Bachelor of Applied Science and Bachelor of Software Engineering Specific Degree Requirements

The following rules are applied when students' performance is assessed, unless otherwise stated the rules apply to reduced-load 1A, reduced-load, and full-load terms. 

See amendments page (dated June 1, 2020) for rule changes applicable to the winter 2020 term.

1. All (full-load) students are expected to enrol in at least the number of courses specified in this Calendar for the corresponding term of their plan. A reduced-load student may drop one elective course per term (as defined by their plan) by obtaining the approval of their academic advisor. These are the courses used to calculate the term average, which is the basis of promotion decisions. Courses not included in the degree, term average, or failure count must be identified at the time of enrolment (see Rule 11). See Rule 15 for information regarding changing a course's designation. The designation of these courses may be changed (with the approval of the department) at any time prior to four weeks before the date "Final Examinations Begin" for that term. Reduced-load 1A students must enrol in three courses (a load of at least 1.5 and normally less than a full load) as specified by their academic advisor. Normally the reduced-load 1A term will be composed of at least two core courses from the 1A term with other courses specified by the academic advisor in consultation with the student.
2. Term decisions are described in the tables below. There are a number of decision descriptors that can be added to the decision described in the rules following the table. The term decision is based on the previous term decision, the term average for the current term, and the number of courses with grades below 50. The term average is calculated using the weight of the course, the status of the course (e.g., DRNA), and the interpreted course grade. All grades above 32 are interpreted as the submitted grade. Courses with a submitted grade below 32 are interpreted for averaging purposes, as having a value of 32. Both the number of courses below 50 in the current term as well as the cumulative number of To Be Cleared (TBC) courses on a student's record can be part of the decision.
   
   Full- and Reduced-Load Terms:

   Previous Decision	Term average greater than or equal to 60 and: No failed courses Full-load term, one or two failed courses, and less than three TBC courses Reduced-load term, one failed course, and less than three TBC courses TBC courses more than two, and term 2A or higher	Term average greater than or equal to 60 and either full-load term and more than two failed courses, or reduced-load term and more than one failed course, or term average greater than or equal to 50 but less than 60	Term average less than 50
   Promoted	Promoted Promoted (conditional) Promoted (conditional) May Not Proceed	Failed - required to repeat	Failed - withdrawal required
   No previous term	Promoted Promoted (conditional) Promoted (conditional) May Not Proceed	Failed - required to repeat	Failed - withdraw from 1A
   Failed - required to repeat	Promoted if no failed courses (any failed courses) Failed - withdrawal required (any failed courses) Failed - withdrawal required Failed - withdrawal required	Failed - withdrawal required	Failed - withdrawal required

   
   Reduced-Load 1A Terms:

   Previous Decision	Term average greater than or equal to 60 and: No failed courses One failed course	Term average greater than or equal to 60 and more than one failed course, or term average greater than or equal to 50 but less than 60	Term average less than 50
   No Previous term	May continue in 1A no failed terms May continue in 1A no failed terms (conditional)	Failed - required to repeat	Failed - withdraw from 1A
   MC1A - May continue in 1A, see advisor	Promoted Failed - withdrawal required	Failed - withdrawal required	Failed - withdrawal required
   MC1A0 -  May continue in 1A No Previous Failed Terms, see advisor	Promoted Promoted (conditional)	May continue in 1A	Failed - withdraw from 1A
   Failed - required to repeat, see advisor	May continue in 1A Failed - withdrawal required	Failed - withdrawal required	Failed - withdrawal required

3. (Conditional) is appended to Promoted, May Continue in 1A, and May Continue in 1A no failed terms decisions if the student has an average above 60% and fewer than three failed courses for a Promoted decision with a full-load term, or fewer than two failed courses for a Promoted decision with reduced-load term, or May Continue in 1A or May continue in 1A no failed terms. The condition may be satisfied only by successfully clearing the failed course(s) (see the Introduction). Once the condition is satisfied, the (Conditional) is removed from the decision. No student may obtain the Bachelor of Applied Science (BASc) or Bachelor of Software Engineering (BSE) degree with an academic decision including (Conditional) remaining on their record. (Aegrotat) is appended to Promoted, May Continue in 1A, May Continue in 1A no failed terms, and Proceed on Probation decisions if one or more courses are graded as AEG (Aegrotat, credit granted due to illness or extenuating circumstances) and the other conditions for the decision are met.
4. While repeating the term, a student shall be excused from repeating individual courses in which a grade of 70% or better has been achieved. If this occurs, substitute courses, as approved by the department, must be taken, such that the student takes at least a reduced load in the repeat term.
5. The term No Penalty may be appended to the decision to repeat a term. In this case, the requirement to stay out for two terms before repeating the term is waived and the term is not counted as a repeat term with regard to the number of times a term can be repeated or in the calculation of the total number of terms of full-time study in the plan. This condition is normally applied as a result of extenuating circumstances which significantly affect the student's performance in the failed term.
6. A full-load student, at level 2A or higher, who achieves a term average of 60% or better and has failed zero, one, or two courses in that term for a cumulative total of three or more TBC courses will receive the decision May Not Proceed (MNP). A reduced-load student at level 2A or higher, who achieves a term average of 60% or better and has failed zero or one course in that term for a cumulative total of three or more TBC courses will receive the decision May Not Proceed. Normally, the student with MNP will enrol in a non-degree term devoted to retaking or replacing all or as many as possible of the TBC courses. In the event that some of the TBC courses are not available, the department may specify equivalent or appropriate alternative courses to be taken in their place. If the student is otherwise in good standing, the academic decision will be changed to Promoted when the number of TBC courses has been reduced to none. If the student is otherwise in good standing, the academic decision will be changed to Promoted (Conditional) when the number of TBC courses has been reduced to one. A student clearing TBC courses under this rule must achieve a grade of 50% or better for failed courses and a grade of 60% or better for dropped courses, otherwise the student will be Required to Withdraw from Engineering.
7. The plan must be completed in no more than 10 terms of full-time (full-load or reduced-load) study; that is, no more than two repeat terms are allowed. A student receiving a third failed term academic decision will be Required to Withdraw from Engineering. Both full-load and reduced-load students are in this category.
8. In extraordinary circumstances, a student with a term average below 60% may be allowed to Proceed on Probation or if any course grade is AEG (see Rule 3) may be allowed to Proceed on Probation (Aegrotat).
9. A student may be Required to Withdraw from Engineering at any time if in the opinion of the Faculty the student is unlikely to benefit from further participation in Engineering, the student leaves the plan without notification and fails to write examinations (receives a grade of DNW [Did not write examination, no credit granted, value 32] for some courses), or the student has made two or more unsuccessful attempts to clear the same failed course.
10. Courses taken by students during work terms will not be included in the average for any term. However, the grades for the courses taken at the University of Waterloo or at another university on a Letter of Permission will be reported on the student's transcript. Courses taken during work terms are eligible to be used towards a reduced-load term.
11. There are five types of courses applicable to Engineering undergraduate plans (BASc or BSE), depending on whether the course is part of the degree requirements, or not; whether the course will be included in term average calculations, or not; and whether the course is in the TBC count, or not. These courses are shown on student grade reports and transcripts as follows:
    
    

    Description	Designation	Degree Requirement	In Average	In To Be Cleared (TBC) Count
    Plan requirement, included in average	blank	Yes	Yes	Yes
    Plan requirement, not included in average, in TBC count, SUPP not permitted	DRNA	Yes	No	Yes
    Plan requirement, not in average, and not in TBC count	DRNC	Yes	No	No
    Not required for plan, in average, not in TBC count	TRIA	No	Yes	No
    Not required for plan, not in average	NRNA	No	No	No

    
    With the exception of work-term reports (see Rule 17), a mixture of courses of type DRNA and courses of type TRIA will not be permitted in a single term. Grades for courses that are not included in the term average or not required for the plan will be reported on the student's transcript. Undergraduate students (BASc or BSE) are not permitted to enrol in any course in an "audit" category. The Faculty of Engineering does not permit other undergraduate students to enrol in Engineering courses in an "audit" category.
12. DRNC courses, while not in the TBC count, are normally associated with courses that must be completed by a certain point (i.e., must be completed before the end of 3A). That point is referred to as the completion date and is provided in the plan description portion of this Calendar for those plans that use DRNC courses. A student that has not completed the course successfully by the completion date will receive a May Not Proceed decision.
13. Although it is the Senate of the University that confers degrees, the Faculty of Engineering does recommend students for degrees in engineering. A student who has successfully met all of the requirements will be Recommended for the BASc or BSE Degree. The degree awarded will be the one associated with the plan of registration. A student who has demonstrated exceptional performance will be Recommended for the BASc or BSE Degree with Distinction. This recognition is granted to a student who has a cumulative grade average of 80% or greater, starting with their first enrolment in the 3A term, of those courses that are requirements for their plan, and that have been included in a corresponding term average (i.e., those courses of type blank above). Courses taken while on exchange, or terms for which the academic decision has Aegrotat added as a qualifier, do not contribute to the cumulative average. In such cases, the cumulative grade average will include the most recent four academic terms completed at Waterloo for which a numerical grade average is available.
14. Most courses at the University of Waterloo are assigned a numerical grade (between zero and 100) by the examiners. Any grade from zero to 32 is treated as having a value of 32 when averages (for promotions and awards) are calculated. Non-numerical grade definitions and university-level processes are included in the Grades section of this Calendar.
15. Changes to the set of courses included in the term average, which students take in a particular term, may be permitted at the discretion of the student's department. Such changes must normally be arranged and approved before the end of the drop/add period, specified in the Calendar of Events and Academic Deadlines. After this period, only exceptional cases will be considered. Courses not included in the average in any academic term may be dropped at any time prior to the start of drop WF period, and courses will be graded as WD (withdrew).
16. Students are expected to maintain a balance between the number of academic terms completed and the number of work-term credits earned. Situations that are defined as out of balance are characterized in the table below. For example: 1 (4) - meaning one work-term credit, four work-term opportunities, that would otherwise earn a decision permitting them to enrol in the next academic term, will receive a term decision of May Not Proceed COOP and will be unable to enrol in an academic term until they have completed at least two more work terms. Normally this will require an absence from academic study for one year. During the one year following the academic term with this decision, the student is expected to find employment that can be treated as (at least) two work terms, recovering the work-term credits required to continue academically.

May Not Proceed COOP

Number of Credited COOP courses (minimum number of opportunities)
Current Academic Term (EXCL, GOOD, SAT, Conditional)

Stream	2B	3A	3B	4A	4B
4	0 (3)	1 (4)	2 (5)	3 (6)	3 (6)
8	not applicable	0 (3)	1 (4)	2 (5)	3 (6)
4D	0 (3)	1 (4)	1 (4)	3 (6)	3 (6)
8D	not applicable	0 (3)	2 (5)	3 (6)	3 (6)
4S	0 (3)	1 (4)	2 (5)	3 (5)	3 (6)
8S	not applicable	0 (4)	1 (4)	3 (6)	3 (6)
8X	not applicable	0 (3)	1 (4)	3 (6)	3 (6)

Note: A table entry of 2 (5) means that students with zero, one, or two work-term credits will receive May Not Proceed COOP.

Once the student has earned credit for two or more additional work terms, the term decision will be changed to the normal academic decision for the term. 

17. Three work-term report credits are required of all BASc and BSE students. A work-term report credit is obtained by achieving a grade of satisfactory or better for a work-term report course. No student will be allowed to graduate without having achieved the required work-term report credits.
    
    Work-term report courses are specified in the plan section of this Calendar, and depending on the plan, may require reports, presentations, or some alternative method of meeting this requirement. If the plan specifies its own courses then those courses may be included in the term average, or excluded from the average. Some plans may use the common work-term report courses (WKRPT 200 or WKRPT 201, WKRPT 300 or WKRPT 301, and WKRPT 400 or WKRPT 401). For the plans using the shared courses, the following requirements are in place.

Work-term reports submitted as one of the WKRPT courses are due seven days after the first official day of lectures of the academic term in which the report is required. Reports submitted after the deadline will receive grades of Unacceptable (38) and will be carried forward to the following academic term for evaluation, and are not eligible for prizes. Failed work-term reports are cleared by retaking the WKRPT course and passing it in a subsequent term.

Work-term report courses WKRPT 200, WKRPT 300, or WKRPT 400 are considered to be required courses of type DRNA: failed work-term report evaluations contribute to the accumulated failed course count (see Rule 6). For failed work-term reports, the original grade will appear in the grade field. The failed course will be corrected by retaking and passing the course in a subsequent term. 

Work-term report courses WKRPT 201, WKRPT 301, or WKRPT 401 are considered to be required courses of type DRNC: failed work-term report evaluations do not contribute to the accumulated failed course count but will delay progress if not completed by the specified term (see Rule 12). For failed work-term reports, the original grade will appear in the grade field. The failed course will be cleared by retaking and passing the course in a subsequent term.

When a work-term report (submitted as one of the WKRPT courses) has been submitted and the grade obtained is Resubmit, the student must provide any subsequent submissions by the date lectures end for that term, as specified in this Calendar, in order for those submissions to be considered in that term. Failure to clear a Resubmit by the lectures end date will result in a grade of Unacceptable (38). Any submissions after the lectures end date will be deemed to be new submissions and to have been submitted for consideration in the following term.