Rules and Procedures
Studying at college involves rules and relations at many levels, including assignment instructions, course outlines, campus procedures and college-wide policies. The focus here is on policies that apply to the entire college.
Institutional Policy on the Evaluation of Student Achievement (IPESA)
The rules for evaluating your achievement in courses are set in St.Lawrence's Institutional Policy on the Evaluation of Student Achievement (IPESA). The IPESA covers many aspects related to your studies.
Academic appeals and complaints
Complete a Request for Re-evaluation Form if you wish to appeal your final grade for a course under 6.2.1 of the IPESA. The deadline normally falls before the start of the following semester. Check with the Academic Affairs Technician for further information.
Complete a Request for Re-evaluation Form (PDF)
To address academic complaints other than those involving final course grades, you are encouraged to see the teacher or other employee to whom the concern relates. This is normally the first step in the informal process outlined in Section 10 of the IPESA. If necessary, the informal process may include consulting a department coordinator, who you can find using the Directory. If the situation is not resolved, it is possible to make a formal written complaint.
The form for formal written complaints are in the link below.
Complete a Formal Written Complaint after Completing the Informal Process (PDF)
Attendance
Attendance and absences are covered in detail in 5.2 of the IPESA. You are responsible for material missed during absences, even if you are not penalized for missing an evaluation if the absence is excused. Your teacher may prohibit you from further attendance and assign you the grade earned to date if you miss ten percent or more of the total course time because of unexcused absences. The Dean of Faculty and Academic Affairs may do the same, after consultation with your teacher, if you miss more than twenty percent of total course time for any reason and your absences have jeopardized any realistic chance of passing a course.
Cheating and Plagiarism
As explained in 5.4 of the IPESA, cheating and plagiarism are serious offences. Both are defined in that section of the IPESA. To avoid plagiarism of others' work, material must be in your own words or appropriately quoted. Furthermore, written and oral material, statistical information and images must be properly referenced.
Students found guilty of cheating by their teacher in an evaluation activity will receive a grade of zero for that activity. Students found guilty of plagiarism by their teacher may receive a grade of zero for that activity, given the context of the incident.
All incidents of cheating or plagiarism must be reported by the teacher to the Dean of Faculty's Office. Upon a second or further incident of cheating or plagiarism at the college, failure of the course or disciplinary actions such as suspension or expulsion may result, as determined by the Dean of Faculty and Academic Affairs. Teachers complete the form below when reporting these incidents.
Course Equivalences, Substitutions and Exemptions
The possible annotations on your transcript for equivalences (EQ), substitutions (SU) and exemptions (DI) are explained in 3.1 and 3.3 of the IPESA. See the Academic Advisor for more information. A brief summary can also be found by clicking on the link to the Academic Information section of this website below.
See Credit for Courses Taken Elsewhere
Incomplete Courses
An annotation of a temporarily incomplete course (IT) or a permanently incomplete course (IN) is possible on your transcript in the situations explained in 3.6 of the IPESA. See the Academic Advisor for more information.
Who Is Responsible: the Designated Academic Administrator (DAA)
The IPESA often mentions the Designated Academic Administrator (DAA) as being responsible. The DAA has been referred to as the Dean of Faculty and Academic Affairs for most references on this website. However, the DAA depends on the situation. The DAA for a complete list of the relevant sections of the IPESA is provided below.