Graduate policies

1. All drafts of thesis/project/dissertation products, materials and candidacy papers must be submitted in multiple hard copies if they are to be read by more than one faculty member. (Note: ECDVU establishes its own process for the submission of assignments, theses and reports.) (1)

2. Essay and course material longer than 15 pages are normally submitted in hard copy, unless negotiated with a faculty member in advance.

3. The manner of submission for essay and course material less than 15 pages to one faculty member can be negotiated with them.

4. The production and submission of copies of drafts of thesis/dissertation material for committee members are the responsibility of the student.

5. The production and submission of all final bound copies of theses, project products, and dissertations are also the responsibility of the student.

6. Faculty are not responsible for the mis-transmission of electronically submitted material, including changes in formatting or for stylistic alterations that occur as a result of electronic transmission. Documents may be submitted in PDF format in order to preserve formatting. (2)

7. Any material submitted electronically must be submitted to the faculty member for reading and grading. It is not the responsibility of the graduate program assistant to reproduce and circulate assignments or drafts.

8. In rare and unusual circumstances a student may request assistance in the submission of documents or materials from a distance. With prior approval, such material may be submitted electronically and printed. Administrative charges for printing/copying of documents by the department will be billed to the student at $0.25/page. This is not available for late assignments and must be negotiated in advance.

Notes

(1) ECDVU establishes its own process for the submission of assignments, theses and reports.
(2) Documents may be submitted in PDF format in order to preserve formatting.

1. The student requesting the grade review shall sign a consent form indicating that they understand that the grade may be raised, lowered, or remain the same. Alternatively, the director may write a letter back indicating that the grade assigned by a second instructor will be the final grade and that the grade may be raised, lowered, or remain the same.

2. The director will appoint a second instructor (preferably an experienced faculty member who has recently taught the course or one closely related to it) to review the grade assigned. If the instructor of the course for which the grade is questioned is the director, then a senior member of the unit will be appointed to handle the appeal.

3. The original instructor shall provide

   1. a course outline
   2. a description of the assignment(s) in question, if not included in the course outline
   3. an explicit statement on how the grade was determined and what assessment techniques were used
   4. scoring keys, a marking guide, or explicit criteria for evaluating the components of the grade
   5. the distribution of the marks and of the grades for the course (or component in question)
   6. if possible, a representative sample of graded papers from the course.

4. The reviewer should read clean, unmarked copies of all the written work submitted for the grade in question. Examination copies may have to be obtained from Records Services and identifying information removed. Students do not have the option to rewrite, edit, or in any other way change their papers before the review process. If there is any question regarding the version of a paper submitted for review, the student will be asked to submit the original paper.

5. The reviewer shall be provided with the items detailed in 3 and 4. The reviewer is expected to come to a final mark without consultation with the original marker.

6. Where possible, the reviewer and the student should not be identified (i.e., name, student number) to minimize risk of bias. The reviewer shall then submit an independent evaluation of the grade to the director (or the person appointed to handle the appeal).

   If the evaluation is different from that of the initial instructor, then the Director may consult (if necessary) with both instructors and/or seek further opinion before deciding the final grade to be awarded. This revised grade shall be recorded as the official grade regardless of whether it is higher than, lower than, or the same as the original grade.

• Student responsibilities
• Guidelines for professional conduct
• Unprofessional conduct
• Faculty of Human and Social Development guidelines for professional conduct
• Faculty of Graduate Studies policies and procedures for current graduate students
• Review of assigned grades and other appeals
• Grading

The Master of Arts in Child and Youth Care program is predicated on the assumption that students will approach their learning by participating in a self-directed and responsible manner.

“Self-directed” means taking the initiative to ensure that:

• the learning objectives of courses are well-addressed.
• course instructors are notified in advance of unavoidable absence.
• any missed material or information is passed on by a fellow student or requested from the instructor.
• discussions are held with course instructors in advance of deadlines if alternative arrangements need to be negotiated.

Grades for courses within the School of Child and Youth Care (SCYC) graduate degree program are assigned in the following manner based on SCYC and Faculty of Graduate Studies’ standards:

Where a grade of B- or lower is attained, the student’s performance must be reviewed and permission to continue can only be granted by the Dean of Graduate Studies upon recommendation of the SCYC graduate committee.

(Please see below for more details)

Every grade of B- or lower in a course taken for credit in the Faculty of Graduate Studies must be reviewed by the student’s supervisory committee or the departmental graduate committee, and a recommendation must be made to the Dean of Graduate Studies. Such students will not be allowed to register in the next term until approved to do so by the Dean of Graduate Studies.

Upon the advice of the committee, the Faculty of Graduate Studies may impose conditions for continuation in the program; if these conditions are not met within the specified time limit, the student will be required to withdraw.

Students in the Faculty of Graduate Studies must achieve a grade point average of at least 5.00 (B) for every term in which they are registered. Individual departments or schools may set higher standards. Students with a sessional or cumulative average below 5.00 will not be allowed to register in the next term until their committee reviews their academic performance and the Dean of Graduate Studies approves continuation in the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

Note: grades for courses designated FNC (For No Credit) or for Transfer Credit courses will not be used in the calculation of sessional or cumulative grade point averages.

A student who fails to meet academic standards or whose dissertation, thesis, or project is not progressing satisfactorily may be required to withdraw from the Faculty of Graduate Studies with the advice and consent of the department concerned.

Related links:

• Academic performance.
• Review of assigned grades and other appeals.
• Appeal process and procedures.
• Graduate Studies Calendar.