• Senate Regulations Concerning Final Examinations
• Extract from Charter of Student Rights concerning Course Outlines
• Assessment: term work, class tests, final exams, supplemental & deferred exams, additional work
• Special Examination Facilities:for students with disabilities
• University examination regulations as they apply to Arts and Science students
• Letter grades
• Mark changes
• Posting of Marks
• Reassessments and Rereads
• Plagiarism and Cheating
• Deadlines for Mark Submission

Senate regulations

At its meeting of September 30, 1987, Senate approved the following Regulations Concerning Final Examinations:

• these regulations shall apply to undergraduate courses up to and including the 500 level that are evaluated by the use of written examination; they shall not apply to clinical, field, laboratory, performance, and seminar courses, or to other courses that are evaluated solely by means of a design, paper, program or project;
• written examinations (including take-home examinations) shall not be held during the last two weeks of scheduled classes during the fall and winter terms, except where a pattern of continuous evaluations has been established, in which case the total value of examinations given in this period shall comprise no more than 10% of the final mark;
• if the written examinations in a course constitute 50% or more of the final mark, one of these shall be given as a final written examination, and it shall take place during the examination period after the last day of scheduled lectures in December or April;
• a final examination given during the examination period shall be worth at least 25% of the final mark;
• students shall be informed of all course requirements by the end of the first week of lectures; All term work shall be assigned early enough in the term for students to complete the assignment(s) by the last day of class;
• the due date for term work in courses to which these regulations apply shall be no later than the last day of classes;
• in courses spanning fall and winter terms, instructors who wish to give a mid-term examination in December must schedule it in the formal examination period;
• the principles enunciated in these regulations shall be applied, appropriately modified, to courses given during the summer, to other courses of less than a 13-week duration, and to courses in the Faculties of Law, Medicine, Dentistry and Education that do not follow the normal University timetable.

Extract from the charter of student rights concerning course outlines

The following has been added to the "Charter of Student Rights" concerning course outlines:

• The University shall provide students with sufficient course information to permit the student to make informed course selections; this information should include, where appropriate:
• • course pre-requisites;
  • course descriptions;
  • course availability;
  • change of course periods.

• Every instructor shall provide students during the first week of lectures with a written course outline; this information should include, where appropriate:
• • a description of the topics to be considered in the course;
  • a list of required and recommended readings and other materials;
  • a description of the means of evaluation to be used in the course;
  • the instructor's office hours for students, office location, and telephone number for office appointments;
  • Number for office appointments.

The Faculty of Arts also requires that the course outline include the due dates of assignments, class tests and mid-term exams.

Assessment

Term Work

Marks for term work can count for anything up to 100% of the final mark. All term work should be assigned early enough in the term that students can complete the assignments by the last day of class.

Class Tests

Class tests should, as far as possible, be scheduled during regular class time or in the evenings, but not on weekends, or on public or religious holidays. If class tests are to be scheduled in the evening, the times and dates should be announced at the beginning of the course. If the times or dates of the tests are announced or changed after the end of the add/drop period, then instructors must make alternate arrangements for students who cannot attend evening tests without disrupting other legitimate activities. Lab examinations and take-home examinations are considered as class tests, unless scheduled on the final examination timetable.

It is understood that the individual departments are responsible for booking rooms and all other aspects of running the mid-term examination. If rooms are booked through Room Booking Co-ordinators other than the Arts and Science Timetable Co-ordinator, written confirmation of the date, time and location must be submitted to the Timetable Co-ordinator in Dawson Hall at timetable.artsci@mcgill.ca.

In order to avoid conflicts in scheduling mid-terms outside the regular class time, Arts OASIS will record the date and time of such mid-term tests. Departments should send email to the Arts and Science Timetable Co-ordinator to record the date and time of the mid-term (and book the rooms if applicable) and to determine that there is no conflict with other mid-terms already recorded. This service is operated on a first-come, first-served basis.

Final Examinations

The Faculty of Arts encourages the use of formal final examinations as a reliable and equitable form of evaluation, but a final examination need not be set if term work and class tests provide sufficient information for evaluating students in a course, subject to regulation 3 of Senate Regulations (A above). An optional final examination may also be set. The duration of formal final examinations is three hours.

Final examinations, including take-home examinations and examinations invigilated in the department, must be scheduled during the final examination period in order to avoid conflicts with students' examinations in other courses.

Final examinations invigilated in departments are subject to the same regulations as are centrally administered final examinations. Requests related to the following issues should be referred to Arts OASIS even for final examinations in departments: late arrival during the exam, arrival after the exam is completed, special arrangements, deferrals, and supplementals.

Supplemental Examinations

Courses normally have, and all courses having formal final examinations (including take-home examinations and examinations invigilated in the department) must have supplemental examinations. As a rule, all the examinable material in the course is subject to examination in the supplemental.

Students who receive a mark of D, F, J or U in a course may apply online through Minerva (to Arts OASIS) to write the supplemental examination, provided that they are in a position to improve on their original mark by so doing and are eligible for supplemental privileges (as indicated on the course outline). If you are setting a supplemental examination but a student with a D, F, J or U in your course is not eligible to write it because the original mark could not be improved on by doing so, this should be indicated beside the student's name when the mark sheet for the course is submitted.

The supplemental examination will carry at least the same weight in the calculation of the supplemental mark as the final exam carried in the calculation of the original grade. The supplemental exam may, of course, count for 100% of the supplemental mark, and instructors are encouraged to set supplemental examinations of this type where appropriate.

Supplemental marks are entered on the student's record separately from, and do not replace, the original mark of D, F, J or U. They are clearly designated as supplemental and are only included in calculations of the cumulative grade point average.

All Arts students wishing to write supplemental examinations in Arts and Science courses must obtain written approval from Arts OASIS before the examination date. The deadline for applications for supplementals for the fall-term courses is March 1, and July 15 for the winter-term courses and courses spanning fall and winter terms.

Except with special permission from the Associate Dean (Student Affairs), Faculty of Arts OASIS, the maximum number of credits allowed in a supplemental examination period is 8 credits. The procedure for special supplemental examinations outside the normal period for these examinations may be obtained from the Associate Dean (Student Affairs), Faculty of Arts OASIS.

Students should lighten their course load, where possible, to accommodate the extra work involved in preparing for supplementals. Students should know that they are not permitted to repeat a failed course more than once.

If a student does not write a supplemental examination after receiving permission to do so, it is not necessary to withdraw the application formally. No mention of the application will be made on the student's academic record. However, the application fee will not be refunded, nor will the student be permitted to apply again for a supplemental examination in the same course at a later date.

No supplemental examinations are available to students who fail to achieve satisfactory grades in a course with a deferred examination.

Additional Work

If the option of submitting additional work is provided, it must be made available to all eligible students in the course, and all the students must know that it is available - i.e. this option must be indicated on the course outline.

Only students who achieve a mark of D, F, J or U in the course are eligible to apply for permission to submit additional work. This application must be made to Arts OASIS. These students must be in a position to improve their marks by completing additional work, and must be eligible for supplemental privileges.

Additional work should constitute either a revision or a replacement of work previously submitted in the course (other than a formal final examination). Additional work must carry the same weight in calculation of the supplemental mark as the previous work carried in calculation of the original mark.

Additional marks are entered on the student's record separately from, and do not replace, the original mark of D, J, F or U. They are clearly designated as supplemental and are only included in the calculations of the cumulative grade point average.

If a supplemental examination is also available in the course, an eligible student may apply to submit additional work, or to write the supplemental examination, or both. If the student avails himself/herself of the both options, only one supplemental mark should be submitted, reflecting both.

If a student does not present additional work after receiving permission to do so, it is not necessary to withdraw the application formally. Students should, however, notify the instructor. No mention of the application will then be made on the student's academic record. However, the application fee will not be refunded, nor will the student be permitted to apply again for additional work in the same course at a later date.

Deferred Examinations

A student who misses examination(s) (including take-home examinations) for serious, documented reasons, such as illness, may receive permission from the Associate Dean (Student Affairs), Faculty of Arts OASIS, to write a deferred examination during the supplemental period. Students must apply for deferred examinations online through Minerva as soon as possible after the original examination date. The deferred exam will carry the same weight as the final exam, and all the quizzes and class tests together are carried in the calculations of the grade.

If deferred status is not granted, the student will receive a grade of "J" (absent) in the course, which will count as a failure in the GPA and CGPA. The student may, however, be allowed to write a supplemental examination.

Special arrangements for regular or deferred examinations are normally not allowed. Should there be serious, exceptional circumstances, students should first write to the Associate Dean (Student Affairs), Faculty of Arts OASIS, attaching all relevant documentation. The Associate Dean (Student Affairs), Faculty of Arts OASIS, will determine whether special arrangements can be permitted given the circumstances. He/she will then contact the appropriate professor to determine whether the professor is willing to accommodate the student's request. Only then will special arrangements be approved. Otherwise, the student will be required to write the exam during the regular assigned period.

No supplemental examinations are available to students who fail to achieve satisfactory grades in a course with a deferred examination.

Special examination facilities

Facilities can be made available for students who have certain disabilities or other acceptable reasons for not being able to write at the specified place. Disabled students must contact Joan Wolforth, Director, Office for Students with Disabilities in order to request special testing arrangements. Instructors are reminded that they are not permitted to grant any special treatment regarding examinations to any student without prior permission from the Associate Dean (Student Affairs), Faculty of Arts OASIS.

University examination regulations as they apply to Arts students

All final exams are governed by the University regulations and by the specific regulations of the Faculty administering the course.

Regulations:

1. No candidate for an examination may bring into the examination room any books, notes or other material containing information pertaining to the examination unless the examiner has given instructions that such material will be allowed. Anything brought into the examination room is subject to inspection.
2. Calculators are not allowed unless otherwise specified. It is the candidate's responsibility to ascertain whether the use of calculators is permitted, and, if it is, whether any restrictions are imposed on the types of calculators that may be brought to the examination.
3. Translation dictionaries (e.g., English-French) are allowable except in courses where knowledge of a language is one of the objectives of the course. Translation dictionaries must not include any definitions or synonyms.
4. Other dictionaries (thesaurus, definitions, technical) are not allowed unless otherwise specified.
5. Notwithstanding the above, electronic dictionaries, whether they are translation or otherwise, are never allowed.
6. Talk or any other form of communication between candidates is forbidden.
7. Candidates must not use or attempt to use any improper source of information. No information of any kind that might be of assistance to another candidate is to be written on the question paper.
8. Students writing examinations are responsible for arriving at the right time and place. Forgetfulness or inadvertently arriving at the wrong time or place cannot be considered acceptable excuses. Candidates will be permitted to enter the examination room quietly up to one half hour after the scheduled start of the exam. After this time they will be admitted only by special permission of the Deputy Invigilator or the Chief Invigilator.
9. Students must have with them their McGill student identification cards.
10. Candidates are not permitted to leave the examination room until one half hour after the examination has begun, and in no case before the attendance has been taken.
11. A candidate who leaves before the examination is over must hand in all completed and attempted work. All work must be done in accordance with the examination instructions, and must be handed in to the invigilator.
12. The Exam Security Computer Monitoring Program may be used to detect pairs of students with unusually similar answer patterns on multiple-choice exams. Data generated by this program can be used as admissible evidence, either to initiate or corroborate an investigation or a charge of cheating under Section 16 of the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures.
13. Any breach of these regulations will be reported to the Chief Invigilator and to the Disciplinary Officer of the student's faculty for appropriate action. A student found guilty of cheating or attempting to cheat is liable to expulsion from the University.
    
    

    PROCEDURES:

14. If books, notes, etc., cannot be left outside the examination room, they must be put in a place designated by the invigilator before the candidate.
15. The doors of the examination room will normally be opened 10 minutes before the starting hour.
16. Students may not leave the examination room during the last fifteen minutes of the exam.
17. Candidates must remain seated. A candidate needing to speak to the invigilator (e.g., to ask for additional supplies or to request permission to leave the examination room for any reason) should so indicate by raising his or her hand.
18. Questions concerning possible errors, ambiguities or omissions in the examination paper must be directed to the invigilator, who will investigate them through the proper channels. The invigilator is not permitted to answer questions other than those concerning the examination paper.
19. At the close of the examination, candidates must stop writing and submit their work at once.

Letter grades

When a course is graded numerically, letter grades are assigned as follows for the purpose of calculations of grade point averages. Only letter grades will appear on the student's transcript as of the Fall 2002.

Grade	Grade point	Percentages
A	4.0	85 -100
A-	3.7	80 - 84
B+	3.3	75 - 79
B	3.0	70 - 74
B-	2.7	65 - 69
C+	2.3	60 - 64
C	2.0	55 - 59
D (Conditional Pass)	1.0	50 - 54
F (Fail)	0	0 - 49

Grades may be reported on a Pass/Fail basis only in courses approved in advance by Faculty for such grading.

Failure and Conditional Pass

If a course with a final grade of F, J or D is required by the student's program, or if it is prerequisite to another course, the student must raise the mark to a C or better by supplemental examination, additional work when available, or by repeating the course. Students may also attempt the supplemental in elective courses where they have not received a mark of C or better, if they are eligible and feel that they will be able to obtain a satisfactory grade. Normally, a student in satisfactory or probationary standing is permitted to write up to two supplemental examinations for a maximum of eight credits.

Incompletes

i. Extension (K)

The special code of K should be used when you wish to extend the deadline for submission of course work. An extension of up to four months after the end of the course may be granted by the instructor for completion of term work. The student must have an acceptable reason for not having completed the work. The reason and the arrangements made with the student for completing the course must be reported on the form entitled "Submission of K", available from departmental offices. Note that students must sign this form. It is not necessary to submit a copy of the form to Arts OASIS.

Grades of K must be cleared by April 30 for Fall-term courses, and by July 30 for Winter-term and courses spanning Fall and Winter terms, and by November 15 for Summer-term courses, or they will change to KF's and will then affect the GPA. The K is replaced by the mark on the external documents (transcripts) but appears on internal documents, such as verification forms, along with the final mark, enabling the adviser to offer suggestions should any student show a great number of them.

ii. Further extension (KE)

A request for an extension beyond the 4-month period must be approved by the Associate Dean (Student Affairs), Faculty of Arts OASIS, and by the instructor. Students are asked to submit a letter of request to the Associate Dean (Student Affairs), Faculty of Arts OASIS, which should include:

• method of course evaluation (papers, research project, examination);
• statement of how much work, both written and research, has been completed to date;
• statement of how much work remains to be completed, and a timetable; date to which student is seeking extension; students graduating in October must have their work submitted by August 30, and their course grade must reach the Office of the Associate Deans by September 15;
• other courses the student is taking in the upcoming semester and the total number of credits;
• reasons why course work was not completed within the time period of the first extension. For K grades granted in fall courses, this date is April 30; July 30 for K grades granted in winter courses and courses spanning fall and winter.
• Professor's permission to grant an additional extension to the date stated above should be included, as well as documents when appropriate (in cases of medical or family affliction).
• A demanding course schedule will not normally be grounds for granting a KE grade. Requests will be considered on their merit; insufficiently supported requests will not be granted.

iii. Failed to meet the extended deadline (KF)

If a student does not complete this work within the extended period, and does not arrange for a further extension period, the grade becomes KF and counts as a failure in the calculation of the CGPA. In certain cases when work is handed in after the deadline, the Associate Dean (Student Affairs), Faculty of Arts OASIS, may grant permission for the KF to remain and the final mark to be shown as a supplemental.

iv. Absent (J)

The special code J (absent) counts as an F (Failure) in calculation of the student's grade point averages. The grade of J must be given when the student did not write the final exam.

The grade of J may also be given if the student did not complete another part of the course requirements and has not arranged with the instructor to receive an incomplete (K). In this case, however, the grade of J should only be given under these conditions:

• the weight of the missing work/exam in the calculation of the mark is sufficient that the student cannot earn a passing mark when given a zero for the missing work/exam; for example, a student missing a paper worth 70% of the mark should be given a J;
  
  or
• the instructor has announced at the beginning of the course that a J will be given if the work/exam is not submitted/written, even if the student has earned a passing grade in the course with the missing work/exam.

v. Deferred (L)

Students who have not written the final examination for valid and officially documented reasons, such as serious illness or family affliction, may receive permission to apply for a deferred exam. Permission is granted only by the Associate Dean (Student Affairs) of the student's faculty. The Arts deferred examination period is held after the April examinations for fall-term courses and the last week of August for winter-term courses and courses spanning fall and winter terms. Courses taken in other faculties other than Arts and Science may have different deferred examination periods. Special arrangements to write deferred exams at other times are not allowed other than for the most exceptional reasons, such as for a graduating student. Students must appeal to the Associate Dean (Student Affairs) of their faculty for consideration.

vi. Withdrawn (W)

A special code of W, WL (withdrawn from deferred exam) or WF (withdrawn failure) appears on the mark report beside the names of students known to have withdrawn from a course. Permission to withdraw from a course or from the University after the course withdrawal deadline is granted only by the Associate Dean (Student Affairs) of the student's faculty for valid and officially documented reasons such as illness or family affliction. Grades of WL or WF are only granted by the Associate Dean (Student Affairs) for valid and documented reasons.

vii. Pending (NA)

A special code of NA is entered by Arts OASIS for a student whose grade is not yet available for exceptional reasons other than an extension of the deadline for work submitted (K).

viii. Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory (S/U)

Students may designate elective courses outside of their program requirements to be graded under the Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory option. Courses with final grades of S or U will not count towards program requirements (including the Freshman Program). If students have inadvertently selected a required course for the S/U option, they must complete a substitute course which has been approved by their adviser to fulfil the program requirement. Below is a summary of the conditions which apply to the S/U option:

• the S/U option may not exceed 10% of a student's credits taken at McGill to fulfil the degree requirements (e.g. 10% x 90-credit program = 9 credits);
• the S/U option may be applied to elective courses only;
• a maximum of one course per term may be taken on the S/U option;
• students may select the S/U option only during the Drop/Add period;
• appeals to remove the S/U option after Drop/Add period and before the end of term must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean (Student Affairs), Faculty of Arts OASIS; they will be granted only when a student has accidentally added the option to a required course;
• all other appeals will be refused; students need not appeal to have the S/U option added;
• no appeals will be accepted after the last day of classes; if the course in question is required for a student's program, and the term has ended, then an alternative course must be selected in consultation with the departmental adviser(s);
• the S/U option will be converted as follows: grades of A through C are converted to S, grades of D, F, and J are converted to U;
• all S/U courses will be excluded when calculating the grade point average, but will be included in the total of "McGill credits attempted". Courses completed with a grade of S will be included in "McGill credits earned";
• S/U courses will count in the course load calculation for determination of part-time or full-time status;
• to be considered for undergraduate scholarships, prizes, medals, awards, and the honorific designations such as Dean's Honour List, students may not use S/U courses toward their course load minima;
• the S/U option is not open to Special, Visiting, Exchange, or IUT students;

The S/U option will be confidential on MINERVA. A student may be able to verify the S/U option on Minerva during the term. This choice will not appear anywhere on the student's printed record until such time as the grade is recorded. It is up to the student to ensure that he/she does not exceed the overall number of S/U credits permitted. No checks will be made until the time of graduation, and excessive S grades at that time will prevent graduation.

Mark changes

Please use the Mark Submission/Change Form [.pdf] to submit mark changes or final marks for previously incomplete Arts courses. This form should also be used to request a further extension (KE) of the deadline for the completion of the course. These forms are available from your departmental office. The top two copies of the form should be sent to Room 110, Arts OASIS, Dawson Hall as soon as the new mark is known.

Posting of marks

Departments need not post final marks which were submitted electronically to the Faculty Office. Students can check the Minerva Web site for their grades. All posted marks or grades (whether final or interim) may identify the students by student number only, not by name.

Reassessments and rereads

In accordance with the Charter of Student Rights, and subject to the conditions stated therein, students have the right to consult any written submission for which they have received a mark, to discuss this submission with the examiner, and to obtain an impartial and competent review of any mark.

The Faculty recognizes two types of impartial reviews: reassessments of course work (i.e., of term papers, mid-terms, assignments, quizzes, etc.) and rereads of final examinations. In both cases, rather than re-correct the work and grade it as they would have done themselves, reviewers assess the appropriateness of the original grade based, for example, on the application of the grading key to the student’s work. If a grade is deemed unfair, it is changed, whether the new grade is higher or lower than the original – i.e., the reviewer’s grade takes precedence over the original grade.

Reassessment of Course Work

Reassessments of course work are administered and conducted solely by the units involved according to procedures specified by the units and made available to staff and students. Requests for such reassessments must be made within 10 working days after the graded material has been made available for students to view it. Reassessments should normally be completed within 20 working days of the request.

Rereads of Final Examinations

Rereads of final examinations are administered by Arts OASIS, but conducted by the units involved. Students must apply in writing to Arts OASIS by March 31 for courses in the Fall term and by September 30 for courses in the Winter or Summer terms (these deadlines are strictly enforced and no requests for rereads will be accepted past them). Students are assessed a fee of $35 for such rereads. It is strongly recommended, but not required, that students consult the instructor of the course before requesting a reread of a final examination.

Reassessments and rereads in courses not in the Faculty Arts are subject to the deadlines, rules and regulations of the relevant faculty.

Plagiarism and cheating

Students should be reminded that plagiarism is an extremely serious offence. They should be given appropriate guidance as to what might be considered "plagiarism" in submitting work. Students should also consult the Academic Integrity website.

The possession or use of unauthorized materials in any test or examination constitutes cheating. Data generated by the Exam Security Monitoring Program can be used as admissible evidence either to initiate or corroborate an investigation or a charge of cheating under Section 16 of the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures.

Allegations of plagiarism and cheating together with the evidence should be referred to the Disciplinary Officer of the student's faculty. A pending grade of NA should be entered on the mark sheet by Arts OASIS. It is the Disciplinary Officer's responsibility to determine if plagiarism or cheating has occurred and, if so, to determine the penalty.

The University policy on the academic offences of plagiarism and cheating is outlined in the Code of Student Conduct and Disciplinary Procedures available from the Office of the Dean of Students.

Deadlines for mark submission

It is essential that marks be submitted by the following deadlines:

fall courses	first day before lectures begin in January
winter courses and courses spanning fall and winter with no final exam with final exam, grad with final exam, non-grad	one week after lectures end in April one week after date of exam two weeks after date of exam
summer courses	within one week after date of exam period
supplemental and deferred examinations	within 3 days after date of exam
additional work	within 3 days of the supplemental / deferred examination period
grades of K for fall courses	April 30
grades of K for winter courses and courses spanning fall and winter	July 30
grades of K for summer courses and courses spanning fall and winter	November 15