Appeals for a Course Failed Twice

If you have failed a course twice, and that course is not required for graduation in your degree program (specialization), then you cannot take it again.

If you have failed a course twice, and that course is required for graduation, then you must provide a list of the reasons for why you weren’t successful those two times. You must also state what you will do to ensure success during the third (and therefore final) time. These reasons must go beyond: “I’ll work harder,” or “I didn’t manage my time well last term, and I plan to do better.”

There are two major steps in asking for permission to take a course for the third time:

1. Fill out a webform to request an appointment with a CPSC advisor, as soon as possible. Don't wait until the start of the term to do it.  During your appointment, the advisor will discuss your situation with you, listen to your reasons, answer your questions, and provide practical advice, including what to do if your appeal is unsuccessful (or if you're not allowed to appeal).

2. If the advisor allows you to proceed with an official appeal, then you need to submit an appeal webform to the Department of Computer Science. The plan and reasons can be similar to that for Step (1), but your advisor may have given you additional information to include, or may have suggested some changes. The appeals committee will read and evaluate your case.

If your appeal with the Department of Computer Science is successful, the Department will forward its decision and your appeal rationale to the Faculty of Science’s Associate Dean Students for their review. The Associate Dean Students or their designate must either approve or deny your appeal and notify the Department of Computer Science of their decision. We will notify you of the final decision once all steps are complete.

Please note that the CPSC department and your home Faculty often limit the number of overall credits you can register for. For example, during the Winter session, it is common for your home Faculty to limit you to no more than three courses in a given term; and in a Summer term, you will likely have to take the third-attempt course as your only course that term.

Note that if you failed a course twice, then you cannot take a similar course on the same credit exclusion list, without appealing. For example, if you failed STAT 302 twice, then you cannot take MATH 302 (without appealing) because STAT 302 and MATH 302 appear on the same Faculty of Science credit exclusion list.