Documentation:Distance Learning Support/Policies and Procedures

From UBC Wiki

Here are some policies and procedures of which you should be aware when you are taking distance learning courses

Exams

Enrolment Services manages examinations for most distance learning courses. Exams will be scheduled in the official examination period. Check here for dates and when the schedule will be available.

Online exams are not administered by Enrolment Services, and you should contact your instructor with any questions you may have or check the course site. For information on off-campus exams, application deadline and fees, you can review the guideline and policies on the Student Services website.

Course Repeats

You may choose to repeat a course either to improve your GPA or to gain mastery over subject matter that is important to your degree and academic goals. However, before repeating a course, you should discuss this with your Faculty. Each Faculty may have different regulations and policies about repeating courses. You should also note the following:

  • The grade received for the course first time around will remain on your academic record.
  • You will not receive additional credit for the repeated course (Arts).
  • Your instructor may require you to submit different assignments on a repeat course. You will need to discuss expectations and requirements with your instructor at the start of the term.

Here are some questions to ask yourself before you commit to repeating a course:

  • Am I aware of the regulations for advancement for my faculty? See the resources below.
  • Have I discussed the requirements for repeating my course with my instructor? Am I clear about whether or not I will be able to re-submit previous work with changes?
  • Am I clear about my reasons for completing the course?

You might wish to repeat a course because:

  • You withdrew the first time you attempted the course.
  • You failed the course the first time you registered in it.
  • You want to improve your grade.

Repeating a course means that you must re-register and pay the full tuition and related fees. Each attempt at a course appears on your transcript.

Here are some links to UBC policy regarding academic advancement, for your reference:

Standing Deferred

What do I do if I can’t complete the course before the end date?

Academic concessions such as standing deferred are granted on medical or compassionate grounds as outlined by UBC policy and require supporting documentation and permission from your course instructor.

For information about standing deferred, please visit the Enrolment Services website.

Deadlines and Withdrawals

For information about course withdrawals and refunds, please visit the Enrolment Services website.

Grades

Your final grade will be entered approximately 2-3 weeks following the final examination.

You may appeal your final grade through a review of assigned standing. Requests for formal appeal must be made through Enrolment Services. Please visit the review of assigned standing section on the Enrolment Services website for information about appealing your final grade.

Before considering a formal appeal, you should:

  • Discuss your concern with your instructor
  • Arrange to view your final exam. This must be arranged through the Academic Department to which the course belongs.

Click here for UBC grading practices. Visit the Student Services website to learn more about grades.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism means that you have:

  • Used another person’s words or ideas without acknowledging the source.
  • Allowed a friend to complete all or a portion of your work.
  • Submitted someone else’s work as your own.
  • Allowed a reviewer to make extensive revisions to an assignment.
  • Used information from an online discussion forum or website without proper citation.

To avoid plagiarism:

  • Give credit with proper citation to all sources from which you have quoted directly or borrowed ideas. This includes any and all visual or verbal communication containing content which originates from an identifiable source.

Academic misconduct is a serious issue and cause for academic discipline – including expulsion from the University. To learn more about policies and processes around plagiarism and how to avoid it, visit the Avoid Plagiarism section on the UBC Learning Commons website.

To learn more about academic misconduct, visit the academic misconduct section of the Academic Calendar.

UBC subscribes to the Turnitin Suite that includes a set of tools to improve the student writing cycle by preventing plagiarism and providing rich feedback to students. Learn more about Turnitin on the e-learning website.

Student Evaluation of Teaching

Your feedback regarding your experience in the courses you take is valuable to instructors, faculty, administrators and course design teams as we revise and rework courses and curriculum to better meet the learning needs of students.

All UBC courses are evaluated online via a service called CoursEval. Near the end of your course, you will be sent a link to login to CoursEval and evaluate your course instructors.

For more information about student evaluation of teaching at UBC, see the policy documents on the VP Academic’s web page. To learn about how to evaluate your professor in the most useful way, see Tips for Evaluating Instructors.

Transfer Credits

If you are planning to transfer credit for a UBC course to another institution, check with the other institution first about its policies regarding transfer credit. You may also consult the BC Council on Admissions & Transfer website.

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