Dear students,
This morning, Dalhousie distributed the following memo outlining the approach to completing courses that were affected by the CUPE strike.
Please note that, as the strike only affected courses at Dalhousie, these changes do not apply to courses at King’s.
Please continue to monitor your Brightspace account and university email inbox for specific updates from your Faculties, departments, programs or instructors.
Sincerely,
Sarah
Sarah Clift
Vice President
MEMORANDUM
To: Dalhousie students, faculty and staff
From: Frank Harvey, Provost and Vice-President Academic
Date: Friday, November 18, 2022
Re: Completing the fall term: Information for students and instructors
A week after welcoming our CUPE members back, we are writing to update our academic community on plans and procedures for the remainder of the fall term.
Courses and programs
By now, most classes have met, and many students will have received updates from Faculties, departments, programs, or instructors on how their fall term courses will be completed. If not, this communication should arrive soon. Students with further questions are asked to contact the appropriate advising resources in your Faculty. (See below.)
Senate has ratified motions previously approved by the Senate Planning and Governance Committee that allow instructors to modify the syllabus in courses that were suspended or where TAs, Markers and Demonstrators supported labs, tutorials and/or marking. This has been done to preserve students’ ability to earn credit for courses that were negatively affected and allow students to continue to progress through their programs.
Because the effects of the strike varied so widely across the university, individual instructors are in the best position to determine how to adjust their courses to achieve these goals. Instructors are allowed to adjust learning outcomes to prioritize the most critical course content and make changes to assessments as necessary, including those worth more than 10% of the grade.
Any adjustments to the syllabus must be in the best interest of students. To maintain oversight on any changes, they must be approved by the Academic Unit Chair/Head.
Academic advising
As students learn about academic impacts related to the strike, some of you may have concerns about your academic progression or goals. If this is the case, please reach out to your academic advisor to discuss options available to you, and decisions might be the best fit based on your academic progression goals.
Grading options and refunds
As previously communicated to students, the withdrawal (W) date for all Fall Term courses has changed to November 25. This has been done to offer students more time to make the decision to withdraw from courses given there may have been less instruction and assessment than normally would be the case by this point.
If you withdraw, a W appears on your transcript, indicating you withdrew from the course. You do not receive credit for the course, but the W does not affect your GPA. After November 25, not completing your coursework can result in your instructor assigning an F or INC, which counts as a “zero” in the calculation of your GPA. Students are strongly encouraged to seek out academic advising prior to withdrawing from any courses, especially if you have scholarships or student loans with required minimum course loads. For information on the withdrawal process, please visit the Registrar’s Office website.
Standard procedures for Credit-No Credit remain in place. Students experiencing exceptional circumstances can apply for Credit-No Credit after earning their letter grade. The standard to meet for this request varies by Faculty and are decided on a case-by-case basis. More information on this process can be found here.
The final day to receive a refund on a course after withdrawing was November 1. While we understand students are feeling the impacts of the CUPE strike on course delivery, every reasonable step is being taken to ensure students will have the opportunity to earn credit for their courses and that the most critical learning outcomes are achieved. For this reason, general refunds will not be issued for this semester.
Thank you to our entire academic community for your continued efforts to support our students and their success. And to our students: thank you for your patience through exceptional circumstances this semester. Best wishes for the remainder of the term, and please don’t hesitate to reach out for support if needed.
Sincerely,
Frank Harvey
Provost and Vice-President Academic
Dalhousie University is located in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi`kmaq. We are all treaty people.
We recognize that African Nova Scotians are a distinct people whose histories, legacies and contributions have enriched that part of Mi’kma’ki known as Nova Scotia for over 400 years.
