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 Undergraduate Program Assistant Rebecca Hicks at rebecca.hicks@uwo.ca or Undergraduate Chair Robert MacDougall at rmacdou@uwo.ca.
Accessibility Options
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.
Copyright
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.
Course Selection
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.
Health and Wellness
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.
Medical Issues
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.
Missed Tests, Midterms, and Exams
Students with an approved absence from an in-class test will be required to write a make-up test. The make-up test will not necessarily be in the same format, be of the same duration, or cover the same material as the original test. Course professors may not be available to respond to questions during the make-up test/exam slots.
All make-ups for in-person tests/midterms/exams will take place in-person. Students will not be permitted to write an online make-up for an in-person test/midterm/exam. Online courses will have online make-up tests/midterms/exams.
For in-person classes, make-up tests will be written at one of the Department of History make-up midterms. There will be one make-up midterm date in the Fall term, and one make-up midterm date in the Winter term. Dates for the make-ups will be listed on the Department of History website under Important Dates.
Students with an approved absence from an in-person exam in December will be required to write a make-up exam. The December make-up exams will be scheduled in January.
Students with an approved absence from an in-person exam in April will be required to write a make-up exam. The April make-up exams will be scheduled in the first two weeks of May.
Students who fail to write a make-up test or exam in a designated Department time slot will receive a grade of zero on that assessment.
No other make-up opportunities will be provided unless further academic consideration is granted by Academic Advising.
Special Examinations
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.
Absence from Course Commitments
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.
Accommodation for Religious Holidays
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
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
Statement on Gender-Based and Sexual Violence
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/student_support/survivor_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
