Course Management Policy

Please note that the Faculty of Science has created a template Link for course outlines that we are required to adhere to. This outline is AODA compliant. Your outline must be formatted with the same font, colours, and line spacing. It must include all relevant sections, including:

1. Department Header
2. Land Acknowledgment
3. Administrative Details
4. Course Overview
   • This section should include a clear list of learning objectives.
5. Course Overview and Assessment
6. Summary of Evaluation
   • This section must be included, even if it is redundant with information provided in a previous section of the document. A concise breakdown of how students will be evaluated is important for the faculty office if a student’s course performance is reviewed.
   • Please also clearly state whether there is a final exam in the course, and if it is cumulative.?
7. Request for Relief for Missed Academic Term Work
   • Please also include a section on MSAF Course Specific Information. For example, who is the student’s point of contact and what is the procedure students should follow (aside from the official channels) in reporting missed work to teaching staff. What accommodations will be made. For example, an extended due date, a rewrite date or re-weighting to another component of the course.
8. All Approved Advisory Statements – Page 10-11

PLEASE NOTE: Course time and location is to be posted on the course website (A2L) BUT NOT on the course outline.

All course outlines must be submitted to our undergraduate administrator, Taylor Bowker at pnb@mcmaster.ca, in word format, to be posted on the department website at least one month before the beginning of the term. 

1. Please note that Taylor will review all course outlines for compliance, and she will let you know if any changes are required.

Course Outline Template: Link

NEW – McMaster now participates in Simple Syllabus

1. Taylor has access to upload or edit if required
2. You can still send to Taylor for our website but Simple Syllabus is recommended 
3. INFORMATION: 2024-2025 Science Course Outlines Process
    terms) posted ideally to Simple Syllabus.

1. Due dates for all term work must be on or before the final day of classes for courses with a final examination.
2. The Test and Examination Ban period is the last 5 days of classes plus the day(s) between the end of classes and the beginning of examinations.

1. Student learning in undergraduate courses should be assessed on more than one occasion. To that end, no single academic obligation (e.g., essay, test, examination, etc.) should have a value of more than 75% of the final grade without approval from the Department Chair or Associate Dean’s Office. Clinical, placement, thesis and capstone courses are exempt.
2. For students requiring relief from an academic obligation, it is at the discretion of the instructor to determine the nature of the relief.

All students must receive feedback regarding their progress prior to the final date by which a student may cancel the course without failure by default.

1. For Level I and Level II courses, this feedback must equal a minimum of 20% of the final grade.
2. For Level III courses and above, this feedback must equal a minimum of 10% of the final grade.

1. It is always preferable to return marked work or grades directly to students either electronically or physically. However, if there is a need to return marked work to students in an indirect manner or to post grades, the work must be returned, and the grades posted in a manner designed to protect the anonymity of the students.
2. All posting of final grades will note that the grades are unofficial until released by the Office of the Registrar.

1. Department Chairs (or Director of a School or Program) are responsible for ensuring that final examinations and all other graded material not meant to be returned to students, and the instructor’s record of how the final grades in a course were determined, are:
   • retained for at least one year after last use
   • remain accessible to the Department Chair for that period.
2. This applies to all instructors. Sessional lecturers and those retiring or otherwise leaving the service of the University must notify their immediate supervisor of the on-campus storage location of the material.

McMaster University approves the use of software to check authenticity of academic work for the following reasons:

1. prevention – if students know their academic work is being checked for plagiarism, they will use proper citation methods.
2. protection of honest students and their work.
3. detection – with the type of technology in common use today, it is necessary to use a detection tool which checks academic work against the internet, scholarly publications and previously submitted assignments to McMaster and other institutions.
4. Section G: Guidelines on the use of Turnitin.com (see document) Link

Instructors are expected and required to support all McMaster University Policies, including:

Academic Accommodations of Students with Disabilities Policy.pdf

It is our institutional aspiration to work towards a campus community that adopts the social definition of disability by responding with the creation of universal design for instruction in accessible classrooms and the need for on-going consultation with people with lived experience with disability to guide the design of buildings and instructional resources. (see sections on Student Accessibility Services, AODA and Universal Design below)

1. A student may self-declare an illness or other personal situation requesting relief from academic work under certain conditions using the Policy on Requests for Relief for Missed Academic term Work (MSAF). Some important information is highlighted below.
2. MSAF-TYPE A (Self Report)
   • The MSAF (Self-Report) is a single request which covers all of the student’s courses and applies only to the work due within the time period of the request. MSAF (Self-Report) requests for relief shall meet all three of the requirements below:
     • the piece of work is worth less than twenty-five percent (25%) of the final grade
     • is resulting from extenuating circumstances (refer to the definitions in Section A)
     • the absence (time period covered by the request) lasts up to three (3) calendar days.
3. The MSAF (Self-Report) should be submitted when the student is ready and able to return to their academic studies/duties.
4. Students must submit their MSAF (Self-Report) within one (1) calendar day of the end of the three (3) calendar day period, and failure to do so may negate the opportunity for relief
5. Students must contact their instructor(s) no later than one (1) calendar day after submitting the request unless the course outline states otherwise. Failure to do so may negate the opportunity for relief.
6. Please remind students that MSAFs are NOT TO BE USED for time management purposes.

MSAF- TYPE B (Administrative Report)?

1. The MSAF (Administrative Report) is a single request which covers all of the student’s courses and applies only to the work due within the time period of the request. This request is to be submitted through the appropriate faculty office
2. MSAF (Administrative Report) requests for relief are for any of the three reasons below:
   • extenuating circumstances (refer to definitions in Section A) lasting more than three (3) calendar days
   • missed academic work worth twenty-five percent (25%) or more of the final grade
   • any request for relief in a term where the MSAF (Self-Report) has already been used once.
3. Students must contact their instructor(s) no later than one (1) calendar day after being notified that their request has been processed unless the course outline states otherwise. Failure to do so may negate the opportunity for relief.

Faculty members and University officers normally shall not take part in any proceedings at any level which affect the academic standing of an immediate family member (spouse, common-law partner, parent, in-law, sibling, child or step-child). Such proceedings include admission, scholarships, financial assistance and reviewing.

• Conflict of Interest Policy.pdf

Instructors should take care to protect student names, student numbers, grades and all other personal information at all times. For example, the submission and return of assignments and the posting of grades must be done in a manner that ensures confidentiality. Link to policy