Academic Options in times of difficulty

Are you encountering difficulties that may be affecting your studies? If so, you are encouraged to meet with an OASIS Faculty Advisor to discuss your academic options. To make the most of your drop-in advising time, we recommend that you review the following information before meeting with a Faculty Advisor.

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:

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?

Examples of academic options

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 about other options.