Major Academic Crises
As much as we wish that all students could make it through university in four years without any difficulty, that rarely happens. Many students find themselves facing hardship and tragedy that affect their academic performance. Here are some things to keep in mind.
During the Semester:
You can appeal a grade that you have received. If you have been given a mark for an assignment, test or essay that is worth at least 25% of your term mark, and you feel that it has been administered in a demonstrably unfair way, has been inconsistent with the rest of the class, or has been miscalculated, you can ask for a grade review for an individual piece of work.
Also, you should know that it is OK to withdraw from a course. If you are really struggling in a course, and you think that you might fail, it is perfectly acceptable to withdraw before the specified dates (November 3, 2009 and March 1, 2010). This may mean that you will have a 'W' on your transcript, but that 'W' is much better for your GPA than a 'D' or an 'F'.
If the withdrawal date has already passed, you can request a late withdrawal from the Faculty or Department in question. There is no guarantee that it will be granted to you, but the opportunity does exist.
After the Semester:
You can appeal a grade that you received in a course. Using the same criteria for requesting a grade review for an individual piece of work, you can submit a review for a final grade.
You can also appeal for relief from specific final grades or for the entire semester. If you have experienced a tragedy or have had a medical or emotional crisis during the semester which negatively impacted your academic performance, you may have grounds for an appeal. Your appeal may be a request to grant GPA relief for courses that you failed, for a late withdrawal from a course, or it may be simply to continue studies on academic probation instead of being required to withdraw from the University.
In most cases, an excellent resource for a student wishing to file an appeal is the student advocate, Wilfred Langmaid, who can be contacted at langmaid@unb.ca.
