Faculty of Mathematics

Degree requirements and policies that apply to students enrolled in the Bachelor of Software Engineering (BSE) degree program are included in the Software Engineering program description. Also see “Degree Requirements” for definitions of the basic terms used in this section.

1. Discretion in the Application of Policies

The Faculty may, in extenuating circumstances, make exceptions to its policies. For example, students who experience difficulties beyond their control, such as serious illness, may be allowed to continue in a plan when a strict interpretation of policy would force them out.

Students should consult their academic advisor to determine whether their circumstances are appropriate to warrant asking for an exception.

Normally, the Standings and Promotions (S&P) Committee considers petitions for exceptions to Faculty or University policies and regulations. Students wishing to petition S&P should consult their academic advisor.

2. Averages for Math Students

The Faculty of Mathematics computes several averages that are used to determine a student’s “standing” within the Faculty (see Policy 4). The averages are:

Cumulative Average (“CAV”): The average mark of all courses taken by a student that meet the following criteria:

• was taken while the student was enrolled in the University of Waterloo,
• is not a specifically excluded course,
• is eligible for credit towards the student’s degree (e.g., ECON 211 would not be included in the CAV because all Math students are barred from taking it) and towards their particular plan (e.g., CS 330 would not be included in a computer science major’s average because it is only for non-majors).

Term Average (“TAV”): The TAV is just like the CAV except that the courses included are limited to those taken in a specific term. A TAV is computed for each term in which a student is enrolled in the Faculty of Mathematics.

Major Average (“MAV”): The MAV is just like the CAV except that it only includes courses relevant to the student’s major or plan. Some plans have more than one major average, defined over different groups of courses. For example, a Joint Computer Science and Actuarial Science degree has a MAV for computer science and a MAV for actuarial science. Major averages are calculated only after they contain a minimum number of courses, as specified in the following section.

Special Major Average (“SMAV”): Some plans have a special major average, or SMAV. A SMAV is a kind of MAV. The specific courses in a SMAV are defined in the next section.

Notes:

1. All failed courses taken in the fall 2004 term or later are automatically excluded. Courses taken earlier than fall 2004, and courses with a grade of 60 or higher, cannot be excluded. Students must request voluntary exclusions within six months of the appearance of the grade in Quest.
2. A passed course may be repeated at most once unless an academic advisor has given prior approval. Both grades will be included in averages provided they meet the criteria in the definition of the CAV.

3. Major Averages for Math students

*The major average in Mathematics/Chartered Accountancy is calculated after the 1B term.

4. Academic Standing within the Faculty

This section specifies the rules that determine a student’s academic standing. A student’s standing determines whether a student is able to proceed in the Faculty or in his or her chosen plan, how many courses they are able to take in the next term, etc. 

The following table describes the implications of the standings listed above. 

5. Course Load

• The standard course load is five courses per term (2.5 units). A student may take up to 2.75 units without special permission.
• Students who have a cumulative average of 80% or more and are in Excellent standing have a maximum course load of 3.0 units. Honours co-op students should not enrol in six courses with a view to graduating in fewer than eight terms, because co-op students must complete at least eight full-time terms to graduate with an honours degree.
• If a student has courses with INC (Incomplete course work, no credit granted) grades on his/her record, the total unit weight of those courses and the courses enrolled for the current term may not normally exceed 3.25 units. A student may obtain permission from an academic advisor to exceed this limit if an INC will not be completed in the current term because the course is not offered.
• In the term after a student’s first 1A term in the Faculty of Mathematics, the following rules apply:

  Each failed course will reduce his/her course load by 0.5 units.

  Each INC beyond the first will reduce the maximum course load by an additional 0.5 units.

  No student’s maximum course load will be restricted in this way to less than 1.0 units. In that case, the student’s academic advisor may permit the student to enroll in 1.5 units.

  Any student with a CAV less than 60% will have a maximum course load of 2.0 units.

  If more than one of the preceding rules apply to a student, then the maximum course load is the minimum of those specified.

6. Exceptions

For students near graduation: Any student who has more than 3.0 excluded units, or more than 5.0 units of unusable course attempts, and has no more than 0.5 units remaining to satisfy degree requirements, may enrol in one additional term. The student will still qualify for an Honours degree if, at the end of that term, he/she:

• satisfies all degree requirements other than the failure or attempt limit
• has credit for at least 1.5 units in the additional term, and
• has no excluded courses, WDs (Withdrew, no credit granted), or CLCs (No credit granted, in average) in that term

No student may take advantage of this provision more than once.

For first-year students: A first-year student who has never previously been registered for a term of full-time study at a degree-granting post-secondary institution may withdraw from some or all of his/her core math courses after the tenth week of lectures until noon on the last day of lectures and obtain a cleared grade of WD in each. Such withdrawals must be requested through the Faculty of Mathematics; students should consult with a first-year advisor.

7. Academic Enrolment Blocks

In some instances a student will be blocked from enrolling in classes. Any student with an enrolment block should speak to their academic advisor concerning their situation. A student will be blocked, regardless of their academic standing for the term, in the following circumstances:

• after the term in which a student reaches 2.0 excluded units; and
• when the Writing Skills Requirement is not completed before enrolling in 2A

8. Co-op Regulations

General regulations:

• Co-operative mathematics students are expected to follow the normal academic/work-term sequence appropriate to their plan from admission through to graduation.
• Students admitted at the 1A level, with the exception of those in the Mathematics/Chartered Accountancy and Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA)/Bachelor of Mathematics (BMath) Double Degree plans, will normally have eight academic terms and six work terms.
• Students may not end their sequence with a work term.
• Students must satisfy all degree course requirements within one calendar year after the end of their approved sequence, or they will only be eligible for a regular degree.
• Students’ requests to re-arrange their sequence must be directed to the S&P Committee. Such requests will normally be approved if all the criteria listed on the Academic/Work Term Sequence Change form are met. Students who alter their sequence without obtaining prior approval may be required to withdraw from the co-op system. It is the student’s responsibility to deal with any timetabling difficulties that may arise and to select courses for subsequent terms.

Professional Development (PD) courses:

• As specified in Table I, co-op students are required to complete a minimum of five different Professional Development courses.
• PD 1 must be taken in the term prior to the first work term and PD 2 must be taken during the first work term.
• With the exception of PD 1, Professional Development courses are normally taken during co-op work terms.
• Students are required to take a PD course each work term until the requirement is completed.

Work reports:

• Co-op students must submit a work report following every work term until they have completed four acceptable work reports. Successful completion of PD 2 meets the requirement for a first work report.

Co-op standing rules:

The following table explains the consequences of the standings above:

Courses on a work term:

• Co-op students on a work term are limited to one course (0.5 units), unless they have written support from their employer to take two courses (1.0 units). COOP courses are not included in these limits.

Transferring into co-op:

• Late transfers to the co-op system are considered once per term. Admission is very competitive and is a function of availability and demonstrated academic performance at the university level.
• Regular students in the Faculty of Mathematics may apply to transfer to the co-op system of study in their 1B term. To be eligible, at the time of admission to co-op, such students must have successfully completed between 4.0 and 6.0 units, including transfer credits.
• Co-op students from other faculties at the University of Waterloo may apply to transfer to the co-op system in the Faculty of Mathematics at the end of any term, as part of the internal transfer process.
• Non-co-op students external to the University of Waterloo are eligible to apply for co-op in the Faculty of Mathematics only if, at the time of admission, they have successfully completed no more than 3.0 units of math transfer credits and between 4.0 and 6.0 transfer credits overall.
• Applications to transfer to co-op from co-op students external to the University of Waterloo will be considered on a case-by-case basis.

9. Grades

• CS 499T is the only course in the Faculty of Mathematics for which numerical grades are not assigned.
• A grade of INC will automatically convert to an FTC (Failure to complete incomplete course work, no credit granted) after eight months, unless a later deadline is specified by the instructor.
• Students in the Faculty of Mathematics may not register for official Audit (AUD) status in a course. This policy applies to all undergraduate students in Mathematics, including non-degree students and students on exchange from other universities, but does not apply to post-degree students.

10. Extended Absences and Withdrawals

First-year withdrawal: A first-year student who has never previously been registered at a degree-granting post-secondary institution will normally be permitted to withdraw from all of his/her courses without academic penalty until the last official day of lectures for his/her first term. These courses will continue to appear on the student’s academic record with a grade of WD. Such students may resume their studies after an absence of two terms (eight months). Students wishing to pursue this option should contact the Registrar’s Office.

Readmission: A student who has completed at least one term of study and who has been inactive (i.e., not registered as a candidate for a Faculty of Mathematics degree or on an approved Letter of Permission) for at least five consecutive academic terms must apply for re-admission.

For example, a student whose last term of enrolment was spring 2010 would not need to apply for readmission if he or she returned to study in winter 2012 or earlier. However, if this student remained inactive until spring 2012 or later, then he or she would need to apply for readmission.

Application for readmission must include a resume covering the inactive period, including transcripts from any post-secondary institutions attended in the interim. If the student is readmitted, Faculty policies in effect at the time of readmission will apply unless otherwise stated by the Faculty.

11. Other Course Rules

Double counting of courses: With the exception of specially approved double degree plans (e.g., BBA/BMath Double Degree plan with Wilfrid Laurier University), the Faculty of Mathematics does not allow students to have more than 50% of the course units that they are counting for Mathematics Faculty degree credit be ones that have previously been used, or that are being used simultaneously, to obtain a second degree from another University of Waterloo faculty or from another university.

Course prerequisites: At any time prior to the completion of lectures, if the Faculty discovers that a student has enrolled in a course offered by the Faculty without the appropriate prerequisites and without being granted an override of those prerequisites, the Faculty may purge the student’s registration in the course. Such purging may be done at the request of the instructor, the department offering the course, or the Faculty, but not without the consent of the instructor.

No-credit/Overlap courses: Some courses at the University may not be taken for credit towards a degree offered by the Faculty of Mathematics. These courses are identified on the Course No-Credit List.

Other groups of courses cover similar material, and no more than one in any such group may count for credit towards a degree offered by the Faculty. These groups are listed on the Course Overlap List.

It is the student’s responsibility to be aware of the contents of these lists.

Courses on Letter of Permission: Students in Good or Excellent standing are normally permitted to take non-math courses at other universities on a part-time basis during terms off campus, provided that the courses are not explicitly required for their particular plan. Students wishing to take courses at other universities must submit a completed Letter of Permission Form to the Registrar's Office before taking each course. The Standings and Promotions (S&P) Committee will not approve courses taken elsewhere for degree credit after the fact.

Courses taken on a Letter of Permission will be recorded on a student's academic record as transfer credits (CR) or transfer failures (TF) as appropriate. A grade of 60 or higher will be recorded as a credit and a grade of less than 50 will be recorded as a failure. Grades of 50-59 will result in the course not being recorded on a student’s record.

It will be the student's responsibility to ensure that an official transcript from the host institution is sent to the University of Waterloo Registrar's Office within two months of the completion of the course. Otherwise, a transfer failure will be automatically recorded. Any changes a student wishes to make to an authorized Letter of Permission must be approved in advance by the S&P Committee.

12. Residency Requirement

Students must normally complete at least 50% of the minimum number of math courses and at least 50% of the total number of units required for a Faculty of Mathematics degree while registered at the University of Waterloo. Students transferring into a co-op system of study must complete at least five work terms, unless otherwise specified by plan requirements.