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Enrolment Policies and Procedures
Programs/Course Change and Withdrawal
Course Loads
Course Overloads
No student who is on academic probation may enrol in a course overload.
In the Faculty of Applied Sciences, approved majors who wish to enrol in an overload require permission of the director of their school. Other Faculty of Applied Sciences students require permission of the dean of the faculty. In the School of Engineering Science, permission of the director is required for course overloads exceeding 22 units.
In the Faculties of Arts and Social Sciences; Business Administration; Communication, Art and Technology; Education; Environment; and Health Sciences only, a student who requires an overload to fulfil graduation requirements in the term for which he/she is enrolling may be allowed, with the dean’s permission, to enrol in an overload.
In the Faculty of Science, a student entering the graduating term who requires specific courses to fulfil graduation requirements in the term for which the student is enrolling, may be permitted to enrol in courses totalling up to 21 units, provided either the cumulative grade point average or the most recent term grade point average is 3.0 or higher.
A limited number of overloads may be approved, by the dean of the faculty in which the student is enrolled, on an individual basis during the course change period.
Repeated Simon Fraser University Courses
Where a student repeats a course, the course(s) with the lower grade will be recorded on official records as an excluded course. If the same grade or grade equivalent value is earned for a repeated course, the course that was completed most recently is included in the term grade point average (GPA) and cumulative GPA, and the former course is excluded in the term GPA and cumulative GPA. A student’s academic standing for previous terms does not change even though the GPA changes.
When a course is repeated and the unit value has decreased, the student must, in consultation with the department, make up the missing unit component before being credited with the full original units.
When a course is deleted by the University, the department, in consultation with the affected student, will determine a suitable alternative that will be considered a repeat course for the purposes of this policy.
Limits on Repeated Courses
The number of courses which a student may repeat in a degree program is limited to five. The number of times a student may repeat a course is once. Courses completed at Simon Fraser University for which a student has already received transfer credit from another institution will count within five repeats limit.
Students attempting a course for the first time shall be given the opportunity to enrol prior to any students who are presently enrolled in the course or who have passed the course with a C- or better.
Students can only repeat special topics courses, which they have failed, when the topic is deemed to be the same as the one for which the student has already received credit. Normally special topics courses can be repeated because the course content changes with each offering.
Repeated Transfer Credit
Students may not receive transfer credit for a course which is a repeat of a course passed at Simon Fraser University. At Simon Fraser University, a grade of D and those above it are passing grades.
If a student enrols for a repeat course, and completes the course with a passing grade, the transfer units will remain on the academic record as a repeat, with a zero credit or unit value. If the course is completed with a failing grade, the transfer units will remain on the academic record. A department may permit units to count for both a transfer course and a Simon Fraser University course, if the course content is judged to be sufficiently different.
Current limits on course repeats, where one course is a Simon Fraser University course, will apply to repeated transfer courses. The implementation of this policy will not affect the method of calculating grade point averages. Current limits on course repeats, where both courses are transfer credit will not apply.
Courses at Other Institutions/Letters of Permission
Simon Fraser University students who wish to complete academic work at other institutions for undergraduate degree, diploma or certificate credit at this University must obtain permission in advance by applying for a Letter of Permission through Student Services. All students considering requesting a Letter of Permission should consult an academic advisor. The faculty advisor (and the department advisor if a program has been declared) will be contacted by Student Services for approval. Students should allow six to eight weeks for processing of their request. Normally, a Letter of Permission will not be approved retroactively.
Students must have completed a minimum of nine units at Simon Fraser University and must be in good academic standing at the time they submit their request for a Letter of Permission to Student Services. Since standing is achieved once all grades for the term have been received, students may have to wait until their third term at Simon Fraser University to be eligible to complete a course elsewhere.
Permission to complete a course at another institution will not be granted unless a valid academic reason is provided. For example, complete a course in a discipline not offered at Simon Fraser University, such as Czech language. While an approved Letter of Permission guarantees that the credit will count toward the overall credit requirement, it does not guarantee that the credit will meet a specific program requirement.
A Letter of Permission is automatically denied if a student's standing is 'on academic probation' (OAP), 'continued academic probation' (CAP), or 'required to withdraw' (RTW). Courses completed at another institution cannot be used to satisfy Simon Fraser University's minimum residency requirement and will not be included in the CGPA calculation. Therefore, such courses cannot be used to raise standing.
Students must achieve a grade of at least C (2.0 numeric equivalent) or 60% in order to receive transfer credit for courses completed at other institutions. Courses where the grade is pass/fail (P/F) cannot be processed for transfer credit. It is the student's responsibility to ensure that an official transcript from the host institution is forwarded to Student Services at Simon Fraser University in order for transfer credit to be granted.
The residency requirement for completing a credential at Simon Fraser University may include up to 15 exchange units.
Students participating in formal exchange programs should see International Exchange Programs for more information.
Course Challenge
Course challenge is a method by which a student may obtain credit for course material learned elsewhere (i.e. outside Simon Fraser University). A maximum of 60 units may be obtained by the combined mechanism of course challenge and transfer credit.
A student must be eligible to enrol in order to enrol for course challenge.
- course challenge is not permitted for a course for which credit has already been obtained at Simon Fraser University or through transfer credit. A student may not enrol in one term for both regular enrolment and course challenge in the same course at the same time, but must select one or the other, and may not change that decision in that term later than ten days following the commencement of University classes
- a student is not entitled to enrol for course challenge if he/she has recorded two challenges as either unsuccessful or unattempted
- a student is not permitted to challenge a course(s) he/she has previously failed at Simon Fraser University
- course challenge is not included in the grade point average
- units through course challenge do not count towards term units or units for government student assistance programs (e.g., Canada Student Loan, BC Student Loan, etc.) or Simon Fraser University administered financial assistance programs including scholarships, bursaries, awards and loans
- a department may elect to offer or not to offer the opportunity for course challenge
Please note the following with regard to course challenges in the Department of French and in the Latin American Studies Program.
With approval, a student may enrol and pay fees for challenge in a specified course sequence in a given language. If the student satisfactorily completes a course in the given language at an advanced sequence level, the department may indicate ‘successful’ in the preceding course(s) of the sequence in which the student is enrolled for challenge. If the student does not satisfactorily complete the advanced level course, then formal challenge assessment of the preceding level(s) should be undertaken to avoid two challenges without success based solely on the advanced assessment.
Course Audit
A student who has satisfied the admission requirements of the University may attend a specific course(s) as an auditor upon completion of the necessary enrolment procedures, which include written approval of the department concerned.
Any eligible student who wishes to enroll for a course as an auditor must seek approval from the appropriate instructor and department chair. To enrol in a course as an auditor, complete the ‘Course Change Request’ form, with instructor signature, and submit to the appropriate department for approval. The ‘Course Change Request’ form can be obtained from Student Services.
Note: Course audit and special audit are for different categories of students. Those interested in gaining entry as special audit students should see http://www.sfu.ca/cs/sampler/ .
Audited courses do not count towards the completion of degree program requirements.
Program/Course Changes and Withdrawal
Program Changes
Any program changes require departmental approval on the program approval form which is available from the appropriate department or on the Student Services website at http://students.sfu.ca/forms, and are processed by the department.
Course Changes
You are urged to read the tuition refund policy and penalties for dropping courses very carefully to avoid, or minimize, financial penalty for dropping courses in which you enrol. Details of the policy, and deadlines, appear in the Undergraduate Fees section of the Calendar. Failure to attend classes does not constitute withdrawal from a course. Courses that are not formally dropped will be given a failing grade; payment for the course’s tuition fee is required.
Normal Course Change Period
Regular Term – Class Days 1-5
Courses may be added or dropped or tutorial times changed using the enrolment system without prior approval of the department offering the course. Courses that are dropped will not receive a notation on the student’s academic record.
Changes to courses registered for course challenge or for course audit must be approved by the department offering the course. During this time period a student may change enrolment in course challenge from one course to another, or to regular enrolment in the course.
Enrolment for course audit and course challenge must be done in person at the department offering the course.
Extended Course Change Period
Regular Term – Class Days 6-15
After the fifth day of classes to the 15th day, courses may be added only with special permission of the chair and instructor concerned. No courses can be added or changed to audit status after this time. Courses may be dropped without academic record notation. However, if a student drops all term courses, the withdrawal will be noted on the academic record. A student may not withdraw from course challenge without substitution of a regular course enrolment. During the first 10 days of classes, he/she may change enrolment in course challenge from one course to another, or to regular enrolment in the course. Permission of the department is required.
There is no refund for courses dropped after day 10 of classes.
Course Drop Period
Regular Term – Class Days 16-25
No courses can be added or changed to audit status after the 15th day of classes.
After the 15th to the 25th day of classes, courses may be dropped by the student via the web at http://sis.sfu.ca. Courses dropped within this period will be automatically recorded with a WD notation on the student’s academic record. There is no refund for courses dropped during this period. Students can apply to drop courses for extenuating circumstances at this time and if approved, the notation will be WE rather than WD.
During the sixth to twelfth class week a course(s) may be dropped only in extenuating circumstances. If approved, there will be a WE notation on the student’s academic record for specific courses dropped. Please submit applications to Student Services. Requests arising after the twelfth week, or requests relating to courses completed in a previous term, are referred to as ‘retroactive’ and follow the same procedures as above but may take longer to adjudicate.
Note: Extenuating circumstances are defined as unusual circumstances beyond the student’s control which make it impossible for the student to complete the course. If a course drop is being considered after the 12th week of classes, it is recommended that students seek advice from Academic Advising and Student Success or their department advisor.
Withdrawal from the University
Students wishing to withdraw from all courses in a term must follow the same schedule as outlined above in Term Course Changes. Specific term dates can be found in http://students.sfu.ca/academic-dates.html
For regular intersession and summer session terms, there is no refund for withdrawal from all courses in a term after day 10 of classes.
Official records will be updated to record the date on which term withdrawal was effected. The withdrawal date for students who withdraw after the fifth day of classes will be recorded on the academic record.
Examinations
Final examinations will normally be held during the last two weeks of each term (Intersession and Summer Session exams are held in the last week of the session). Students must check the exam schedule when planning course selections. Students are reminded that final examinations may be scheduled at any time during the examination period and that students should avoid making travel or employment arrangements for this period. Students are not normally allowed to enrol in courses with conflicting examination times. Students who have a good reason to enrol in classes with conflicting exam times must seek permission from the departments who are offering those classes.
There are instances where students are faced with examination hardship, which is defined as
- three or more end-of-term examinations scheduled within a 24 hour period
- an examination at one location (e.g. the main Burnaby campus) followed immediately by an exam at another location (e.g., the Surrey campus).
For three or more exams, a student shall be given a new exam date (within the established exam period) for the second exam causing hardship by the respective instructor or department/faculty. For students with exams at more than one location, advance arrangements will be made by the instructor or department/faculty to write both exams at a single location. Students must notify the instructor(s) and department one month prior to the exam date.
Each student is required to participate in assigned work during the term. The grades obtained for that work may be used to determine the final course standing. A passing grade in any exam does not ensure a passing grade for the course.
Students who miss exams because of illness or for compassionate reasons must communicate with their instructor (see DE grade). See Grading Systems and Policies.
A student may not rewrite a final paper or examination unless he/she re-enrols for the course and fulfils course requirements as outlined by the instructor.
In-class final examinations are not to be held before the beginning of the official examination period. Take-home examinations cannot be due until the commencement of the official examination period.
Instructors are required to submit grades within 96 hours after the exam via the on-line grade roster, to Records and Registration. (Please refer to exam procedures at http://students.sfu.ca/academicintegrity/resources/examprocedures.html.)
Class Interruption
See policy GP4 for details.
Criminal Record Check
It is the responsibility of all students (and parent or guardian for students under 19 years of age) who work with children and/or vulnerable adults, or have unsupervised access to children and/or vulnerable adults, during the course of a certificate, diploma or degree program, to authorize a criminal record check (CRC) through Simon Fraser University, for the Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General as per a legislative requirement under the British Columbia Criminal Records Review Act which took effect January of 2012. This authorization is submitted to the Criminal Records Review Program for review.
Specific courses that require a CRC as a prerequisite and the process for obtaining clearance can be found at http://students.sfu.ca/criminalrecords.html.
Medical Requirements
Simon Fraser University does not require a preadmission medical examination, but the University reserves the right to require a student to submit a medical certificate at any time.
Medical Insurance Requirements
All students are advised to have adequate hospital and medical insurance coverage. Adequate medical and hospital insurance is that which is provided under the Medical Services Plan of BC (MSP), or any other plan, government or private, which provides coverage equivalent to that offered under the Medical Services Plan of BC. Students who seek medical treatment through either the University Health Services or offcampus medical facilities must provide evidence of medical insurance. Failure to provide adequate information will result in the student being charged directly for services rendered.
The University assumes no liability for any failure by the student to maintain adequate medical or hospital (or dental) insurance, nor is the University responsible for any costs not covered by the student’s personal insurance plan(s), whether it is Medical Services Plan coverage or otherwise. It should be understood that the University itself carries no medical, hospital or dental insurance coverage on students’ behalf.
BC Residents
All residents of British Columbia must enrol with MSP. Unmarried students whose parents are covered by MSP as dependents are covered until their nineteenth birthday. The coverage may be continued until the student’s 25th birthday providing the student is in full-time attendance at university and mainly dependent on his or her parents. However, students must notify MSP of their student status each September, in order for MSP coverage to continue past their nineteenth birthday.
Students who are not covered by their parent’s medical insurance plan must obtain MSP insurance coverage. Students enrolling as an individual may be eligible for a subsidy directly from MSP covering the cost of the premiums. Application forms for the subsidy are available at http://www.health.gov.bc.ca/msp/infoben/premium.html#assistance
Non BC Residents
Canadian students who are not BC residents should maintain coverage in their home province. All Canadian provinces accept responsibility for physician visits and hospital costs for their students attending SFU provided the hospital insurance premiums (where required) have been paid.
International and Exchange Students
New international and exchange students must apply by themselves for coverage under the BC Medical Services Plan (MSP) if they will be a resident of BC for longer than 6 months. Effective January 1, 2013, all new international students enrolled in an undergraduate, graduate or exchange program at SFU will be automatically enrolled in a mandatory 4 month primary medical insurance plan for their first term through guard.me@SFU. As soon as a student is eligible, they must provide proof of BC Medical Services Plan enrollment to guard.me by completing an opt out online form at https://www.guard.me/sfu. Failure to do so will result in continued enrollment in the guard.me@SFU plan for their second (and subsequent) term/s, and related fees assessed on their student account. Great Northern Way Campus students are also covered by the plan. This plan provides interim coverage during the waiting period for the BC MSP, if eligible. Students will be able to opt out providing they have coverage under the BC Medical Services Plan (BC MSP). For more details, see http://www.sfu.ca/medical-insurance.html
For further information, contact International Services for Students at 778.782.4232; intl_advising@sfu.ca;http://students.sfu.ca/international
Enrolment
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