Dear Colleagues,
I would like to take this opportunity to remind you of some important information. Please note that this and additional information can also be found in the Professor’s Handbook (pdf, 3.4 MB).
If you require help or additional information, do not hesitate to contact your Chair or the Supervisor of Undergraduate Programs of your academic unit.
I wish you an excellent trimester.
Marc Molgat
(Interim) Vice Dean of Undergraduate Studies
Important information
Special permission to register
You may not grant students special permission to register to your course(s). Course enrolment is subject to Faculty quotas and is managed by the Undergraduate Academic Office.
Language of instruction
Bilingualism is not mandatory for students registered at the University of Ottawa. Here are a few points to remember:
- All students have the right to require that a course in which they are registered be taught in the language used to describe the course in the calendar;
- With the exception of language courses and courses in Lettres françaises and the Department of English, all students have the right to produce their work and to answer examination questions in the official language of their choice.
- If, in a 3rd or a 4th level course, you suggest some of the reading material of the course in a language other than the language of instruction, you should try to find alternative texts in the language of instruction.
Information in the course outline
Use of the accessible course outline template (docx, 56 KB) is compulsory.
Importance of the first mark
Academic regulation 9.0 Providing feedback prior to the withdrawal deadlines entails the following: “professors should assign, evaluate and return academic work that is worth at least 25% of the final course mark no later than one week prior to the deadline for withdrawal without academic penalty”.
I would like to remind you of the importance of giving students feedback on their performance early on. This recommendation is especially important for 1st and 2nd year students.
Students who succeed easily should see their good marks as a form of encouragement. For those who need to invest more time and efforts, it will present an incentive to take advantage of the services available through the Student Experience Centre (previously known as the Mentoring Centre) of the Faculty of Social Sciences or the SASS - Student Academic Success Service.
We know from experience that students who really need these services tend not to use them or to use them far too late in the session. You might want to outline explicitly the goal of this first evaluation and accordingly, the work required by students to reach it.
Exams and papers
Except in certain rare cases authorized by your academic unit, a final examination or its equivalent is required for each course and should be completed during the examination period.
A copy of all exams must be sent to your Academic Unit prior to the examination period.
The professor, with the approval of the academic unit, determines the format of the final examination. Written final examinations are either two or three hours long. Please consult the academic regulation 9.2 Final examination and 9.3 Official examination periods.
Important dates – Fall term 2020 (September 1st to December 31st)
| Courses begin: | September 9th |
|---|---|
| Final registration date: | September 22nd |
| Last day to withdraw from a course And receive a credit: | October 2nd |
| Thanksgiving (a statutory holiday): | October 12th Classes on Monday, October 12 are cancelled. They will take place on Wednesday, December 9, when the usual Monday course schedule will apply. |
| Reading week: | October 25th to October 31st |
| Last day to withdraw from a course With no financial credit: | November 20th |
| Teaching and course evaluations: | November 23rd to December 4th |
| Courses end: | December 9th |
| Exam period: | December 10th to December 22nd |
| Submission of your final grades: | 10 working days after your exam date |