1991/1992 - Office of the Registrar - McMaster University

ACADEMIC REGULATIONS
If you miss an examination for medical reasons you must submit a
medical certificate from Student Health Services or from a doctor to your
Associate Dean (Studies). The certificate must define the nature and
severity of disability and the period of absence, and must be submitted
by the end of the examination session.
If you miss an examination for any reason other than illness, you must
report immediately to the Examination Section of the Office of the
Registrar.
Deferred Examinations: A deferred examination privilege may be
granted by your Faculty Reviewing Committee if you fail to write a final
examination for a certifiable medical or compassionate reason, provided
that you have submitted the certificate by the end of the examination
period. Deferred examinations are conducted in the examination period
which follows the period for which the privilege is granted (e.g. in April
for an examination missed in December.) Specific dates and deadlines
appear in the Sessional Dates.
A decision to grant a deferred examination privilege will be reported
on your grade report. You must confirm your intent to write a deferred
examination by submitting an application to the Office of the Registrar.
Specific geadline dates appear in the Sessional Dates.
Examination Regulations: These regulations apply to all examinations
conducted by the Office of the Registrar. Variations may occur
for instructor-conducted examinations. Students who do not observe
these regulations will be required to withdraw from examinations. Special
circumstances must be reported immediately to the Examination
Section of the Office of the Registrar.
McMaster student photo identification cards are required at
all examinations. Students who seat themselves at an examination
without photo J.D. cards will be required to withdraw from the examination.
Students who arrive without photo J.D. cards will be required
(before being seated) to obtain a substitute card and pay the appropriate
fee; no extension of the examination will be permitted to compensate
for any delay encountered.
It is the responsibility of students to be present on the day and hour
when an examination is scheduled. If you fail to appear at the scheduled
time, you will be conSidered to have defaulted the examination.
Punctuality is essential and no extra time will be allowed to those arriving
late. No candidate will be admitted to an examination room more
than 30 minutes after the start of any session.
The University makes every effort to ensure that examinations are
complete when students receive them. However, it is the student's
responsibility to ensure that the examination is compleje, and to draw
attention to any discrepancies in the paper.
No candidate may leave the room to withdraw from an examination
during the first 45 minutes of any session. Candidates must leave the
room immediately after handing in their examination materials.
A student who becomes ill during an examination may be excused by
a Presider but must file a doctor's certificate with the appropriate Associate
Dean (Studies).
No conversation or any form of communication between candidates
is permitted in the examination room. No books, papers or instruments
mqy be taken into any examination room unless specifically preSCribed
on the examination paper. No examination books or supplies are to be
removed from the examination room. Smoking is not permitted in any
examination room. Handbags must be left beneath the chairs, not on
the desks. The University can assume no responsibility for lost articles.'
Rescheduling Examinations: Special examination arrangements
will be made if you have a conflict with religiOUS obligations. Your
request with appropriate documentation from a minister or eqUivalent
must be submitted to the Examinations Section of the Office of the
Registrar at least ten working days before the scheduled eXaI:nination
~~ ,
If you are a part-time student and your employer requires you to be
away from the Hamilton area when you are to write an examination,
you may seek special arrangements for writing your examination. Your
application must be supported by. a letter of explanation from an executive
of your company.
Examinations are not rescheduled for purposes of travel.
Other regulations related to the conduct of, and special arrangements
for, examinations appear on the examination timetable and the examination
booklets.
GRADING SYSTEM
The grade for a course is normally determined by combining the grades
obtained on classwork, assignments, tests, and examinations. The
method for determining the final grade is to be given in the course outline.
Unless otherwise speCified in a course outline, course results determined
on a percentage scale will be converted to an offidalletter grade
as indicated in the equivalent percentage scale which follows. The results
of all courses attempted will appear on your transcript as letter grades.
Since September 1982, the grading scale has been as follows:
Grade Points EqUivalent Standing
Percentages
A+ 12 90-100
A 11 85 - 89 first class
A- 10 80 - 84
B+ 9 77 79
B 8 73 -76 second class
B- 7
C+
6
C
5
C-
4
D+
3
D
2
D­
1
F
o
70 72
67 -69
63 - 66 third class
60 - 62
57 59
53 56 pass
50 52
0-49 failure
Before submitting a failing grade, the instructor reassesses whatever
examples of the student's work are available.
For the purpose of satisfying prerequisite requirements a grade of at
lea$t D - is required unless otherwise stated.
You retain credit for all courses with grades of D - or better, except
in those programmes for which a higher ·grade is specified in the programme
regulations.
Weighted averages are calculated using the grade points and units for
a course as shown in the example below:
Grade Points Units
A- 10 x 6 ,60
C+ 6 x 3 18
B 8 x 6 48
D+ 3 x 6 18
B- 7 x 6 42
B+ 9 x 3 27
Total 30 213
AVERAGE = 213 + 30 = 7.1
Terminology
This glossary of terminology is arranged in alphabetic sequence.
Area Courses CA' courses) are those courses in which the grades are
used in computing the Cumulative Area Average (CM) and the Graduation
Average (GA). These courses are listed in the programme
requirements.
Course Numbers (e.g. lA03) can be deciphered as follows: the initial
digit indicates the Level of the course; the letter(s) in the middle identifies
the specific courses within the Level; and the final digit defines the number
of units of credit associated with the course.
Cumulative Area Average (CM) is computed as shown in the example
below, using the best 80% of the grades obtained in the Area courses
prescribed for the programme beyond Level I, provided that at least 12
units of Area courses have"been attempted since the CAA was computed.
For students re-admitted to the University after obtaining a University
Average of less than 2.0, the CM will be computed from the time of
re-admission.
In Combined Honours programmes consisting of two separate components
two Cumulative Area Averages will be computed on the best
80% of the grades in each component; in other Combined Honours
programmes a single average will be computed.
The grades in the following example are ranked in descending
sequence. Since the student has taken 27 units, the average will be computed
on the basis of the best 21.6 units (80% of 27 = 21.6). Thus, only
0.6 units of the course in which the student obtained the D + have been
included.
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