Overloads, Grading and Attendance
Overloads are considered by the Undergraduate Advisor of the language in question on the last day for registrations in a given session.
We strongly recommend that students keep checking the class roster in PeopleSoft on a regular basis to see if anything becomes available in the course they wish to register in. Students may join a course waiting list if spots are available.
If students have not been successful in registering by the beginning of the semester, they may start attending classes, but must ensure to advise the instructor that they are not on that particular class list, and that they are hoping to register at a later stage.
If they have not succeeded in registering by the end of the first week of classes, the students should contact the Undergraduate Advisor and outline the reasons for requesting an overload. The Undergraduate Advisor will normally supply an answer to overload request in the afternoon of the last day for registrations.
Students who are registered MAJORS may contact the relevant Undergraduate Advisor directly with overload requests .
For a list of our Undergraduate Advisors please click here.
The Department applies the letter-based grading systems (undergraduate and graduate) published in the University Calendar. At the undergraduate level, it considers that satisfactory performance will generally fall into the "C" range, good performance into the "B" range and excellent performance into the "A" range. (Students in graduate courses should consult the Calendar for applicable definitions of graduate performance.) Criteria that indicate into which range of performance an assignment or examination falls may vary with level and with type of course; in general, the higher the level of a language course, the higher the level of performance required to be considered "satisfactory", "good" or "excellent". In this context, specific grading policies and descriptions of various standards by which work is judged are available in the Department. In arriving at an appropriate letter grade, instructors may first make a numerical or percentage evaluation and then convert that figure to the official letter grade.
The specific numerical requirement for obtaining a grade in the letter-based system may vary from course to course; with the exception of final examinations in certain multi-section courses, the conversion from the number to the letter scale is determined by the individual instructor involved and communicated to students as required. Professors may also require that all components of a course (e.g. examinations, written work, laboratory or tutorial assignments) be passed in order to receive a passing grade in the course itself.
In the Faculty of Arts all prerequisites must be met with a minimum grade of C-.
In order to ensure equity in grading, in the number and type of assignments, and in the meeting of course objectives, multi-section language courses in the Department have common minimum requirements, a common final examination (in the preparation of which all section instructors participate) and a common marking scale. While individual instructors in such courses are responsible for the management of their own sections, they work with a course coordinator who is responsible for ensuring that all sections follow a common program. Final examinations in these courses are collaboratively marked (where collaboration may involve a common marking key, team marking, exchange of examination papers between instructors or other methods).
UofC information about Academic Standing
Regular practice and exposure are directly linked with a student's progress in acquiring a second language. The link exists at all levels of ability, but is particularly pronounced at elementary and intermediate stages of acquisition, when control of basic structures is being acquired and solidified. As a consequence, the Department expects that students will attend all lectures, laboratories and tutorials. Such attendance is doubly important because class participation is a necessary component of many departmental courses and an evaluation of that component contributes to the determination of the final grade.
(Note that mere attendance does not equate with participation; students are expected to have prepared the work assigned and to be ready to discuss it if asked.)
In addition, it is to students' advantage to meet with their professors or with tutors in the language centres, to read widely in the relevant language, to listen to material broadcast in that language, or to visit the computer-assisted language learning laboratories. Exposure to different types of language in a wide range of situations is beneficial at all levels.