Graduate Academic Review Policy
The following three-part recommendation was designed to support student success in the PhD by Distributed Learning program and all four MN program options (i.e., APL, NUED, NP, NUHI). The proposed process includes:
- A pre- academic review for identifying and supporting students who may not be achieving at an appropriate level prior to their identification for a full academic review
- Full academic review for students assigned a grade of less than a B in any course or “not complete” in clinical courses.
- Resolution of Academic Review
Part One: Pre-Academic Review
When a student is identified as “at risk for failure” regarding professional responsibility and/or poor academic performance, they are placed on pre-academic review. The purpose is to support student success. Professional responsibility examples include participating in co-learning conversations, or upholding professional standards as per regulatory college. Poor academic performance examples include not meeting the requirements for exams, papers, assignments, compromised capacity of critical thinking, and difficulty with writing. The student will be contacted by their course instructor and informed that they have been placed on pre-academic review. The concerns will be articulated in a collaborative, student-driven reflection. The course instructor will inform the student’s faculty advisor/supervisor, program coordinator, and the Associate Director of Graduate Education. The student is required to meet with their supervisor/faculty advisor, instructor, and the Associate Director of Graduate Education for identifying concerns in a collaborative and student-driven process, and for discussing strategies to facilitate the student’s success. The Associate Director of Graduate Education is responsible of the implementation of the developed plan.
Future instructors will be informed that the student is on pre-academic review. If the student who has been placed on pre-academic review receives a grade below B for a graded course, the instructor immediately informs the student, the student’s supervisor/faculty advisor, the program coordinator, the Associate Director of Graduate Education, and the Graduate Student Advisor as this will initiate the Full Academic Review process (see following). If the student achieves a grade of B or higher in the graded course by the end of the term, the student is removed from pre-academic review.
For clinical courses, when a student is put on pre-academic review, the pre-academic review may be carried over into the next clinical course. If the student achieves a grade of “complete” in the next clinical course, the student will be removed from the pre-academic review. If the student does not achieve a grade of “complete”, they will be placed on academic review (see following).
Note 1: A student may be on pre-academic review multiple times in the same or sequential terms. Each grade below B requires the School of Nursing to decide on remediation. As long as the SON approves remediation, the student can keep getting them. There is up to two times a student can go on academic review.
Part Two: Academic Review
Graduate students must achieve a grade of B or higher in every course taken for credit. An email is sent to the student’s supervisor/faculty advisor, as identified by the graduate administrative assistant, in order to initiate the academic review process and to communicate the recommendation for remedial action. Grades below B will be reviewed by the course instructor, student’s supervisor/faculty advisor, the program coordinator, and the Associate Director of Graduate Education. The Graduate Student Advisor may also be consulted during this process regarding administrative issues. The course instructor and supervisor/faculty advisor will work with the student to develop a learning plan to guide the student’s development.
A hold will be placed on the student’s record when a grade below B is entered on their academic record. Remedial action must be addressed before the student is permitted to continue in their program, per the calendar.
Note 2: The official notification of grades reaches the School of Nursing weeks after grades are recorded. A student with a grade below B may have progressed to the next semester when notification from GARO is received by the school. It is possible that proceeding to subsequent courses will not be the best option. Thus, notification of grades below B from an instructor to the program coordinator and Graduate Student Advisor as outlined above can expedite the academic review process to benefit the student.
Part Three: Resolution of Academic Review
When a student who is currently on academic review receives a grade of B or above, or “complete” in the core clinical courses in the subsequent term, the student is no longer considered to be on academic review. Please refer to the Graduate Studies Calendar to guide decision-making for other situations.
Note 3: All instructors, supervisors, faculty advisors, program coordinators, and the Associate Director of Graduate Education are expected to share information among themselves regarding student progress on a “need to know” basis (see statement on Student Progress and Information Sharing in the current Graduate Studies Calendar). This is particularly important for any notes that are made on the student file, and documents filed therein.
Please note that all contents of the student file and any notes/emails pertaining to the student may be obtained by the student under the Freedom of Information, and Protection of Privacy Act (FOIPOP).
Specifically, the supervisor/faculty advisor replies by email to the graduate administrative assistant with a copy to the Graduate Student Advisor; so, the registration and administrative details can be attended to, indicating the recommendation for remedial action and including any comments. The graduate administrative assistant copies this information from the supervisor/faculty advisor’s email and pastes this into their Workflow Item. This is submitted through Workflow to the Graduate
Admissions and Records Office (GARO) and the Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS). A copy of the email will also be placed in the student’s file. Recommendations for remedial action will be reviewed by FGS.
Please contact the Associate Director of Graduate Education and the Graduate Student Advisor with any questions you may have about the student records, privacy or confidentiality.