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UTM – late withdrawal without academic penalty – insufficient reasons to warrant granting the extraordinary remedy – appeal dismissed

UT – Faculty of Law – request to return to the program on a part-time basis with appropriate accommodations – duty to accommodate to the point of undue hardship – reasonable accommodation – jurisdiction – standard of review of correctness vs reasonableness – jurisdiction cannot be created by consent (Phillips and Phillips v. The Queen, [1983] 2 S.C.R. 161; Canada (Attorney General) v. Haberman, 2000 CanLII 15802 (Fed. C.A.) – the Committee’s function does not extend to invalidating the policies of a division, even if it is of the view that those policies are flawed or unfair – Terms of Reference Academic Appeals Committee (“Terms”) – although the Terms do not explicitly define the standard of review, the Policy on Academic Appeals within Divisions (2005) states that the “standard of review of an academic appeal is reasonableness.” – s. 17(1) and (2) of the Human Rights Code (“Code”) – Academic Accommodations Policy – academic accommodations contribute to academic integrity by attempting to ensure that the extraneous factor of disability does not affect a student’s reported results; they are not designed to guarantee that the student succeeds – it is not contrary to the Code to refuse an accommodation that would compromise academic integrity – Student had three unsuccessful, heavily supported, attempts at completing the first year of the program – no realistic basis in which the Student would be likely to succeed in the program regardless of accommodation – dissent – allowing the Student to continue part-time is a reasonable accommodation of his disability – the Student’s history has no bearing on whether part-time studies would now be an appropriate accommodation – the majority Committee agreed with the Academic Standing Committee – appeal dismissed.

UTM – late withdrawal without academic penalty – attempts to drop course on ROSI denied as a result of system failure – Faculty failed to provide ROSI records in support of its case – onus on the University to provide evidence in support of its case when Student’s academic record and career are at stake – due diligence demonstrated by Student – appeal allowed – the grade of “F” in the course to be vacated and replaced with WDR

Faculty of Arts and Science – late withdrawal without academic penalty – time spent caring for ill family member and little experience with ways of a Canadian university – the Student finished the course, passed the course and sought only to drop the course with lowest grade – circumstances were beyond the Student’s control, unduly intrusive on the Student’s ability to study, and became progressively and unexpectedly worse past drop date – unlikely to seek help available due to focus on ill family member and newness to Canadian university – appeal allowed – grade in the course vacated and replaced with WDR

Faculty of Arts and Science – late withdrawal without academic penalty – bulimia – new evidence hears – stress from course exacerbated condition – reliance on advice of professor and mental health counselor – decision to choose mental health over studies only choice available – initiated attempts to get out of course within days of drop date, without final grade being assessed, and having obtained a respectable mark – assistance sought – condition considered despite not being raised in initial appeal – Divisional Appeals Board considered erroneous ground in its decision and did not consider professor’s advice – appeal allowed – grade of “F” in the course to be vacated and replaced with “WDR”

Faculty of Arts and Science – request to write deferred examination and extension on course work – treatment for psychiatric illness – teaching style and course expectations unreasonable – abusive instructor – instructor’s demands not excessive – instructor’s counter–reactions did not exceed permissible bounds – Faculty recommended late withdrawal without academic penalty – deferred standing not appropriate – request to complete course in a manner not consistent with original course – stigma from notation of “withdrawal without academic penalty” not as bad as notation of “fail” – appeal allowed – if the Student accepted late withdrawal without academic penalty within thirty days of release of the decision then the grade of “F” would be vacated, and a notation of WDR substituted – if the Student did not accept the relief then the appeal would be dismissed