Student Handbook
Please see Toronto Metropolitan University's Senate Policy 168.
Students can request academic consideration for health, medical, or compassionate reasons with supporting documentation (e.g. Toronto Metropolitan Health Certificate https://www.torontomu.ca/senate/forms/medical.pdf). ACRs with documentation must be submitted within three working days of the missed essay, assignment, or exam. Instructors may grant a deadline extension that is appropriate to the severity of the student’s health, medical, or compassionate circumstances. In no case, including those involving mental health concerns, is the student or health practitioner required to divulge the exact diagnosis; however, the impact of the condition on the student’s ability to complete required course work must be provided. Submission of supporting documentation does not guarantee that academic consideration will be granted.
In limited instances, once per semester, students may request consideration without documentation when they experience short-term extenuating circumstances that have a significant impact on their ability to fulfill an academic requirement (e.g. to attend classes, write a scheduled term exam, submit an essay, etc.). ACRs without documentation must be submitted within three standard days of the missed essay, assignment, or exam. In this case, the extenuating circumstances are only of a short-term duration, and instructors may grant a deadline extension of one to three days. ACRs without documentation cannot be submitted for final exams or final assessments, or in cases where the temporary absence lasts more than three standard days.
Students must submit their ACR (with or without documentation) through the online system before the applicable essay, assignment, or exam due date. Students must also contact the relevant course instructor to discuss the request.
In all cases, the instructor has discretion to accept or reject the ACR (with or without documentation).
See Senate Policy 167.
Plagiarism and academic misconduct are offences that are taken very seriously by the Department of History.
Among other things, plagiarism includes claiming, submitting, or presenting the words or ideas of another person, including information found on the Internet and unpublished materials, as if they are one’s own, without appropriate referencing. It also includes minimally paraphrasing someone else’s work by changing only a few words and not citing the original source.
Academic dishonesty extends to submitting fraudulent doctor and other notes for extensions, cheating, submitting stolen or purchased assignments or research, submitting the same work (in full or in part) in more than one course, misrepresentation of personal identity, unauthorized use of intellectual property, and more.
Contributing to academic misconduct is also an offence, and includes offering, giving, sharing, or selling essays, questions and/or answers to tests or exams, quizzes or other assignments unless authorized to do so. It also includes allowing work to be copied during an exam or for assignments.
Penalties and consequences for academic misconduct include Disciplinary Notices, Disciplinary Suspensions, Disciplinary Withdrawals, Expulsion, and Revocation of a Degree or Diploma.
Students are strongly advised to keep an extra copy of all work submitted and to retain all rough notes used in the preparation of assignments.
Refer to the Academic Integrity Office for more information.
Also see Toronto Metropolitan University's Senate Policy 60.
Please see Academic Standing Reference Guide.
Please see Toronto Metropolitan University's Senate Policy 150.
Students with disabilities will be accommodated as per Senate Policy 159. Please see Toronto Metropolitan University's Senate Policy 159.
The Undergraduate Calendar is your official source for curriculum and course information at Toronto Metropolitan University. The Calendar is updated each spring for the next academic year.
The History Department does not accept applications for Challenge Credits.
From time to time, students may have concerns and complaints about a course or an instructor. Usually, these issues are best addressed by students and faculty members discussing them directly. Such issues might concern any relevant academic or pedagogical concern. In the event that either party might wish to meet with a third party present, for example the Departmental Chair or another mutually agreed upon person who can be of assistance, such a meeting should be sought.
On those occasions when students are not satisfied with the outcome of such a meeting, or when for specific reasons a student does not wish to meet with a faculty member, the student may discuss his or her concerns with the Chair. Any such conversation with the Chair will be either: (a) informal, or (b) formal:
- Informal Discussion with Chair:
Informal conversations are confidential; and what is said will be kept secret. The Chair will take no action based upon the conversation, with the exception that the student may ask the Chair to speak to the faculty member privately and informally (with explicit agreement about whether or not the student will be identified). It should be recognized that sometimes the faculty member will recognize the student anyway, simply from the nature of the concern or complaint. - Formal Process:
If the Chair is to proceed to investigate formally, there must be a signed written complaint from the student, a copy of which will be provided by the Chair to the faculty member, who will have the opportunity to respond.
Please note that vexatious complaints constitute a violation of the Student Code of Academic Conduct and Toronto Metropolitan University's Harassment Policy, and will be dealt with in accordance with those policies.
University Email Policy requires that all Toronto Metropolitan students to activate and maintain a Toronto Metropolitan email account. All email communication with professors and staff must be through your Toronto Metropolitan email account. Please do not set up your Toronto Metropolitan account to forward to another email account.
It is vital that you have an active and valid Toronto Metropolitan email account during your undergraduate program of study. Please make sure your account is active. It is also very important to be regularly checking your Toronto Metropolitan email account, as it is a major method of communication from the University to students. This includes during the Spring/Summer term.
Please see Toronto Metropolitan University's Senate Policy 135.
Group work for which a student does not receive an individual assessment must not constitute more than 30% of a course grade
A student may request an INC if some course work (e.g. the final course essay) was not submitted due to documented medical or compassionate grounds, or the final exam was missed due to documented medical or compassionate grounds, and when the completion of the outstanding essay or exam may result in a passing course grade.
Students must petition their instructor to receive an INC grade within 3 working days of the missed final exam or assignment deadline. An Academic Consideration Request (ACR) with supporting health, medical, or compassionate documentation must be provided.
Instructors approving an INC grade must then provide the student with a written statement of outstanding work to be completed and the specific date by which it must be submitted (or the date of the alternate final examination). This date may be early in the following semester, and not longer than three months from the INC request.
Failure to submit the outstanding work by the precise deadline will result in an F grade on the work in question.
The INC will be replaced by an official course grade after the deadline has passed.
Students must be formally registered in course sections prior to the final deadline to add courses, which for both semesterized and full-year courses is published annually in the Toronto Metropolitan University Calendar.
Students can be registered in course sections only if there is an available spot prior to the add deadline. Any action taken by the student in attending class sections, meeting with the instructor, obtaining course texts, etc., when the student does not have an official course registration in place, is entirely the student's responsibility. The Department will not normally arrange special registrations for such students or in any way to violate the university's add deadline which is published.
The maintenance of a proper registration status in any History course is the full responsibility of the student. Students must ensure that the courses in which they are registered count in the History program by referring to their Advisement Report and the History curriculum in the Toronto Metropolitan University Calendar.
Drop and add dates for each semester are published in the Calendar. It is the student's responsibility to be familiar with these dates as published in the Calendar.
Please see Toronto Metropolitan University's Senate Policy 61 (Student Code of Non-Academic Conduct).
Students have a right to request a reassessment of a graded essay or assignment if they believe their grade does not reflect the academic merit of their work. This request must be made directly to the instructor within ten working days of when that particular assignment is handed back or the grades for it are posted.
Requests for a grade reassessment must be based on sufficient academic grounds and be supported by evidence and documentation (e.g. from the course outline, course notes, textbooks, assignment grade rubric, etc.). Merely asserting that the work deserves a higher grade, that the student disagrees with the grade, or that the assignment was the result of a great deal of effort, is insufficient support for a grade reassessment.
The instructor should make every effort to reassess the work quickly, usually within five working days.
A reassessment may result in the grade being maintained, raised, or lowered.
If the student remains unsatisfied, they may appeal directly to the department Chair. The result of this appeal is itself non-appealable.
Under no circumstances should the instructor re-examine or re-evaluate work, or even discuss doing so, after the 10-day window has passed.
For more information, see Grade Reassessment and Grade Recalculation.