faculty
of Arts.
- To be considered in good standing in an Honours program, a student
must maintain a cumulative overall average of at least 60.0%, as well as
an average of at least 75.0% in all courses taken in the Honours discipline
(unless the department specifies higher average(s)). A student in a Joint
Honours program must maintain a cumulative average of 75.0% in all courses
taken in the two Honours disciplines (unless the departments specify other
averages).
If an Honours degree student's cumulative major or overall average falls
below the prescribed minima the student will be considered for the General
degree and the regulations in (3) above will apply. If, subsequently, the
student raises the average(s) to the required level, he/she may be considered
for reinstatement in Honours.
- Good standing is automatically cancelled and a decision of Failed,
Required to Withdraw may be rendered under any one of the following
circumstances:
- for a first-year student four term course failures;
- for an upper-year student cumulative overall average below 58%;
- for all students failure to meet the minimum standing for an Arts major
or non-major program.
- A student who has been required to withdraw for academic reasons is
eligible to apply for re-admission after an absence of two terms. If the
student is granted re-admission, the student's cumulative overall and arts
(or major) averages will be cleared, that is, grades achieved in
all previous course work will not count in cumulative averages; all previous
course attempts and grades will remain recorded on the student's mark reports
and transcript; credit for as much as, and no more than, a maximum of 20
term courses will count toward the degree for Arts courses passed and for
non-Arts courses in which a minimum grade of C- or 60% has been achieved.
Cumulative and Arts (or major) averages will be based on courses taken
following re-admission and clearing.
- Students whose cumulative average(s) have been cleared must observe
the following requirements: 1) complete a minimum of ten additional term
courses to establish cumulative overall and Arts or major averages; (2)
complete a minimum of half of the courses required in the major, or, for
non-majors, at least half of the courses must be University of Waterloo
Arts courses (for Three-Year programs at least 8, for Four-Year programs
at least 13).
- Those students who voluntarily withdraw prior to or during the full
tuition refund period will not have the term recorded on their academic
record and transcript. After this period, students who voluntarily withdraw
before the final day of class, do so without academic penalty. However,
this withdrawal will be noted on their transcripts with the statement 'Voluntary
Withdrawal From Term (effective date) -- No Academic Penalty'. Students
who withdraw to avoid a number of failures will likely be ineligible for
re-admission for at least two terms. See 'Fees and Registrations' for details
on withdrawal procedure.
Academic Standing (Non-Degree Students)
- Non-degree students must attain a minimum cumulative overall average
of 60.0% and a minimum cumulative Arts average of 65.0% to be in Good
Standing.
- Conditional standing may be granted for one academic term if the cumulative
overall average falls between 58.0% and 60.0% or the cumulative Arts average
falls below 65.0%. During the term in which conditional standing is in
effect, the student must make reasonable progress toward obtaining good
standing or the student will be required to withdraw.
- Even while otherwise in good standing, a student who fails four or
more term courses within the first ten term courses or fewer may be required
to withdraw if the Examinations and Standings Committee considers that
the student will not profit by further study.
- Non-degree students may take no more than 20 term courses at UW without
permission of the Arts Examinations and Standings Committee.
Dean's List
To recognize outstanding academic achievement the Arts Faculty has established
a Dean's List. To be eligible for the Dean's List a student:
- must have completed a minimum of ten UW courses which count in the
cumulative average,
- must have a cumulative overall average of 83.0 or higher,
- must not have any INCs or NMRs.
When a student receives Dean's List standing, it is noted on the transcript.
Students who graduate with the Dean's List designation will have it noted
on their diplomas.
Appeal Procedures
If a student wishes to appeal a grade, academic status or standing,
the student should try to work the matter out informally with the instructor,
officer or University authority concerned, as soon as possible and at the
latest within six months of receipt of the grade or decision. If the problem
cannot be resolved in this way, the student may submit, within the framework
of the Student Grievance Policy (UW Policy #70), a Request for a Formal
Review to the Associate Dean for Undergraduate Affairs of the student's
faculty of registration. Students registered through a federated and affiliated
college should submit the appeal through the Dean of the College.
Whether or not a student wishes to proceed informally or formally, advice
and assistance may be secured either from the office of the Associate Dean
for Undergraduate Affairs, Registrar's Office, University Secretariat,
and/or the Ombudsperson.
See the Student Grievance Policy (UW Policy #70) for more details.
Petition Procedures
A petition to the Faculty of Arts Examinations and Standings Committee
may be submitted in those instances in which a student seeks relief from
normal Faculty or University rules and regulations because of special circumstances
such as illness or bereavement.
Petitions may include requests to drop or add courses after the deadline;
withdraw without academic penalty; take an additional course above the
specified maximum for a term; substitute for a required course; or for
reconsideration of academic standing.
Appropriate supporting documentation should accompany all petitions.
The Petition for Exception to Academic Regulations form is available
at departmental undergraduate offices, the Arts Faculty Undergraduate Office
and the Registrar's Office.
The Undergraduate Calendar is published by the
Office of the Registrar, University of Waterloo,
Waterloo, ON N2L 3G1 Canada
Inquiries: infoucal@www.adm.uwaterloo.ca
Revised February 1998
