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2018-2019

The Undergraduate Calendar

 

 

Arts Academic Regulations and Advice

Academic Standing and Averages

Academic Standing Definition

Academic standing is a measure of the student's academic achievement relative to their degree requirements, and determines their eligibility to be admitted to and/or proceed in their academic plan and to qualify for graduation.

A student's academic standing is determined by the averages attained:

  • Cumulative Overall Average (CAV): Average of the grades in all courses taken regardless of faculty.
  • Faculty (Arts) Average (FAV): Average of the grades in all Faculty of Arts courses.
    • Does not include courses with the following subjects: BASE, EFAS, SWREN, UNIV.
  • Major Average (MAV): Average of the grades in all courses taken within the student's major.
    • All courses taken under the subject code of the student's major and those courses listed under the plan-level requirements are included in the major average regardless of whether any of these courses are in excess of the minimum required by the major.
    • Any course taken (under any subject code) which was cross-listed with a course in a student's major in the undergraduate calendar they are following (that is, is included in their requirement term) is included in the major average. For example, a Psychology student enrolled in PHIL 256 (cross-listed with PSYCH 256) will have the course grade counted towards the Psychology major average only if PHIL 256/PSYCH 256 was cross-listed in their requirement term. If a course is later cross-listed and a student takes the course when it is cross-listed, it will not count in the MAV unless a student changes their requirement term to a term in which the course is cross-listed. For example, if PHIL 256 was de-cross-listed from PSYCH 256, PHIL 256 would continue to count in the student's major average unless they switched their Psychology requirements to a later requirement term, when the pair is no longer cross-listed, at which point it would stop counting. Similarly, if PHIL 256 was not cross-listed at the time the student took the course, but became cross-listed and the student opted into a newer Psychology requirement term, PHIL 256 would now count towards the major average.
  • Term Average: Average of the grades in all courses taken within a particular academic term.
  • Minor Average: Average of the grades in all courses taken within the student's minor.
    • All courses taken under the subject code of the student's minor and those courses listed as optional requirements are included in the minor average regardless of whether any of these courses is in excess of the minimum required by the minor.
    • Cross-listed courses count towards the minor average in the same way they do for the major average (see above for details).

Students who meet the academic requirements for their major will be in Excellent, Good, or Satisfactory standing, depending on the major and their term and overall averages. Failure to meet minimum average requirements for the major may result in a Conditional or a Failed standing.

Students will find their academic standing on their unofficial transcripts.

Notes

  1. For Laurier courses, see Wilfrid Laurier University Cross-Registration.
  2. Students who have received transfer credit(s) or had grades cleared should refer to Transfer Credit for further details.

 


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