Category 2 or 3 Requests for Relief

This guide is intended to help students in preparing a request for relief using one or more of the following as grounds: medical or compassionate circumstances, extenuating circumstances beyond the appellant's control, bias, inaccuracy, or unfairness. 

Note that requests for relief based on medical or compassionate circumstances should in most cases have been made to the student's Academic Advising unit at the time of the circumstances. Requests for retroactive relief based on such circumstances and which do not involve the fairness of the course itself should be initiated with the Academic Advising unit of the student's Home Faculty and include a clear explanation of why academic considerations were not requested in a timely manner. 

Please refer to the new Undergraduate Student Academic Requests for Relief Policy. 

 

Deadlines 

A student who has been denied academic consideration may ask for relief of the decision to the Associate Dean of their Faculty of registration as soon as possible after the decision is communicated. If not, a clear explanation is required to address why the request for relief was not initiated in a timely manner. 

A request for relief against a decision concerning program eligibilty must be made to the Undergraduate Chair of the Department in writing by June 30. A request against a decision of the Undergraduate Chair must be made to the Dean in writing within three weeks of the Chair's decision being issued. 

Students requesting a Dean's Waiver of Progression Requirements must do so in writing to the Dean of their Faculty by June 30 (if required to withdraw at the end of April), or within 30 days of the grades becoming available through their Student Centre, as posted by the Office of the Registrar (if required to withdraw following any other session).

Requests for relief regarding Scholastic Offences and other matters not related to the normal completion of a course during a regular academic session (including requests for relief against grades in a Special Examination, satisfaction of "Incomplete" requirements, etc.), must be made in writing within three weeks of the date of a decision being issued. In the case of a scholastic offence, the procedures for a request for relief are set out in the Policy on Scholastic Discipline.

The deadline for an appeal to the Senate Review Board Academic (SRBA) against the decision of a student's Associate Dean is within six weeks after the decision has been issued. 

 

To Whom should the Request for Relief be Sent

Requests for relief for undergraduate students ordinarily proceed in the order: course instructor, Undergraduate Chair of the department offering the course, Associate Dean of Arts and Humanities, and the Senate Review Board Academic (SRBA). 

A request for relief relating to a specifc course (e.g., with respect to a mark, grade, appropriateness of assignments or examinations, or grading practices) must be initiated with the course instructor. 

Requests for relief on other matters should be initiated in the office having immediate jurisdiction over the particular requirement or regulation in question. For example, a request for relief against a decision concerning program eligibility must be made to the Undergraduate Chair of the department offering the program.