Adding Courses
All course additions to a student's program for a particular semester are to be completed by the end of the add period. On the last day of the add period, students will be able to add courses up to a maximum of 3.25 credits on a first-come, first-served basis. Additionally, with a signature from the Chair, under exceptional circumstances a student will be able to enrol in more than 2.75 credits earlier in the process. The addition of a course after the end of the add period will be considered only in exceptional circumstances and will require the approval of both the faculty for the course and the Chair of the program in which the student is enrolled. The Chair's signature should be sought first but does not presume the judgment of the faculty as to the appropriateness of the late addition for the particular course. In practice, the following have been deemed to be exceptional circumstances: illness or compassionate grounds for missing all or part of the first three class days; interchanging courses with common lectures, one with and one without labs; late resolution of appeals; failure of a deferred course condition or examination; university errors in registration procedures.
Caution: Students granted permission to add a course after the end of the add period may encounter difficulty in mastering course content and may be unable to meet all course requirements. The University has no obligation to assist students to pick up material that has been missed because of late enrolment.
Course Requisite(s)
A student wishing to enrol in a course for which the student does not have credit for the stated course requisite(s) may seek permission from the Chair to have the requisite(s) waived. The student seeking the waiver must obtain a Course Requisite/Restriction Waiver and have it completed by the Chair. The student must then present the completed form along with a completed Course Request form to the Academic Advisor for processing. The course (or section) will be added to the student’s record if space exists in the class (or section) in question. The Chair’s signature on the Course Requisite/Restriction Waiver, in no way guarantees space exists in the class (or section). Forms are available from the Registrarial Services office.
Regular Courses
Regular courses may be added without permission of the Academic Advisor as long as the student is eligible to continue. Regular courses are those courses for which the student has all necessary course and credit prerequisites.
Repeating Passed Courses
Students may repeat a passed course once, for a total of two attempts. Students requiring further attempts must petition for Academic Consideration.
Each attempt will appear on the official transcript; however, credit toward the completion of degree requirements will only be granted for one successful attempt.
Grades from each attempt will count toward the semester average, while only the highest final grade earned will count toward the cumulative average. This calculation of cumulative average will not apply to courses taken prior to the Summer 2026 semester. See the glossary for a description of how cumulative average is calculated. The continuation of study assessment is not retroactively adjusted following completion of repeated course attempts.
Students who are considering repeating a passed course are required to speak with their Academic Advisor. Students are advised that repeating passed courses may lengthen time to graduation. Registration is subject to space in available courses. The option to repeat a passed course is not available for courses completed via supplemental assessment and courses that involve intensive one-to-one or small group training (for example, thesis courses, independent study courses and certain special topics or experiential learning courses).
Students who wish to apply to professional or graduate programs are encouraged to review the admissions requirements related to repeating passed courses. Applicants to the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine program are advised that repeats of previously passed courses are not accepted. Please see the Doctor of Veterinary Medicine Program Admissions for more details.