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Policies and Statements

Undergraduate Policies and Statements

This page outlines academic policies and statements for all undergraduate courses offered by the Department of History. All undergraduate course outlines should refer to this page. If you have any concerns or questions not answered by this page, please contact history-ugrad@uwo.ca or Undergraduate Chair James Flath at jflath@uwo.ca.

If you require material in an alternate format, or if you require any other arrangements to make this course more accessible to you, please contact your course instructor. You may also wish to contact Western’s Accessible Education office, part of Academic Support & Engagement, for any specific question regarding accessibility.

Information regarding accommodation of exams is available on the Registrar’s website.
Students may not record or distribute any class activity, including conversations during office hours, without written permission from the instructor, except as necessary as part of approved accommodations for students with disabilities. Any approved recordings may only be used for the student’s own private use.
Students are responsible for ensuring that their selection of courses is appropriate and accurately recorded, that all course prerequisites have been successfully completed, and that they are aware of any antirequisite courses they may have taken.

Students should refer to the University's Course Numbering Policy, Essay Courses, and Hours of Instruction when confirming course selections.

If a student enrols in a course for which they do not have the prerequisites (nor written special permission to enrol), they may be removed from the course and have it deleted from their record. This decision may not be appealed. A student will receive no adjustment to his or her fees in the event that he or she is dropped from a course for failing to have the necessary prerequisites.

If a student takes a course that is antirequisite to a course previously taken, they may lose credit for the earlier course, regardless of the grade achieved in the most recent course
Students who are in emotional or mental distress should refer to Mental Health@Western for a complete list of options about how to obtain help.
The University recognizes that a student’s ability to meet their academic responsibilities may, on occasion, be impaired by medical illness. Please refer to the university's policy on Medical Accomodation. In the event of illness, you should contact Academic Advising as soon as possible. The Academic Advisors will determine, in consultation with the student, whether or not accommodation should be requested. They will subsequently contact the instructors in the relevant courses about the accommodation. Once the instructor has made a decision about whether to grant an accommodation, the student should contact his/her instructors to determine a new due date for tests, assignments, and exams.

Students must see the Academic Advisor and submit all required documentation in order to be approved for certain accommodation.

Procedure on makeup assessments for Social Science students and for courses offered by
the Faculty of Social Science

Effective September 1, 2026

Students who miss a regularly scheduled test/quiz, mid-term, or final exam may request
academic consideration through the Student Absence Portal.

If academic consideration is granted, students should consult the course outline for information
regarding how the missed assessment will be addressed and follow any instructions provided by
the instructor. At the instructor's discretion, the weight of a missed test/quiz or mid-term may be
transferred to another assessment in the course, including the final exam, rather than requiring a
makeup assessment. Reweighting is not available for missed final exams.

Students are entitled to one makeup assessment opportunity for a missed test/quiz, mid-term,
or final exam supported by approved academic consideration. No additional makeup
opportunities will be provided. Makeup assessments represent the final opportunity to
complete a missed course assessment.

What happens if I miss a makeup assessment as a Social Science student or in a course
offered by the Faculty of Social Science?
Students who miss a makeup assessment are not eligible for an additional makeup opportunity.
Depending on their circumstances, they may:

  1. Remain enrolled in the course and accept a grade of zero on the missed makeup
    assessment. Students should consult the course outline and calculate whether they can
    still achieve a passing grade in the course.
  2. Withdraw from the course through Student Center before the published drop deadline. A
    course dropped before the deadline will result in a withdrawal (WDN) without academic
    penalty. Part-time students should consult the Registrar's Office refund schedule to
    determine whether a tuition refund is available. Students enrolled full-time in 4.0-5.0
    courses are generally not eligible for tuition refunds when a course is dropped.
  3. If the published drop deadline has passed and the missed makeup assessment is supported
    by appropriate documentation, students may submit their documentation through the
    Student Absence Portal to request a WDN (withdrawal without academic penalty).
    Approval is not automatic and remains subject to Faculty review. Requests for a second
    makeup assessment will not be considered.

Students are encouraged to carefully consider their ability to complete a makeup assessment as
scheduled, as no further opportunities to complete the missed work will be available.

A Special Examination is any examination other than the regular or supplemental examinations, and it may be offered only with the permission of the Dean of the Faculty in which the student is registered, in consultation with the instructor and Department Chair. Permission to write a Special Examination may be given on the basis of compassionate or medical grounds with appropriate supporting documents. To provide an opportunity for students to recover from the circumstances resulting in a Special Examination, the University has implemented Special Examinations dates. These dates as well as other important information about examinations and academic standing can be found on the Academic Calendar.
Students should familiarize themselves with the university's policy on Academic Consideration. Students missing course work for medical, compassionate or extenuating circumstances can request academic consideration by completing a request at the central academic consideration portal. Students are permitted one academic consideration request per course per term without supporting documentation. Note that supporting documentation is always required for academic consideration requests for examinations scheduled by the office of the registrar (e.g. December and April exams). Students should also note that the instructor may designate one assessment per course per term that requires supporting documentation.
Students should review the policy for Accommodation for Religious Holidays. Where a student will be unable to write examinations and term tests due to a conflicting religious holiday, they should inform their instructors as soon as possible but not later than two weeks prior to writing the examination/term test. In the case of conflict with a midterm test, students should inform their instructor as soon as possible but not later than one week prior to the midterm.

Scholastic offences will be taken seriously by the department. Students are directed to read the appropriate university policies: specifically, the definition of what constitutes a scholastic offence, as well as the university's procedure for handling Undergraduate Scholastic Offences. Students should also consult their instructors for more information on what constitutes academic misconduct and how to avoid it.

Scholastic offences include, but are not limited to, the following: (from the university policy on scholastic offences)

1. Plagiarism, which may be defined as “The act or an instance of copying or stealing another’s words or ideas and attributing them as one’s own.” (Black’s Law Dictionary, West Group, 2024, 12th ed.)

2. Cheating on an examination or falsifying material subject to academic evaluation.

3. Submitting false or fraudulent assignments or credentials, or falsifying records, transcripts or other academic documents.

… (other offences, as described in the policy linked above)

Students must write all essays and assignments in their own words. Whenever students take an idea or a passage from another author, they must acknowledge their debt, both by using quotation marks where appropriate and by proper referencing such as footnotes or citations.

Falsifying material subject to academic evaluation includes the fabrication of citations or sources, or the misrepresentation of data, source material, or research processes.

Students are expected to retain research notes, rough drafts, essay outlines, version histories, or other materials created while preparing assignments. In the event of concerns being raised about the authenticity of any assignment, instructors may ask students to produce these materials; an inability to do so may weigh against them.

Rules regarding the use of AI tools are set by individual instructors on a course-by-course basis. Students should consult their course outlines and their instructors for guidance on AI use. Misrepresenting the ways in which AI tools have or have not been used in completing an assignment may be considered a scholastic offense.

All required papers may be subject to submission for textual similarity review to the commercial plagiarism detection software under license to the University for the detection of plagiarism. All papers submitted for such checking will be included as source documents in the reference database for the purpose of detecting plagiarism of papers subsequently submitted to the system. Use of this service is subject to the licensing agreement, currently between The University of Western Ontario and Turnitin.com.

Computer-marked multiple-choice tests and/or exams may be subject to submission for similarity review by software that checks for unusual coincidences in answer patterns that may indicate cheating.

These policies apply to all submitted work and milestones, including but not limited to drafts, proposals, assignments, projects, reports, quizzes, tests, and exams.

Information on the appeals procedures for undergraduate students can be found here:

Western's policy regarding Requests for Relief from Academic Decisions
Western's Procedure for Undergraduate Student Academic Requests for Relief

Western is committed to reducing incidents of gender-based and sexual violence (GBSV) and providing  compassionate support to anyone who is going through or has gone through these traumatic events.

If you are experiencing or have experienced GBSV (either recently or in the past), you will find information about support services for survivors, including emergency contacts at the following website:
https://www.uwo.ca/health/gbsv/support/get-help.html

To connect with a case manager or set up an appointment, please contact support@uwo.ca.

Additional resources include:
Registrarial Services http://www.registrar.uwo.ca
Student Support Services http://westernusc.ca/services