Academic Matters

Academic Advisement Report

Your Academic Advisement Report shows all the courses you have taken (or are enrolled in) and those courses needed in order for you to graduate. Learn how to view your Academic Advisement Report online.

Full-time students follow the curriculum as follows:

Your Academic Advisement Report will summarize your completed and unresolved graduation requirements (see below).

Course Exceptions: Substitutions and Directives

You are expected to follow the curriculum as published in the Undergraduate Calendar for the year level you are enrolled in. Sometimes, students ask for a curriculum exception. There are two kinds of exceptions: Substitutions and Directives.

Course Substitution

A Course Substitution is when a Ryerson course that is not part of your normal curriculum is used as a substitution for a specific required course. In other words, you are replacing required Course A with Course B. You should seek approval for a Course Substitution before enrolling in the course. Course Substitutions do not automatically affect your GPA, replace any future prerequisite requirements, nor are they a formal statement about course equivalence. Course Substitutions requests must be reviewed and approved by the Teaching Department, your Program Department and Curriculum Advising.

Course Directive

A Course Directive is when a Ryerson course that is not part of your normal curriculum is used for credit for one of your program’s elective groups (Professional, Professionally-Related, Liberal Studies, Core, Open). For example, you wish to use Course B, not normally taken by students in your program, as one of your Professional electives. You should seek approval for a Course Directive before enrolling in the course. Course Directives requests must be reviewed and approved by both your Program Department and Curriculum Advising. Liberal Studies Course Directive requests are reviewed and approved by both the Faculty of Arts and Curriculum Advising.

For instructions, definitions and regulations download the Course Substitution/ Directive Request form.

Timespan

In order to graduate, you must complete your program’s curriculum and graduation requirements within a specified number of years. This is known as your timespan and the clock starts “ticking” in your first term of eligibility for enrolment. Even though you may not be attending Ryerson for one or more terms (for example, you have decided to request a temporary Short-Term Withdrawal from your program for either the current academic term or for future academic terms due to financial, health, personal, academic or other reasons, you still continue to use up your timespan.

Calculate your timespan for undergraduate programs as follows:

1. For full-time programs, multiply the number of years scheduled for fulltime study by 2 (two) (typically 8 (eight) years);
   
2. For full-time co-op programs that require an additional year of program registration, 1 (one) additional year is added to the normal timespan (typically 9 (nine) years);
   
3. For part-time degree programs, divide the number of  required single-term courses in your program (or equivalent) by 3 (three) (typically 14 (fourteen) years.

Calculate your timespan for Chang School Certificate Programs as follows:

1. The number of required single-term courses (or equivalent) should be divided by 2, plus 1 (one) year. The timespan you have to complete the certificate will vary depending on the number of courses that must be complete in order to satisfy the graduation requirements of the certificate. The maximum timespan is measured from the original registration in the certificate program.

Timespan Extensions

In special circumstances, you may ask permission from the Dean of your Faculty or Program Director for the Chang School to extend these time limits. You will be required to meet the academic requirements in effect when/if the extension is granted. If you would like to request a Timespan Extension, please complete the PDF fileUndergraduate Timespan Extension Form and follow the submission instructions on the form. 

If your timespan extension is denied, or if you need an additional timespan after the approved timespan extension is completed, you can appeal to the Senate Appeals Committee for a final consideration of your request. Senate Appeal Committee decisions are final and not appealable.

PDF fileRead Senate Policy 46: Policy on Undergraduate Course Grading, Academic Program Standing, and Eligibility to Graduate see also Essential Policy Highlights

See also

• Graduation
• Grades, GPA, and Academic Standing

References 

• PDF filePolicy 46: Undergraduate Course Grading, Academic Program Standing, and Eligibility to Graduate

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