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- By the second lecture period in a course, the instructor shall make available to the class, and shall file with the Faculty Registrar the methods by which student performance shall be evaluated. This shall include whether the methods of evaluation will be essays, tests, class participation, seminar presentations, examinations, or other, the relative weight of these methods in relation to the overall grade, and the timing of each major evaluation.
- Instructors are not obliged to accept late work, except where there are legitimate, documented reasons beyond a student’s control. In such cases, a late penalty is normally not appropriate. Where an instructor intends to accept and apply penalties to late assignments, this must be set out clearly in the course syllabus.
- After the methods of evaluation have been made known, the instructor may not change them or their relative weight without the consent of a simple majority of students attending the class, provided the vote is announced no later than in the previous class. Any changes must be reported to the Faculty Registrar. The only exception to this is in the case of the declaration of a disruption.
- Student performance in a course shall be assessed on more than one occasion. No one essay, test, examination, etc., should have a value of more than 80% of the grade. Exemptions must be approved by the Committee on Academic Standing prior to the beginning of a course.
- In courses that meet regularly as a class, there should be an examination (or examinations) conducted formally under Faculty auspices and worth (alone or in the aggregate) at least one-third of the final grade. Exemptions must be approved by the Committee on Academic Standing prior to the beginning of a course. The relative value of each part of an examination should be indicated to the student. In the case of a written examination, the value shall be indicated on the examination paper.
- Students should have access to commentary on assessed term work and the opportunity to discuss the assessment with the instructor.
- At least one piece of term work which is part of the evaluation of a student performance and worth at least 10% of the final grade, whether essay, lab report, review, etc., must be returned to the student prior to the last date for withdrawal from the course without academic penalty. Exemption will require approval of the Committee on Academic Standing. In addition, the instructor shall inform the students of the exemption by the second lecture period in the course.
