Undergraduate Program: Frequently Asked Questions

According to  (PDF file) Toronto Metropolitan University Senate Policy 134: “In the case of illness, a  (PDF file) Toronto Metropolitan University Student Health Certificate, or a letter on letterhead from an appropriate regulated health professional with the student declaration portion of the Student Health Certificate attached, is required to be submitted to the office of the student’s own program. In all these cases, documentation is required within three (3) working days of the missed work.” 

You are required to submit all of your pertinent documentation through Toronto Metropolitan University's online Academic Consideration Request system.

Note 1: This does not mean that you can go to a medical practitioner AFTER you were sick. It means that you have to SUBMIT the paperwork within 3 business days. While medical certificates can be submitted within 3 business days per the policy, it does not mean the visit to the Doctor can be delayed after the fact, as this would miss the whole point of having a Doctor check (and verify) illness on the day a student reports missing coursework. Unless there is an exceptional circumstance (i.e. if the medical illness, including documented mental health issues, prevents a student from seeking medical attention or documenting their illness in a timely fashion), the Department will reject ALL such "delayed doctor visit" Student Health Certificates presented at the front-office. So, if you are sick, go see your family doctor, go to a clinic, the Toronto Metropolitan University medical office or the hospital–and don't wait for days to do that! No doctor can tell us how sick you were in the past!

Note 2: "Exceptional circumstances" are just that: exceptional. Saying that your Doctor's office was closed, or you didn't have time, or you had nobody to take you, etc., is not an exceptional circumstance!

Note 3: The Department checks all medical notes for authenticity and validity with the health professional.

Note 4: You are only required to submit one Toronto Metropolitan University Health Certificate, listing the missed course work items over the date range stated in the Toronto Metropolitan University Health Certificate by your physician and re-stated in the ACR form.  If you are going to miss work beyond the date indicated on your Toronto Metropolitan University Health Certificate when you can return to your studies, then you would need to submit another Toronto Metropolitan University Health Certificate following the same process.

According to  (PDF file) Toronto Metropolitan University Senate Policy 167: “Documentation required for reasons other than illness should be submitted through the Academic Consideration Request System.”

Examples of valid documentation are: death certificate, citizenship ceremony confirmation, formal TTC statement of service disruption, etc.

You may not submit a medical note after you have completed writing a midterm, exam or other tests. Any special consideration during a test will be at the discretion of the course instructor based on the Exam Invigilator’s report of the circumstances.

According to Toronto Metropolitan University Senate Policy 150, if a student is requesting accommodation due to a religious, Aboriginal and/or spiritual observance, they must submit their complete request form via the online Academic Consideration Request (ACR) system within the first two weeks of the class or, for a final examination, within two weeks of the posting of the examination schedule."

Per the university's policy, an exam overload occurs when there are three final exams on the same day, or three consecutive exam sessions. Exam sessions usually start in the morning, noon, afternoon or evening. Example of overloads: Morning, noon, and evening exams on the same day (3 in one day) Afternoon, evening, and another exam the next morning (3 consecutive time slots) Based on the university policy, "Morning" is defined as 8 a.m. to 12 noon, "Afternoon" is defined as 12noon to 6 p.m. and "Evening" is defined as 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. You can find more information at https://www.torontomu.ca/current-students/exams/.

If you meet the exam overload conditions, you must notify your program department or school within two weeks after the final exam schedule has been published. The program department or school will then make alternate arrangements, in consultation with instructors and students. Normally, in the case of an exam overload, the middle exam is deferred.

You are not alone in this situation but we do not give preferential consideration to any student above others, regardless of the reasons, personal or otherwise.

Please note that all full-time students in each of our accredited engineering programs are given equal opportunities to enrol and successfully complete all the required courses in each semester (including transition semesters). Hence, any students missing courses, for whatever reason, must then take full responsibility for the consequences that follow from:

• missed prerequisites and/or timetable conflicts as one attempts to straddle courses across two year-levels;
• reduced course loads;
• delayed graduation, and
• inevitable financial implications.

Course requirements are very carefully scrutinized and much planning and discussion are done to determine prerequisites. Not only do we do this at a Departmental level, but we also have the Canadian Engineering Accreditation Board (CEAB) that also analyzes our course offerings and provides input and guidance to course requirements. So when you think that some course is not necessary or just put there to make your life difficult, think again.

NO. The Department does not, and will not, facilitate section changes, particularly for some common reasons such as long distance commute from home, part-time work commitments, wanting to be in a section with a friend, etc. A section change is something that you can do on MyServiceHub yourself when there are unfilled sections available. But be aware that leaving one section to try to get into another is not guaranteed and could potentially lock you out of even the section you were originally enrolled in; this is especially true in large classes and when most sections are full. The Department only deals with enrolment issues when a student has a special case (i.e. probationary course load, lab conflicts between two courses among the required semester program courses, verifiable Religious Observance exclusion, and late enrolment).

Marks earned in the past for any component of a course (i.e. Midterm Exam, Final Exam, Quizzes, Labs, Projects, etc.) can never be re-used for the same course being retaken. Doing so would violate academic policy and the integrity of our engineering programs. Hence, if the Lab component exemption for your repeat course is approved, then the weight of the LAB component will be transferred over to the THEORY portion of the course (i.e. Midterm and Final Exams). To seek exemption for the Lab component, you need to fill out a  (PDF file) Lab Exemption Form, have the instructor of the course when you previously completed the lab work fill in their part, and then submit it to the current course instructor for exemption consideration.

Note: The decision for lab exemption is NOT automatic, nor is it guaranteed. It is solely based on the current instructor’s discretion. There are many times that lab exemptions are denied, as many instructors feel that redoing the labs a second time when repeating a course is essential.

NO. Definitely NOT. This kind of situation only happens rarely and usually in cases where a student is trying to “makeup” courses or take extra courses. This is not an issue for almost all students. However, if you find yourself in this situation, you either have to find sections that don’t overlap (if possible) or drop one of the courses. The ONLY time this would be allowed is if one of the conflicting time slots is an assigned lab time AND you have been given lab exemption in the said course.  (see FAQ #9)

Go on MyServiceHub and drop the course as needed. However, by doing this, you acknowledge that you are aware of the academic repercussions and/or penalties that you may incur. Depending on when you drop during a term can also have financial and academic penalties, so make sure you are aware of the drop deadlines listed on the Significant Dates page.

Important Note: If you have a probationary contract, you must contact the Associate Chair of Student Affairs before you drop any courses as this may violate the terms of your probationary contract. For more information, see the Enrolment section of the Student Guide.

You MUST contact the instructor of the course via e-mail and book a time to see your exam paper. DO NOT go to the front office of the Department. We do not facilitate this nor do we have access to your exam papers. In the rare case where you have attempted repeatedly to contact your instructor and have not received a reply, then you can contact the Department Chair at chair@ecb.ryerson.ca.

The Advisement Report is a tool for Undergraduate degree students that shows all the courses that you have taken or are enrolled in as well as those courses needed in order for you to graduate. As you work your way towards graduation, this report reflects your progress and gives details of the courses you still need to take in order to graduate. Visit to the following MyServiceHub support web page for full details and instructions on how to view your Advisement Report:  https://www.torontomu.ca/myservicehub-support/students/academics/advisement-report/. For further information, support and services for students enrolled in an undergraduate degree, we suggest that you also visit the Curriculum Advising website at: www.torontomu.ca/curriculum-advising/.

Third year full-time students may be eligible to enrol in the optional Co-operative Internship Program. Upon successful enrolment in the program and securing an approved co-op job, students are required to spend a period of 8-16 consecutive months in a work placement. After completing the requirements of the co-operative internship work placement, students return to the academic program to complete their final year of studies. Enrolment in the Co-operative Internship extends the program length to five years.

Eligibility Criteria (Students need to meet all the criteria listed below by the specified deadlines.): (Effective AY 2019/2020).

NO. If you do not find a placement through our CIP program then the job you have found is not a formal internship and the Department will not issue any letters or paperwork stating otherwise, nor will it provide any letter to the employer for tax purposes.

You need to fill out a  (PDF file) Plan Change Request Form and submit it to your current department. 

Note: Please note the Plan/Major change reference in the form corresponds to a program change for FEAS programs. All program change requests must be submitted prior to the start of the next academic term. Also, changing programs may also change your curriculum assignment. To determine your new curriculum requirements, you should run an Advisement Report on MyServiceHub or request a manual Advisement Report from Curriculum Advising if you are a part-time student. For example, if you want to change from Electrical to Biomedical, there are a number of courses that you may be missing that you would have to enrol in and complete to fulfill prerequisites for other courses in the new program.

According to Toronto Metropolitan University Senate Policy 162: Grade Reassessment and Grade Recalculation, if you believe that an assignment, test or exam should be remarked or that there should be a reassessment of a grade based on a calculation error, you must have first made the request to the course instructor within ten (10) working days of the date when the graded work was returned to the class. If the instructor denies or does not respond to the request for a grade reassessment within ten (10) working days, or if the student disagrees with the result, the student may submit a formal request for grade reassessment to the Chair/Director of the Department/ School offering the course within ten (10) working days. If the grading issue cannot be resolved informally with the instructor and/or the Chair/Director, then you can file an academic appeal.

Refer to  (PDF file) Senate Policy 168 for more details.

NO. Definitely not. No exceptions. If you have a valid reason for missing the scheduled exam, then you can write a make-up exam on the schedule make-up exam date. No early exams have ever been, nor will ever be, scheduled.

NO. Definitely not. As an adult and a responsible student it is expected that you show up for the final exam and/or the final make-up exam on the scheduled date. No exception. If you miss the final exam for a valid reason and have verifiable proof, you will be scheduled to write a make-up exam. However, if you have booked flights or made travel plans, this does not mean that the Department will accommodate your schedule and allow you to write a make-up exam when convenient for you. It is up to you to make sure that your travel plans do not overlap with your expected academic responsibilities. If you need to, change your travel plans.

For minor issues and/or clarification on course management or teaching style, you would typically discuss this with the instructor of the course. However, If the issue was not resolved with the instructor or the issue is of a more serious matter or you don’t feel that you can discuss the matter with the instructor, then please contact the Department Chair with your concern. 

Note: Rest assured that any and all such correspondence with the Department Chair will be taken very seriously and will be treated with strict confidentiality and anonymity.

Students who do not participate in the Course Intention process will be responsible for enrolling in courses that are appropriate to their degree plan (and will meet the requirements for graduation) during their Enrolment Appointment or Open Enrolment period for the term in question via MyServiceHub. This includes students that may have completed courses since course intentions and now have the prerequisites to enrol in courses that were unavailable to them during the course intentions period. For more information, see the Enrolment section of the Student Guide.

While Ryerson makes every effort to enrol students in all course intention selections, there are occasions where a course intention selection cannot be accommodated. Possible reasons could include:

• Course prerequisites or co-requisites not met (i.e. completed) by the end of Winter semester;
• Class conflict;
• Class enrolment capacity;
• Combination of one or more of the reasons listed above.

If this happens to you, you will be able to make adjustments to your schedule during the open enrolment period.  More details can be found on the Current Students Course Intentions web page.

If you encounter an error message during the Course Intention selection process, review the message to determine if you are able to resolve it. Please contact service@torontomu.ca, or your Program Director, for assistance if needed. Students with certain holds on file (that block enrolment) may be prohibited from enrolment (which includes participating in course intentions) until action is taken by the student to resolve the issue which has caused the hold.

As part of Student Wellbeing, Academic Accommodation Support (AAS) supports students with disabilities at Toronto Metropolitan University. Contact the main office at 416-979-5290 or e-mail them at aasadmin@torontomu.ca. They will consider your request and assess your needs. If warranted, they will provide you with documentation outlining the accommodation you require.

Upon receiving such documentation, present it to your instructor(s) before any graded assignment, test, or exam, as it will not be accepted if submitted late. For more details on the academic accommodation of students with disabilities, please visit the Toronto Metropolitan University Senate Policy 159 web page.

If you don't pass the WST, you will receive a grade of INP (in-progress) in CEN 199 and will be required to enrol in LNG 111, LNG 112, LNG 113, or LNG 121, depending on the outcome of the WST assessment. These courses are writing-intensive humanities and social science courses designed to give students the opportunity to strengthen their foundations in communication. They also count as lower-level Liberal Studies courses.

You may not proceed into the third year of your engineering program without passing the WST. But if you don't pass during Orientation, don't worry; you will have three more chances to write and pass the test. Further information and details can be found on the Writing Skills Test for Engineering Students page.

Please visit the Optional Specialization in Engineering Innovation and Entrepreneurship website for more information.

YES, it is possible. However, for approval, you need to make sure the “outside” course satisfies at least the following criteria: (a) it has to be at the same or higher year level of the home course, and with same or more lecture/lab hours per week; (b) it must have similar coverage and depth for both lectures and labs; (c) it cannot be taken through any Continuing Education at any University; (d) the course evaluation has to be consistent with the "home" course as noted in the course outline; and (e) it is from an accredited engineering program and is offered as a day-time equivalent to the course in your “home” program. You can contact the Program Director of your program to confirm the equivalency of the course. You would need to provide the full course description of the course from the other University, including all details such as textbook, course outline, grading breakdown and especially all details regarding any lab component. You would have to complete a Letter of Permission form in order to take any courses at other accredited post-secondary institutions for credit towards the Ryerson degree. Once the course is completed, you would have to request a Transfer Credit. Visit the Transfer Credit website for more information and details.

The Spring Transition Program for ELE, COE and BME programs was created to provide students who may need more time to adapt to the demanding university curriculum with an immediate opportunity to upgrade their academic standings and/or to complete missing and/or failed courses. The Spring Transition Program is offered through the Dean’s Office, Faculty of Engineering and Architectural Science (FEAS), and NOT by the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering. It is administered and managed by the Engineering Dean’s Office, including the selection of specific and limited number of courses offered each Spring. More information and details can be found on the Transition Program page.

A list of upcoming Spring Courses are published by the Dean’s Office prior to the final course-drop deadline of the Winter semester. Up until then, interested students may wish to check out the schedule for prior Spring semester courses on the Transition Program page for an indication of courses likely to be offered for the upcoming Spring semester, although there are no guarantees as to which courses will be offered from year to year.

If you are interested in taking a Spring Transition course, students can enroll into the Spring Transition course(s) during open enrollment via MyServiceHub.

Note: As spaces are always limited in the Transition Program courses, priority consideration will be given to those students who are missing courses required for promotion and students who are required to take courses as part of their probationary contracts. Any student who is considering enrolling in the Transition Program courses to upgrade or to 'fast-track' can always do so during Open Registration in early May, pending space availability, completion of prerequisites and no scheduling conflicts.

The goal of a probationary contract and the courses assigned is to provide you with an opportunity to improve your academic situation by increasing your cumulative grade point average (CGPA) and clearing your academic standing. The grade earned for a repeated course is substituted for the previous grade in calculating subsequent grade point averages even if the later grade is lower. However, both grades are recorded on your transcript.

For more information, contact Computing and Communications Services (CCS). You can call them at 416-979-5000, ext. 556840 or email them at help@torontomu.ca. 

Note: The Department of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering is not in charge of these services.

Contact the tech admins of the Department in room ENG 439 or email them at support@ecb.ryerson.ca or help@ecb.ryerson.ca.

First, read the Network User’s Guide. If you still have a question, contact support as outlined in FAQ #33 above.

YES. We allow supervised access to the ENG 303 Electronics Lab when the room is not used for course work. To use this room however, you need to reserve a time slot. For a list of equipment available for use in the room and to access the reservation form, go to the following link: https://www.ecb.torontomu.ca/undergraduate/eng303/

YES. The fourth year is no different than any other academic year. If you fail a course, you need to make up for that failure to satisfy your graduation requirements. So that means that you have to come back next academic year. If you failed a 7th semester course, then you need to come back the following Fall to retake that course (or another). Similarly, if you failed an 8th semester course then you need to come back in the following Winter term (and before you ask: No, you cannot take a Fall course and count it towards a Winter course. Review the following question and answer for more information).

Definitely not! Table I courses count towards 7th semester requirements and Table II towards 8th semester. This is a strict policy and these cannot be moved around to satisfy any missing courses, etc.

The Department of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering does not deal with this. Please visit Toronto Metropolitan University’s Scholarships website at the following link: https://www.torontomu.ca/admissions/scholarships-awards/ where you can find information pertaining to all scholarships.

NO. Once you graduate, your transcript will be frozen with the grades and CGPA that you earned at the time of graduation, and you cease to be a student. Your status is "general public" after graduation, and you are not permitted to take any day-time program courses at Toronto Metropolitan University.

If you wish to upgrade past courses you must remain a student after you complete 4th year. So you will have to delay applying for graduation until you complete all the upgrades that you want.

NOTE: You cannot come back to upgrade courses after you have graduated (see FAQ #39).

If you don’t find your question listed above, then please go to the front office of the Department of Electrical, Computer, and Biomedical Engineering at ENG 478 or by email frontoffice@ee.ryerson.ca. The admins at the front desk will be able to provide any further help and/or direct you to the correct person or Toronto Metropolitan University office. Some issues and questions, (e.g., course advice, course selection, program changes, overall advice, etc.), can be directed to the Program Director of your respective program. For student issues (e.g., academic standing, probation, appeals), the Associate Chair for Student Affairs should be contacted. For all graduate school enquiries, contact the Associate Chair for Graduate Studies.

The current Departmental Administration can always be found on our departmental website at the following page: https://www.ee.ryerson.ca/people/index.html.

The process to apply for Short-Term Withdrawal is outlined at https://www.torontomu.ca/current-students/course-enrolment/withdrawals/short-term/ Please note the following: (a) Regardless of short-term withdrawal submission, any leave of absence WILL COUNT towards the 8-year timespan limit to complete your program. (b) The University strongly encourages undergraduate students who are considering taking a break, to submit the short-term withdrawal request as a method of notifying the University of their intention as opposed to just not enrolling in courses.

In order to get into the new Software Option, you must do an online Major/Plan Change on MyServiceHub. For details, please refer to the Programs and Majors page.

Important: This option is only available to students who are in 2nd year who are a part of the 2018 cohort. As students are going into their 3rd year in 2020-2021, the new Software Engineering curriculum begins at Year 3, and these students would be aligned to complete this curriculum accordingly. Students who are currently completing their first year (admitted in 2019-2020) will not have access to make this plan change on MyServiceHub until they reach their second year in the 2020-2021 academic year in September. Students who are eligible to take the new option but do not select it in their 2nd year, are required to submit a  (PDF file) Toronto Metropolitan University Plan Change form in order to make this change.

Earlier cohorts are not eligible to access the new Software Engineering option. For example, students admitted in 2017 are currently completing their 3rd year in this academic year and referencing the 2019-2020 calendar for their 3rd year requirements. This group of students do not have access to the new option as they are going into their 4th year for 2020-2021 (and the Software Engineering Option begins in Year 3). Students admitted in 2016 are currently in 4th year and referencing the 2019-2020 calendar for their 4th year requirements, where the new option does not appear. All out-of-phase students are similarly ineligible as they are referencing earlier calendars for their curriculum requirements.

In order to be eligible to do your Course Intentions for the new Software Option for Fall 2020/Winter 2021, you must first change your major on MyServiceHub. For details, please refer to the Programs and Majors page or review the following question and answer for more details.

If you are in 2nd year and have done the online Major/Plan Change for the Software Option, you can then log onto MyServiceHub and select your course intentions for this Program. Please visit the Course Intentions page for help on applying for course intentions.

Important: This option is only available to students who are in 2nd year who are a part of the 2018 cohort and later . As students are going into their 3rd year in 2020-2021, the new Software Engineering curriculum begins at Year 3, and these students would be aligned to complete this curriculum accordingly. Students who are currently completing their first year (admitted in 2019-2020) will not have access to make this plan change on MyServiceHub until they reach their second year in the 2020-2021 academic year in September. Students who are eligible to take the new option but do not select it in their 2nd year, are required to submit a  (PDF file) Toronto Metropolitan University Plan Change form in order to make this change.

Earlier cohorts are not eligible to access the new Software Engineering option. For example, students admitted in 2017 are currently completing their 3rd year in this academic year and referencing the 2019-2020 calendar for their 3rd year requirements. This group of students do not have access to the new option as they are going into their 4th year for 2020-2021 (and the Software Engineering Option begins in Year 3). Students admitted in 2016 are currently in 4th year and referencing the 2019-2020 calendar for their 4th year requirements, where the new option does not appear. All out-of-phase students are similarly ineligible as they are referencing earlier calendars for their curriculum requirements.

VERY IMPORTANT:  If you are not formally in the software engineering option, DO NOT enrol in the courses that are unique to that option thinking that you will get in later.  Getting into the option is NOT GUARANTEED since it is based on demand and space availability.  Just because you decided to take the courses that are unique to the option does not entitle you to get into the option.

You are on probation because you either did NOT maintain a minimum CGPA (cumulative GPA) of 1.67 and/or you did NOT obtain a TGPA (term GPA) of 1.33 or higher. In addition to the general criteria used to determine Academic Standing, students in all engineering programs must also meet the following conditions:

All students in undergraduate Engineering programs have an additional condition for Clear academic standing. In addition to students needing a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 1.67 or higher, students also need to have a Term Grade Point Average (TGPA) of 1.33 or higher, based on at least two reported grades for that term (not including Pass, DEF, INP or AEG grades). Students who have a TGPA less than 1.33 will be given PROBATIONARY Academic Standing. Students with only one reported grade for that term will be evaluated based on CGPA only.

When you are on Probation, the Department will issue you a probationary course load in your upcoming semester that will consist of up to 4 courses (and may include repeat courses), to give you the best chance to succeed. NOTE: Being on probation is one small step away from being RTW (Required To Withdraw, i.e., suspended for 12 months) if you fail to achieve a minimum TGPA (term GPA) of 1.67 (C- average).   So, be mindful of this when the probationary load is assigned to you.

Please refer to  (PDF file) Toronto Metropolitan University Policy 46 pertaining to Academic Standings for any further details.

This usually means that you are what is called an "out of step" student. This happens if you go on co-op or are not on the 4 year graduation track (e.g., spread out your load, or failed courses and have a delayed graduation). During this extra time, the calendar for your program changed.

For example, a 4th year course may have moved from one semester to another, or a course was deleted and replaced with another. Your advisement report is basing your course requirements on the academic calendar that pertains to your first entry date and then the subsequent calendar for each year. For example, if you entered in F2018, for your second year program requirements, the advisement report is looking at the 2019/20 calendar. Similarly, for 3rd year it is looking at the 2020/21 calendar year. So if you are an F2018 entry student and taking 4th year courses in 2022/23, your advisement report will be looking at the calendar of 2021/22 to determine which courses you can take to satisfy graduation requirements, even though you are probably looking at the 2022/23 calendar to pick courses.

So when picking courses and trying to figure out your advisement report, be sure to look at the calendar that applies to you. If you are on track and not on delayed graduation (e.g., co-op) then you should have no issues and use the most current calendar. Otherwise, use the calendar that applies to your year.

Refer to FAQ #49 for more details

Most errors in an advisement report are due to the situation described in FAQ #47 The most common ones are due to 4th year courses being moved or deleted. To fix these advisement issues you need to e-mail your program director (coe@ryerson,ca, ele@ryerson,ca, bme@torontomu.ca) to seek advice and guidance. In most cases a course directive form will need to be submitted but that is after the department has looked at your situation.

Your Academic Advisement Report shows all the courses you have taken (or are enrolled in) and those courses needed in order for you to graduate. You can check the appropriate calendar for your year of entry at https://www.torontomu.ca/studentguide/academics/#aa_report - However, your advisement report remains the most reliable source of information for you.