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Faculty of Arts and Science – late withdrawal without academic penalty – appeal allowed

Faculty of Medicine – Student appeals FMAAC decision to dismiss as abandon his appeal from BoE decision dismissing him from M.D. program – standard of review is reasonableness of FMAAC decision – Student’s FIPPA request provides some explanation for failure to meet appeal deadlines – intention to pursue appeal – no prejudice to Faculty – appeal allowed

UTSC – request for continued registration and leave to file late appeal – not initially thought to be worthwhile to file appeal – lack of written notice of 90 day deadline played no part in failure to meet deadline – effective September 1, 2006, the right to appeal to Governing Council should be clearly communicated – University Policy on Academic Appeals within Divisions – section 3.2.1 the Terms of Reference – no reasonable explanation or demonstrated exceptionable circumstances for delay – request for permission to file appeal beyond the 90 day deadline refused – appeal dismissed

UTM – request to graduate with a cumulative GPA of less than 1.50 – grades for transfer credits not included in GPA calculations – University’s policy of refusing to transfer grades from other institutions is sound – policy at the time of transfer was known – annual GPA and cumulative GPA calculations never included grades from transfer credits – appeal dismissed – recommendation that borderline grades should attract attention and review from a Faculty’s administration – concern expressed about fairness to students who are experiencing serious academic difficulty

Faculty of Arts and Science – late withdrawal without academic penalty – litigation related to family and illness of family members – demands imposed by lawsuit known by drop date – date of Trial not sufficient excuse for default – increased stress from relatives' illness occurred after default – penalty imposed on assignment sufficiently clear and severe – consideration of general policy regarding and approach to late withdrawal without academic penalty in light of University admitting younger students – Committee found that policy should not be revised as a result of this case – minority opinion that policy should be amended and appeal allowed – appeal dismissed – recommendation that University review policy with respect to academic support for younger students

UTM – late withdrawal without academic penalty – mental health issues – stress from criminal charges – drop date after Student’s acquittal of criminal charges – no evidence of any change in mental health problems after drop date – appeal dismissed

Faculty of Pharmacy – request for readmission to the Faculty of Pharmacy – re-instatement in program – failure to obtain the required annual GPA – stress and anxiety did not incapacitate to the point of mental illness – no basis for Divisional Appeals Committee conclusions – appeal dismissed – recommendation to Division to consider additional procedures to ensure students in difficulty are aware of options available to assist them – recommendation that Division pay attention to information and resources provided to students pursuing an appeal – See Policy on Academic Appeals within Divisions

UTSC – request to re-write final examination – alternative request for aegrotat standing – Faculty appropriately applied its policies – special treatment of other students not substantiated – appeal dismissed

UTM – late withdrawal without academic penalty – sudden deterioration of heath – Student did not attend hearing – assertion of improvement and then deterioration of health not credible – Student attended exam in another course during same period – appeal dismissed

Graduate Department of Architecture, Landscape and Design – course grade appeal – instructor bias – no basis to question instructor’s overall assessment of the Student’s participation – no unfairness where same grading scheme was applied to all students, and not contrary to any information provided to students – no credible basis in the evidence presented for allegation of bias – appeal dismissed

Faculty of Medicine – re-instatement in program – dismissal from Family and Community Medicine Residency Training Program – policy that the Academic Appeals Committee cannot remark examinations or papers evaluated by examiners appointed by University also applies for clinical assessments – Academic Appeals Committee cannot interfere with the judgment of the Faculty on the grounds that the judgment was wrong if fairly arrived at – no evidence of bias or lack of objectivity – stress not considered a mitigating factor to poor academic performance when arising from awareness of adverse evaluations putting the student’s future at the University in jeopardy – family problems could not excuse performance difficulties noted – Breach of s.5.2.5 of the Guidelines for the Evaluation of Postgraduate Trainees of the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto not sufficient ground to reinstate the Student in the program – Appeal dismissed – recommendation that the Faculty establish a formal mechanism for dealing with situations when the Board of Examiners is not scheduled to meet in the immediate future

UTSC – request to defer 12 month academic suspension, write two deferred examinations and re-write a final exam – monetary and personal destabilization – deliberations confined to the remedies that formed part of the decisions under appeal – little evidence provided to support claim that personal circumstances had become worse or did not resolve themselves at time of the petition – little evidence academically that the opportunity to write the finals would have lifted the 12 month suspension – minority opinion that appeal should be allowed based on evidence submitted by Student or alternatively that the Faculty should have given more weight to surrounding circumstances – appeal dismissed

Faculty of Arts and Science – request for extension of time to submit term work – illness prevented the submission of three essays – no independent confirmation of Student’s illness – no indication in medical notes that the Student required accommodation – minority opinion that exception should be made based on oral evidence provided – appeal dismissed

Faculty of Medicine – re-instatement in program – dismissal from Medical Radiation Sciences Program – precedent cited – the Committee cannot interfere with an assessment that a certain action or collection of actions merits immediate suspension from a practicum on the grounds of patient safety, on the grounds that the judgment was wrong, if fairly arrived at – in matters which have grave consequences on a professional career, the Academic Appeals Committee must act on “clear, convincing and cogent evidence” – Faculty not acting under a false assumption as to a key and fundamental fact – minority opinion that evidence not sufficient to justify suspension – Appeal dismissed

UTM – late withdrawal without academic penalty – emotional difficulties related to father’s hospitalization – late petitions allowed despite unusual and lengthy passage of time – University regulations known – withdrawal should have been considered due to failure in another course – appeal dismissed – recommendation to clarify Divisional policy on potential conflicts of interest in relation to academic appeals

UTSC – request to re-write final examination for a second time – mental stress from attempted suicide of family member – no medical evidence of mental distress – student able to complete three other exams during same time period – petition to re-write examination filed after results had been received – minority opinion that proximity between incident and examination made the Student’s situation different – appeal dismissed

UTSC – request for early return from 36–month suspension – poor academic performance – no information submitted to demonstrate change of circumstances – appeal dismissed

UTSC – late withdrawal without academic penalty – stresses from the deteriorating health of a family member – mental health disorders – insufficient medical report – awareness of academic difficulties before drop date – no reasonable expectation of alleviated condition – no assistance sought – appeal dismissed

UTSC – request to write deferred examination – request changed to late withdrawal without academic penalty after Notice of Appeal submitted – no jurisdiction to hear new requests not submitted to the Faculty – submissions restricted to original request – trauma from male pattern baldness – inadequate medical grounds – no evidence of psychological ramifications of condition – no impact on ability to take examination – past Faculty accommodation more than generous – appeal dismissed

School of Graduate Studies – appeal of a decision to revoke an offer of admission – material information withheld from admission application – full semester of classes completed – charge under the Code requested but not laid – Faculty decision was admissions decision – no jurisdiction to review admissions decisions – see Graduate Academic Appeals Board Terms of Reference, the Faculty’s Calendar and the Governing Council’s policy regarding appeals within academic divisions – admission irregularities provision of the Ontario Rehabilitation Sciences Programs Application Service – Superior Court jurisdiction to quash University decision – see Mulligan v. Laurentian University – no bar to University reconsidering revocation decision – given delay in revocation of admission and availability of information reconsideration could be justified - appeal dismissed – recommendation that if revocation decision was not modified any fees paid for the completed semester should be returned and any record academic performance should be expunged

UTM – late withdrawal without academic penalty – awareness of rules for dropping courses – students not eligible to withdraw from a course after the final exam has been written – new evidence – no evidence that impact of parent’s ill health became worse after the drop date – heavy course load attempted despite Faculty advice to lighted load – forced to move during exam period due to robbery – grounds not raised at previous level and not supported by evidence – additional evidence insufficient – appeal dismissed

University of Toronto School of Graduate Studies – terminate Student from program – failure of course – medical injury – back injury – deferred examination – examination rewrite – co-op program – insufficient time to prepare for supplemental exam – timely notice of format of exam – failure to provide suitable guidance – reasonable decision based on evidence – reasonable and fair in the circumstances – appeal dismissed

UTSC – late withdrawal without academic penalty – three courses – medical grounds – compassionate grounds – Aegrotat standing – psychological illness – academic probation – depression – death of friend – family health problems – awareness of illness before drop date – extraordinary remedy of late withdrawal without academic penalty – diagnosis after drop date – nine month period between initial diagnosis and drop date – lack of evidence – lack of evidence of impact of mental health – motive of the Student – gain entry into a Specialist program – irrelevancy of motive – delay in University’s submissions of materials – no meaningful explanation of delay – appeal dismissed

UTSC – application for leave to file a late appeal – request to write deferred examination – Terms of Reference – s. 3.1.6 of Terms of Reference –appeal four years after initial appeal – request for late withdrawal from entire program – appeal dismissed

UTM – late withdrawal without academic penalty – medical illness – substantial documentation – previous withdrawals – previous deferrals – lack of a compelling case to justify the extraordinary remedy – Student’s history of deferring exams and withdrawing from courses – previous warning to observe deadlines – Student’s familiarity with drop process – no indication of the Student being treated unfairly – medical difficulties persisted throughout the term – no new difficulties arising after the deadline – no indication the Student was unable to seek relief prior to the deadline – appeal dismissed