Simon Fraser University
Engaging the World

Department of Linguistics

Home / Undergraduate / Department Policies and SFU Academic Integrity

SFU Academic Integrity

Please consult the Students Services guide to academic integrity.

Department Policies

Examination procedures

  1. Students are not permitted to leave to use the washroom during the exam (unless s/he turns in the exam).
  2. Books and bags must be on the floor. Study notes must be stored in a closed bag.
  3. Turn off cell phones, pagers, etc.
  4. Students must bring their student ID, and have it ready during the exam.
  5. Hats must be taken off or baseball cap turned backwards.
  6. No talking.
  7. Use a pen to write the exam; pencil if it is a scantron exam.
  8. There is no scratch paper allowed - if required the professor will hand it out.
  9. Students may be asked to change seats during the exam for any reason.

Missed exams due to illness

If a student must miss an exam because of illness or extenuating circumstances, s/he is required to contact the instructor prior to the exam. S/he may notify the instructor by e-mail or leave a message at the office. When the student returns to class, s/he will need to bring a note from his/her medical doctor specifying and justifying the date of his/her absence.

Extenuating circumstances are defined as unusual circumstances beyond the student's control.

Make-up exams

The instructor has the right to not provide make-up exams for midterms. In such cases, if a student misses a midterm exam because of illness or extenuating circumstances, the weight of the midterm will be added to the final exam.  In case a course has no final exam, the percentage of a missed midterm will be added to another course requirement that the instructor has designated or spread through other course requirements.

Reviewing exams and assignments

Midterm exams and assignments can be discussed with the instructor within 10 days after they have been returned to the class.  Requests for grade change after the 10 days will not be accepted.

If a student wishes to review his/her final exam, s/he may make an appointment with the instructor to review it.  Most appointments take place during the first week of classes in the following semester.

Grade appeals

If the student wishes to contest the marking of an exam, the instructor can agree to remark his/her entire exam at the instructor's convenience and not in front of the student. A grade reconsideration may raise the grade, or lower the grade or leave the grade unchanged, as stated in Policy T20.01, clause IV.2.

The only reason a grade change will be made is if there is an arithmetic error or if it has been determined that the exam deserves a lower grade or a higher grade after it has been remarked.

Reasons not related to performance will not be considered. For example:

  • the student is on probation
  • the student wants to get into another program
  • the student worked hard and thinks that should be a factor
  • the student doesn't like the grade scale
  • the student's score is X% below the next grade and would like the instructor to ignore the difference
  • the student needs to graduate.

Grade scale

There is no university-wide standard grade scale. An instructor adopts a grade scale appropriate to the level and the content of the course.

Course requirements

Course requirements apply to all students enrolled in the class, with no exception. In particular, a student may not ask the instructor to redistribute the worth of the requirements or change the grade scale, because s/he has received poor marks on one of them.

Prerequisites

If a student has not taken or has failed the prerequisite(s) for a course, s/he may be asked to withdraw from the course. The student won't be able to graduate unless he has passed all prerequisites.

Email policy

  1. Instructors can only respond to questions that can be answered in a sentence or two. Questions requiring longer replies should be asked in class or brought to the instructor during office hours.
  2. The subject header must contain the name of the course, and the e-mail must be signed. If your message does not clearly address the content of the course or the Subject line is simply 'hi', there is a good chance that it will be classified as spam, and discarded automatically.
  3. Instructors are not expected to respond to messages late in the evening or on weekends. If a message is sent late on Friday afternoon or during the weekend, students should not expect to receive a response until the following week. 
  4. Instructors expect students to proof-read their e-mail messages so that their questions are clear. Also, students should word their e-mails in an appropriately polite manner.
  5. Students should understand that it may be several days before an instructor can reply to their messages because of the large number of e-mail messages instructors receive.

In-class behaviour

  1. Students are expected to attend all classes and arrive on time.
  2. Students will be respectful of other students and the instructor.  In particular, students will not talk while the instructor or another student is talking.
  3. A student who fails to behave respectfully in class may be asked to leave.

Religious accommodations

All student requests for accommodations for religious practices must be made in writing by the end of the first week of classes or no later than one week after a student adds a course. Please consult the SFU guide to Religious Accommodations.