Ask for Help
As always, you are entitled to ask for help related to matters that have affected your academic performance in Winter 2020 using normal procedures:
A) During or after a course you can request consideration and/or accommodation on matters affecting academic performance based on medical or compassionate grounds, including:
- bereavement,
- serious mental or physical health circumstances, or
- unanticipated extenuating circumstances beyond your control (e.g., jury duty, caring for an ill family member, labour disputes, etc.).
These factors can be taken into consideration "taking into account the severity of the illness, bereavement, or other extenuating circumstance" on an individual basis. Determinations about how to accommodate students who are too ill to undertake a date-specific assessment are made by instructors, in keeping with any standard procedures within specific Faculties.
B) If you reach out to an instructor and you cannot reach a resolution with that instructor, you can contact your department head, or submit a formal request to your dean, or the associate dean responsible for undergraduate studies in your faculty, or your graduate coordinator to discuss it further. Keep in mind that these decisions will be made “taking into account the severity of the illness, bereavement, or other extenuating circumstance" on an individual basis.
Please review Bylaw 54, section 2.18 for full information about these normal procedures for undergraduates, and Bylaw 55 Section 1.11 for information for graduate students.
Grade Appeals
As always, you are entitled to appeal grades you receive. The Revised Grading Regulations have resulted in two changes outlined in (b) and (c):
A) Normal appeal procedures still apply, which are outlined in section 2.17 of Bylaw 54 for undergraduate students, and in section 1.12 of Bylaw 55 for graduate students.
- Informal Review: Where a student wishes to review a grade awarded for assigned work at any time during the term the course is being taught, and up to the time the marks are officially submitted to the Office of the Registrar, an informal inquiry can be made to the Instructor responsible for the course. Assigned work includes mid-terms, tests, seminars, essays, final examination and all other academic exercises that will be used in calculating a final grade. The purpose of the inquiry is to review the work submitted and to allow for any adjustment of the grade in question where that change is found to be appropriate by the Instructor. This must be done within the time limit as established by the Instructor, but not later than ten working days after the release or publication of the grade. This review does not preclude the student from appealing the final grade.
- Formal Appeal: When a student believes his/her final grade does not accurately represent his/her academic accomplishments because of incorrect evaluation of work or because of procedural irregularity, he or she can launch a formal appeal.
B) For Winter 2020, appeals for both undergraduate and graduate students can be submitted between May 21 - June 11, 2020.
- Undergraduate students can launch a formal appeal through UWinsite Student, based on the process described in Bylaw 54, 2.17.
- Graduate students can launch formal grade appeals following the process outlined in Bylaw 55, 1.12. Letters should be addressed to the Dean of Graduate Studies and emailed to gradst@uwindsor.ca with all supporting documentation.
C) For Winter 2020, students who wish to appeal should not choose a P/NP or VWC during the Revised Grading period (which begins when a grade is uploaded to UWinsite Student and ends on May 13, 2020), but will have the option to change their grade to a P/NP or a VWC should the appeal be unsuccessful. More information about this option will be available soon.