Academic Calendar - 2024

Western University Academic Calendar. - 2024

Glossary

Adjudication

A period of academic assessment by the Departments, Faculties, and Affiliated University Colleges concerned to determine a student's eligibility for admission to, progression in, or graduation from requested degree and module choices.

There are two periods of adjudication: May--assessment of a student's final grades from the Fall/Winter term; August--assessment of a student's final grades from the Summer term.


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Antirequisite

Courses that overlap sufficiently in course content that both cannot be taken for credit.


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Average Calculation


Average calculation for progression requirements includes both a term (sessional) and a cumulative average for all applicable courses. Average calculations INCLUDE failed grades. All grades below 50% are considered failures. Grades below 40% will be included in average calculations as 40%, grades from 40% to 49% will be included as the actual grade reported.

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Breadth Requirements


Requirements to ensure that students are exposed to different disciplines within their degree. Please refer to "Breadth Requirements for Bachelor Degrees".

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Corequisite


A course that must be taken concurrently with (or prior to registration in) the desired course.

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Course


Where "course" appears, it refers to 1.0 course or two 0.5 courses

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Course Attempt


A course attempt is a course registration that is not dropped by the Last day to drop deadline date in the Undergraduate Sessional Dates in the Academic Calendar (the latest, including all revisions, will be found on the Office of the Registrar web site). The Last day to drop will vary according to type of course: full course, first term half course, full year half course, and second term half course. A course that is dropped by the last date for adding a course will be removed from a student's record. A course that is dropped after the last day for adding a course but before the final day for dropping a course will be recorded as WDN (withdrawn) and is not considered a course attempt. A course that is dropped after the final day for dropping a course will be recorded as F (failure) and will receive a mark of 40% for Average Calculation purposes.

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Course Repeat


A course repeat is any course previously attempted and recorded at Western. A course attempt having a passing grade may be repeated only once. A course attempt having a failing grade may be repeated only twice. Further course repeats may only be authorized by the Dean of the Faculty in which the student is registered. Grades (including failures) for all course attempts will appear on the transcript and will be included in the accumulation of course attempts and maximum failures allowed. All but the most recent course attempt will appear on the transcript as Repeated, No Credit and will be excluded from cumulative average calculations used for progression requirements.

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Essay Course


A Western course may be designated as an essay course if it has a significant writing component (defined by Senate) involving written assignments (essays or other appropriate prose composition, excluding examinations) to demonstrate the student's competence in essay writing.

Designated essay courses are identified by the suffixes as follows: E (essay 1.0 course) ; F (first term essay 0.5 course); G (second term essay 0.5 course); Z (essay 0.5 course). Example: Political Science 1020E.

For essay requirements in an Honours Bachelor, Bachelor (Four-Year), or Bachelor (Three-Year) degree, please refer to the "Graduation Regulations" section for each degree.

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Faculty


Unit composed of one or more related academic departments headed by a Dean.

Examples: Arts and Humanities, Science, Social Science, Health Sciences, Information and Media Studies.

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Module Information


Module


A structured set of courses specified by a Department, Faculty, or Affiliated University College to fulfil the requirements of an Honours Specialization, Specialization, Major, or Minor.

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Honours Specialization


An Honours Specialization module is comprised of 9.0 or more courses designated by a Department, Faculty, or Affiliated University College. This module is available only in an Honours Bachelor Degree (Four-Year).

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Specialization


A Specialization module is comprised of 9.0 or more courses designated by a Department, Faculty, or Affiliated University College. This module is available only in the Bachelor Degree (Four-Year).

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Major

A Major module is comprised of 6.0 or 7.0 courses designated by a Department, Faculty, or Affiliated University College. This module is available in each of the following degrees:
Honours Bachelor Degree (Four-Year)


For a Major to be part of the Double Major in an Honours Bachelor Degree, a student must meet the performance standards defined under the Admission, Progression and Graduation requirements for the Honours Bachelor Degree. See "Double Major Modules" in "The Degree Structure" Section.
Bachelor Degree (Four-Year)
Bachelor Degree (Three-Year)

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Minor


A Minor module is comprised of 4.0 or 5.0 courses designated by a Department, Faculty or Affiliated University College. A degree with a single Minor is not available. A Minor may be combined with another Minor in a Bachelor Degree (Three-Year) or a Minor module may be taken as an additional module within each of the following degrees:
Honours Bachelor Degree (Four-Year)
Bachelor Degree (Four-Year)
Bachelor Degree (Three-Year)
For details see: Structure of the Degree

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Additional Modules


Extra modules which are taken within the degree but not essential for the degree, e.g, Honours Specialization with (an additional) Minor.

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Post-Degree Module


A Major or Minor module which is completed after graduation. Recognition will be given on the transcript for Post-Degree modules. A second degree is not conferred.
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Modular Average


The average on the courses which are required in a specific module. This cumulative average will be calculated each year and will include all courses in the module that have been completed successfully. Refer to individual modules for specific courses.

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Options


Courses that are not required as part of a module within a degree but are required to complete the total number of courses needed for a degree.

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Prerequisite

A course that must be successfully completed prior to registration for credit in the desired course.

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Principal Course


A first year course that is listed by a department offering a module as a requirement for admission to the module. For admission to an Honours Specialization module or Double Major modules in an Honours Bachelor degree, at least 3.0 courses will be considered principal courses.

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Residency Requirements


Rules relating to the number and type of courses that must be taken at Western to earn a Western degree and that, thereby, limit the number of courses that may be credited from another academic institution.