These academic regulations apply to all students registered in the Faculty of Engineering, and are supplementary to University of Ottawa academic regulations, which take precedence in case of conflict, unless stated otherwise.
Approved by Faculty Council, May 2022
1.1 Faculty of Engineering students are expected to exhibit professional behaviour at all times during their studies.
1.2 Faculty of Engineering students are expected to be knowledgeable about best practices in health and safety, academic integrity, sexual violence prevention, as well as equity, diversity and inclusion. As such, they may be required to take training sessions (whether for-credit or not) at different times during their studies.
1.3 Active participation (whether in-person or online, if available) in a minimum of 80% of the scheduled course components is required for students to be eligible for a passing grade in courses. If professors wish to apply specific attendance policies and/or use a grading scheme to encourage active participation, they must indicate so on the course syllabus distributed at the beginning of the term.
U1.1 Mid-term exams, if any, are scheduled and administered by the professors. They must be scheduled during regular course hours, except when it is more practical to have only one exam for several course sections at once. The date and time of the mid-term exams must be communicated to the students at the beginning of the term.
U1.2 Assistance from the Undergraduate Studies Office is available to professors for administering final timed assessments or exams, as well as deferred final timed assessments or exams.
U1.3 Deferred final timed assessments or exams for engineering and computer science courses take place during the period specified in the “Important academic dates and deadlines” of the University calendar.
U1.4 Supplemental exams: see University Regulation A-8.7.
U2.1 Professors are responsible for the process of marking final assessments or exams, and for assigning course grades. Teaching assistants may only participate in marking final assessments or exams when questions have objective and unambiguous answers.
U2.2 Credit transfers: see University Regulation B-5, and letter of permission.
U3.1 Four-year (or more), 120-unit (or more) undergraduate engineering and computer science programs are categorized as Honours Bachelor’s programs. See University Regulation B-7.
U3.2 Undergraduate students registered in Co-op must maintain a minimum cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 6.0 in CEG, CHG, CVG, CSE, ELG, MCG and MGB and 5.0 in SEG. Note that all SEG students must be registered in co-op.
U3.3 Students placed on academic probation should communicate with the Undergraduate Studies Office to book an appointment for an advisement session with an Academic Advisor.
G1.1 Comprehensive exam: For PhD programs featuring a comprehensive exam, all components of the comprehensive exam including any oral defence must be completed within six terms of first enrolment in the program. Failure to complete within six terms will result in a first failure of the comprehensive exam. Students must enrol for the comprehensive exam and complete it in their seventh term. Failure to pass by the end of the seventh term will result in a second failure and automatic withdrawal from the PhD program.
Completing all components of the comprehensive exam within three terms of first enrolment in the program is considered good progress.
G1.2 Thesis proposal: For PhD programs featuring a thesis proposal, all components of the thesis proposal, including any oral defence, must be completed within nine terms of first enrolment in the program. Failure to complete within nine terms will result in a first failure of the thesis proposal. Students must then enrol for the thesis proposal and complete it in their 10th term. Failure to pass the proposal by the end of the 10th term will result in a second failure and automatic withdrawal from the PhD program.
Completing all components of the thesis proposal within six terms of first enrolment in the program is considered good progress.
G1.3 Completion deadline: Expected completion time for a PhD program is 12 terms. Requests to extend the duration of the PhD program beyond the University limit of 18 terms are not granted without acknowledgement of unsatisfactory progress in a progress report, and a clear plan of study with committed dates to address the situation. Any unsatisfactory progress report during an extension to the time limit will result in automatic withdrawal from the PhD program.
G1.4 Progress report: Two unsatisfactory progress reports from the supervisor will result in automatic withdrawal from the program. Progress reports must be submitted at least once a year but can be required every term.
G1.5 The above requirements are the minimum requirements of the Faculty of Engineering.
Individual programs may enforce shorter completion times and/or stricter definitions of unsatisfactory progress. In addition, individual supervisors can add requirements specific to the student’s research, including experiments, investigations, testing and publication of papers, that must be met for satisfactory progress.
G1.6 Students can appeal automatic withdrawal from the program. Appeals must include a strong letter of support from the supervisor, approval by the program, and a realistic, documented plan of study with a clear commitment to specific deadlines.
