From: A&S Office of the Dean
Sent: Monday, March 23, 2015 8:20 PM
To: Undergraduate Students in the Faculty of Arts and Science
Subject: Completing the term: a message from the Dean
Dear Arts & Science Undergraduate Students,
I am very sorry, as I am sure you are, that members of CUPE 3902 Unit 1 have rejected the tentative agreement put forward by their bargaining team. Unit 1 members in Arts & Science remain on strike, and the Faculty will be deprived of the benefit of their work. I know that this has been a stressful and frustrating period for many of you, and I deeply regret that the disruption in your academic studies caused by this labour dispute will continue.
Nevertheless, it is the goal of the Faculty of Arts & Science to ensure that you will be able to complete your courses and progress in your degree, and that those who are on track to convocate in June will be able to graduate. This will be the top job for the Faculty of Arts & Science in the weeks ahead.
The academic term, which ends April 30, will not be extended. The exam period will proceed as previously scheduled, although in some cases a specific exam may be changed in length or format or cancelled. Students will be notified of any exam cancellations. We will be extending the date for students to cancel (drop) courses without academic penalty or to choose credit/no credit (CR/NCR) until after they have seen their final grades. Precise dates will be posted on the Arts & Science website shortly. Please check http://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current regularly for further updates and information.
We will assess a final mark in a course wherever practicable. Given the loss of teaching and grading of some assignments, however, it may not be possible in all courses to assign a final grade in accordance with the original marking scheme.
In some courses that have continued to be taught, students have voted in accordance with the University’s Grading Practices Policy to alter the marking scheme and it will be necessary to make similar changes in some other courses in the next two weeks. In such courses, the Faculty of Arts & Science will make every effort to see that students’ work is marked so that a numerical grade can be calculated.
Course instructors, or department representatives in courses now without instructors, will be communicating to students in their classes over the coming days concerning any changes they feel are required to enable students to successfully complete the term. It is important that you check your e-mail regularly for information, attend class or participate in any announced meetings as appropriate to ensure that you understand the measures that are being considered to complete the course.
In courses where not enough work is available to be marked or the instructor is absent and continues to be absent, there are alternative options, including the possible use of general letter grades (A, B, C, etc.) or CR/NCR in place of numeric grades. The instructor or in the case of a course with an absent instructor, a departmental representative will communicate with the class to determine how to proceed. Please wait to make any final decisions about your courses until the plan for each course has been fully communicated to you.
If, during this week, you have questions about particular courses and academic programs, please contact the advising staff within the department/program. If you have general questions about how to manage your decisions about your studies this term, please contact your college registrar’s office.
This is a trying time for students. We recognize that. We will answer your questions, provide advice on the best course of action, and make every effort to minimize the impact of the strike on the achievement of your academic goals.
David Cameron, FRSC
Dean, Faculty of Arts & Science
Arts & Science is posting information and guidance on its website: http://www.artsci.utoronto.ca/current . You should be checking it regularly during the next few weeks as further information and advice are posted.
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