Academic Policies

Appealing Required to Withdraw (RTW) Status: Students can submit a request to appeal their ‘Required to Withdraw’ standing and continue on Academic Probation.

Deferred Assessment Requests (and extensions): Students unable to complete a final exam or final assignment can request a Deferred Assessment.

Incomplete Course Work: If a student is unable to submit course work during a semester, or write a midterm exam, they can request academic consideration from their course instructor.

Late Drop: If a student wants to drop a course from a previous semester (after the last class day of that semester), they can request a late drop. If a late drop is granted, the course is permanently removed from their transcript.

Semester Withdrawal: This type of request is like a Late Drop; however, it includes removal of all courses from a given semester.

Withdrawal from Courses with Failure: Withdrawal with Failure (WF) requests do not remove courses from the transcript; however, the failing grade is replaced with WF. There is no numeric grade associated with a WF; therefore, the failed course will not impact a student’s semester or cumulative GPA.

Submit requests for Academic Consideration to your program’s Academic Advisor. Decisions are made by the Academic Review Committee for your program. Requests must include the following three parts:

1. Request for Academic Consideration form (available on the Academic Forms webpage) filled out with semesters and courses you would like considered. Refer to the second page of the form for details on what to include in your request and letter.
2. Personal Letter outlining how the extenuating circumstance of your situation impacted your studies and these courses. Students do not present their case directly to the Academic Review Committee, so your letter must be thorough.
3. Supporting Documentation that includes the date of onset, severity and duration of the circumstances you have described. A diagnosis is not required.

The Continuation of Study rules are based on the principle that students must maintain a minimum average of 60%. To allow for transition issues, some leniency has been built into the minimum average requirement during the first 5.00 credit attempts for undergraduate students (5.25 credit attempts for Bachelor of Engineering students) and 3.00 credit attempts for associate diploma students. The student's cumulative average will be reviewed first. If the student's cumulative average does not meet the minimum of 60%, the student will either be required to withdraw or placed on probation. Refer to the Policy on Continuation of Study for more information.

Required to Withdraw standing means that the University of Guelph requires you to take a minimum of two semesters off before being eligible for readmission. This is called the rustication period. Summer semester is included in this time period. For example, if you were Required to Withdraw after the Winter semester, the earliest you can apply for readmission is by the deadline for applications for the Winter semester of the following year.

Unless you have been Required to Withdraw as a penalty for Academic Misconduct, or unless you are registered in an Associate Diploma program, students who fail to meet the continuation of study requirements at the end of a Fall semester will be placed on 'Academic Probation 2' status for the Winter semester. Refer to the Policy on Withdrawal for more information.

If placed on Probation 2 and you decide not to register for the Winter semester (or you voluntary withdraw from the Winter semester), this will result in the Required to Withdraw standing being applied starting Winter. Winter would be your first semester of rustication.

If placed on Probation 2 and you decide to continue in courses for the Winter semester, you must meet the required minimum average in order to be able to continue on academic probation. If the required average is not achieved in the Winter semester, you will be required to withdraw as of the summer semester. In this case, the earliest you are eligible to apply for readmission is by the deadline for applications for the Winter semester of the following year.

Unless you have been Required to Withdraw as a penalty for Academic Misconduct, you can take university credit courses during the rustication period and be eligible for up to 1.00 credits if specific criteria are met. Refer to the Policy on Withdrawal for more information.

If you feel that your academic performance on a final exam or final assignment is in jeopardy due to your medical, psychological or compassionate circumstances, it is your responsibility to consult your program’s Academic Advisor as soon as possible and submit a request for deferred assessment.

DO NOT write a final exam or complete a final course requirement unless you are confident that you are fit and able to do so. Otherwise, only very limited options exist for academic consideration, none of which are guaranteed.

Some programs have specific instructions for requesting deferred assessments. If your degree program does not have a link listed below, refer to the policy on deferred assessments and contact your program’s Academic Advisor for instructions.

• Bachelor of Applied Science
• Bachelor of Arts
• Bachelor of Arts and Sciences
• Bachelor of Bio-Resource Management
• Bachelor of Commerce
• Bachelor of Computing
• Bachelor of Creative Arts, Health and Wellness
• Bachelor of Engineering
• Bachelor of Indigenous Environmental Science and Practice
• Bachelor of Landscape Architecture
• Bachelor of Mathematics
• Bachelor of One Health
• Bachelor of Science
• Bachelor of Science in Agriculture
• Bachelor of Science in Environmental Sciences

1. The Academic Review Committee for your program reviews requests and makes decisions after the exam period has ended.
2. After submitting a request, check your @uoguelph.ca email regularly. You will receive information from the Office of Registrarial Services informing you of the Academic Review Sub-Committee's response to your Request for Academic Consideration and the next steps you must take. The University schedules a period of time each semester in which deferred examinations are written and when deferred conditions are due. The start and end dates of the deferred period are published in the Schedule of Dates. You must be prepared to write deferred final exam(s) and/or hand in your final assignment(s) at ANY TIME during this period. Final exams and final papers will not be accepted after the last day of the scheduled deferred period.
3. Once grades are released on WebAdvisor, “INC” will initially appear instead of a grade for any course that a final exam/final assignment has not been completed. It will remain as "INC" until your request has been reviewed. After the Academic Review Committee has reviewed deferral requests, “DEF” will replace “INC” if the deferral has been granted. If you see the "DEF" posted instead of a numerical grade, your request has been approved.
4. If your request for a deferred assessment is not approved, the "INC" will be replaced with a final grade calculated using a grade of zero on the final exam or final assignment.
5. If you have been approved for a deferred assessment and are unable to view your course material on CourseLink, email your course instructor as soon as possible with a request to reinstate your access.

Deferred examinations are written during the next deferred exam period. The Office of Registrarial Services will set the deferred exam schedule with dates and times that the exams will be completed. A deferred condition must normally be completed by the last day of the scheduled deferred exam period.

Default of an in-person deferred exam (i.e., missing the deferred exam) will result in an incomplete grade being assigned and a $200.00 administrative fee being charged to your student account. All students scheduled to write an in-person deferred exam will receive a separate email with a survey link for each deferred exam. Please complete the survey at least 24 hours prior to the scheduled exam if you are not planning to attend to avoid the $200.00 fee.

If you have applied to graduate and need to request a deferred assessment, your graduation will be delayed unless you can make arrangements with the course instructor directly to complete the deferred exam or deferred condition and have it graded before the graduation clearance deadline.

Deferred assessments must be completed within the semester immediately following the semester in which the exam/course work was originally missed.

An extension beyond the end of the deferred examination period will be granted only if medical, psychological or compassionate reasons prevail at the time of the scheduled assessment or deadline of the deferred condition and if additional documentation is provided. If granted, the extension must be completed within the same semester the original deferred condition was missed.

All requests for extension of deferred assessments must be submitted no later than five business days after the missed deferred assessment deadline.

Contact your program’s Academic Advisor for instructions on requesting an extension/deferral of a deferred assessment.

Transfer credits become part of your total completed credits. Whether they match a requirement or restricted elective or free elective will depend on the credit given. Specific transfer credits will automatically be counted as if you took that exact course at the University of Guelph. Most generic transfer credits will count as electives towards your total completed credits.

If transfer credit reassessment results in substitution agreements for your current degree/diploma program, substitutions need to be renegotiated if you transfer into a different program at the University of Guelph via the internal transfer process. My Progress on WebAdvisor lets you see what your academic progress would look like if you were to change your major or degree/diploma program. Click the “View a New Program” button at the top of the page. Previously approved substitutions will not appear in the new program when using the View a New Program feature.

If you feel you have learned the content of a required course or restricted elective for your program but did not receive exact equivalent transfer credit for it, that means the initial transfer credit assessment determined that the course you took elsewhere did not have enough overlap with the University of Guelph course to grant you the exact credit. You may discuss this concern with your program’s Academic Advisor and consider requesting transfer credit reassessment. Free electives can remain as generic credits.

Note: Your request may not be granted if it is determined that the content is not sufficiently equivalent.

If you initiate transfer credit reassessment and it is determined that you have covered enough of the required course's Learning Outcomes, you may either be granted a substitution for a required course or restricted elective OR have your transfer credit changed to a specific transfer credit.

To initiate a transfer credit reassessment, you must provide your program’s Academic Advisor with the detailed course outline for your previous course(s) and indicate which University of Guelph course you are seeking transfer credit for. Indicate where you see the overlap in content and learning outcomes by comparing your previous course to the University of Guelph course outline.

If the reassessment results in a substitution but not a change to a specific course code, that means you have not been granted the specific credit and therefore it does not count in the system as a prerequisite for any other course that requires it. In this case, you can talk to the instructor of the course requiring the prerequisite to ask if the prerequisite can be waived.

How long it will take to graduate will depend on the number and type of transfer credits granted.

You are encouraged to rough out your completion timeline in order to gain a clearer idea of when you might graduate. Neither your Academic Advisor nor Faculty Advisor can estimate a time frame for you as you will be the one determining which courses you would like to take. These decisions will dictate how long it will take to complete your degree.

Starting with your transfer credits and the requirements for your program and major (if applicable), you can begin to draft a completion plan.

Requirements for your program and specialization can be found in the Academic Calendar. Once you have declared your major (if applicable) you will also find My Progress on the Student Planning system through WebAdvisor helpful as it outlines where your transfer credits are being used and highlights what you have left to take.

Variables to consider when planning your semesters are the prerequisites required for a course, whether it is available in a certain semester (some may be either Fall or Winter only; semester offering is noted as “F”, “W” or “S” beside the course title in the Academic Calendar course descriptions) and if it fits in with your other courses. Using the information in the Academic Calendar, you can begin to estimate your completion time. Your plan may change, but it is important to have an insight into the courses that may limit when you can graduate.

Please note that there may not be an opportunity to use all of your transfer credits and you may have to take additional credits to complete the requirements for your program. This may mean you graduate with more than the minimum required credits for your program.

Once you have accepted your Offer of Admission, you will be contacted by the Office of Registrarial Services with details on the course registration process, including when course selection windows open.

Registration for the Fall and Winter semesters typically begins mid-June; registration windows open according to credits completed/in progress and degree program. It is best to choose your courses as early as possible as courses do fill up.

Transfer student cautions: There is no guarantee you will be able to find 2.50 credits to take in a semester that count toward your degree/major. Taking courses out of sequence from the Schedule of Studies is a common occurrence for transfer students; as a result, there may be timetable conflicts with your planned courses. You may also be impacted by restrictions. Contact your program’s Academic Advisor for advice.

If you were admitted to your program through a transfer pathway or articulation agreement, contact your program’s Academic Advisor for the courses required to graduate. This may or may not match the Academic Calendar depending on the specific admission pathway or articulation agreement.