Academic Consideration Requests (ACR)

What is an Academic Consideration Request (ACR) and who can apply?

Academic consideration is a form of alternate arrangement that may be made with the approval of the course faculty/contract lecturer, when a student experiences extenuating circumstances that prevents them from completing an academic requirement. 

An incomplete academic requirement can include (but is not limited to); the ability to attend a class or classes, participation in lab work, writing a scheduled term test or exam, and/or not meeting an assignment deadline.  

Academic Consideration requests (with or without documentation) are for periods that are of a short-term duration (normally no more than 3 days; see Section 5.2), that have a significant and adverse effect on a student’s ability to fulfill an academic requirement. 

Alternate arrangements may only be approved by the course faculty/contract lecturer.  The type of alternate arrangement available will be based on the faculty/contract lecturer's consideration of the severity of the student’s circumstances, the impact on the student’s academic performance, and the amount of work that will be affected.  Alternate arrangements should be consistent with the guidelines found in Policy 166: Course Management.  Students receiving academic considerations must meet all essential academic requirements and standards of the program.

Examples of possible alternate arrangements could be:

(a) extension of a deadline;
(b) rescheduling or reweighting of a test, exam or assignment; or
(c) assignment of an Incomplete grade (INC)* 

^{*Per Policy 170(a), Procedures, Section 3.1. Students must petition their faculty/contract lecturer by completing the  (PDF file) Incomplete Grade Request Form to receive an INC designation, within 3 (three) working days, or as soon as reasonably possible, of the missed final examination or assignment deadline. Supporting documentation (e.g. Toronto Metropolitan Health Certificate) must be provided.}

Circumstances that may qualify for Academic Consideration

Extenuating Circumstances are of a short-term duration (normally no more than 3 days; see Policy 167; section 5.2), and have a significant and adverse effect on a Student’s ability to fulfill an academic requirement.  

Extenuating circumstances are those that are:

• outside of a student’s immediate control; 
• could not have been reasonably foreseen or avoided; 
• and significantly impacts a student’s ability to fulfill their academic requirements.  

Students with academic accommodations who have extenuating circumstances not related to their academic accommodation are still expected to submit requests for academic consideration for incomplete academic requirements .

Examples of Extenuating Circumstances are:

Health: physical and mental health issues that are either sudden or acute, including but not limited to unexpected illness or injury, hospitalization, urgent treatment, or significant aggravation of a pre-existing condition.

Compassionate: events, circumstances or emergencies that cause undue hardship, personal distress and/or trauma, including but not limited to:

• death or life-threatening injury or illness of a close relative or friend;
• traumatic experiences including being a victim of, or witness to a serious crime
• involvement in, or witnessing a serious accident;
• significant disruption to a student's domestic arrangements;
• sudden loss of income or employment;
• caregiver responsibilities, where a student has substantial unplanned responsibilities to members of their immediate family or members of their household who need their care and support.

Other Extenuating Circumstances: may include, but are not limited to the following:

• participation in a University-sanctioned event (e.g., varsity sports), or other events in which the Student is representing the University, where the event conflicts with the requirements of a course;
• participation in events such as conferences, case competitions, or field trips related to the Student’s field of study;
• legal commitments, where a Student is required to attend court.
• assigned duties within the Canadian Armed Forces (documentation required, e.g., signed letter from the Officer Commanding or higher with the dates of required service)

Circumstances that may not qualify for Academic Consideration

The following circumstances are not covered by Policy 167: Academic Consideration. 

• Students who are seeking academic accommodation for temporary or permanent disabilities that have a longer-term impact on their academic functioning (e.g., longer term medical conditions, learning disabilities, sensory impairments, acquired brain injuries, attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder, mental health or mobility issues. Students who are seeking Academic Accommodations for a chronic or ongoing health/mental conditions, learning disability, or an existing disability should register with Toronto Metropolitan University Academic Accommodations Support.  For more information please refer to Policy 159: Academic Accommodations for Students with Disabilities. 
• Religious observances: Students who are seeking academic accommodation for Religious, Aboriginal and Spiritual observance should refer to university Policy 150: Accommodation of Student Religious, Aboriginal and Spiritual Observance. Please refer to TMU  Human Rights Services for additional information. 

• Other circumstances that generally do not meet the definition of an extenuating circumstance can include: 
  • Family events (e.g, wedding, vacation, general or extended travel, etc.) or competing commitments (e.g. work, volunteering, extra-curricular activities, etc.) are not covered by this policy as they are planned, foreseeable commitments.
  • Technological difficulties including persistent computer failure and ongoing intermittent (or unavailable) internet access as it is the student’s responsibility to ensure they have access to the tools they require for their studies.

Applying for Academic Consideration 

Students must request Academic Consideration (ACR) for extenuating circumstances through the ACR online portal, preferably before the applicable academic obligation due date and within three business days of a missed academic requirement, in order for it to be considered*.  

Requests for academic consideration should include:

• the reason for the request, 
• the anticipated return date (should not extend beyond three days or be unknown), 
• the affected course and the due date of the academic obligation and supporting documentation (see section 5.2  Documentation for more information). 

Students requesting Academic Consideration for missed academic obligations in more than one course must select the number of obligations and courses covered under the ACR submission. Failure to identify a specific course or obligation might result in no consideration received in that course.

After submitting an ACR online, an automatic email notification will be sent to the student’s program office as well as the relevant faculty/contract lecturer(s). Students will also receive a confirmation receipt of their request via their Toronto Metropolitan email account. Students should retain the reference number provided in the receipt and refer to it when communicating with their program office and/or faculty/contract lecturer about their request.

Requests submitted to the portal will be reviewed by the student’s department/school/program designated decision maker.  Decision makers will either “verify” the timeline of the submission against the missed academic obligation or “not-verify” if the request does not align with the requirements stated in Policy 167.  Supporting documentation will be evaluated and shared with the  faculty/contract lecturer(s). (please see Supporting Documentation section 5.2 for more information). 

Once the request has been reviewed and verified, an automatic confirmation email will be sent to the student and the affected faculty/contract lecturers. 

After the documentation has been verified, it is the student’s responsibility to contact each faculty/contract lecturer via email. The faculty/contract lecturer will then decide whether or not to grant academic consideration and make acceptable alternate arrangements.

If a student is using their one-time submission without documentation, it is the student’s responsibility to contact each faculty/contract lecturer, via email, to declare that they have or will miss an academic obligation. The faculty/contract lecturer will then decide whether or not to grant academic consideration.

Students should refer to their course syllabus for additional guidelines provided by the faculty/contract lecturer for requesting Academic Consideration.

^{*In rare situations, exceptions to the three-business day submission requirement can be granted if the extenuating circumstance, including documented mental health issues, prevents a student from consulting a health professional or documenting their extenuating circumstance in a timely fashion.}

Documentation

Students are required to request Academic Consideration with supporting documentation in all cases where the missed obligation is a final exam and/or final assessment.  In limited circumstances students may submit a request without supporting documentation once per term at their discretion, however, documentation is always required in circumstances where the missed obligation involves a final exam and/or final assessment.  

Documentation is required (e.g. Toronto Metropolitan Health Certificate (external link)  for brief absences in any one of the following three circumstances:

(a) a request for academic consideration without documentation has already occurred in that academic term;
(b) the Academic Consideration involves a final examination or final assessment; or
(c) in cases of temporary absence that last more than three days.

Content of Supporting Documentation

While students are not required to disclose specific details of the Extenuating Circumstances in support of their request for Academic Consideration:

(a) documentation which is vague or overly general may be deemed insufficient to support a finding of Extenuating Circumstances; and

(b) documentation submitted by the student will be shared with the faculty/contract lecturer, Chair, or Director for decision making purposes.

The ACR online system will automatically monitor submissions. If a student has already submitted their ACR without documentation for the term, further attempts to submit an ACR without documentation will be restricted.  Students who have exceeded their one time per term ACR without documentation, must submit documentation for any future requests in that same term. See Policy Section 5.2 (a).

Students who submit more than two requests for academic consideration per academic term may be required to meet with an advisor in their program department to ensure they have appropriate support in place to meet their academic needs. In such cases, students may be asked to provide additional relevant documentation before processing their request(s) for academic consideration.

Assessing a Request for Academic Consideration

When a student submits a request for Academic Consideration, and it is verified, the faculty/contract lecturer will review the request along with any supporting documentation and evaluate the severity of the student’s circumstances, the impact on the student’s academic performance, and the amount of work that will be affected. The faculty/contract lecturer will then determine what form of alternate arrangement (if any) is available and appropriate. 

Criteria (i) through (v) will be considered by the faculty/contract lecturer when deciding:

(a) whether to grant a request for Academic Consideration;
(b) the type of alternate arrangement (if any); and/or
(c) the need to provide a referral for other relevant support services.

(i) The severity of the student’s circumstances, their impact on the student’s academic performance, and the amount of work that will be affected if the Academic Consideration is granted

(ii) The extent to which the circumstances and their impact were beyond the student’s control

(iii) The relevance of supporting documentation (where documentation is required)

(iv) Previous requests by the student for academic consideration

(v) Other relevant considerations (e.g., nature of the course requirements)

The faculty/contract lecturer will assess the merit of the request and respond to the student within five (5) working days of receiving the request. If a response is not received from the faculty/contract lecturer within five (5) working days the student should contact the faculty/contract lecturer again or consult with the Chair/Director via email.

Approval of Academic Consideration requests is at the discretion of the course faculty/contract lecturer. Submission of supporting documentation does not guarantee that academic consideration will be granted.

Possible Outcomes

The following outcomes may be  available when a student submits a request for academic consideration; 

Request Granted

If the request is granted by the faculty/contract lecturer, the student will be provided with an Alternate Arrangement that is consistent with Policy 166: Course Management guidelines. 

Acceptable alternate arrangements may include:

• extending a deadline, 
• setting a make-up test, or 
• transferring the weight of the missed work to the final examination
• assignment of an Incomplete grade (INC)* 

^{*Per Policy 170(a), Procedures, Section 3.1. Students must petition their faculty/contract lecturer by completing the  (PDF file) Incomplete Grade Request Form to receive an INC designation, within 3 (three) working days, or as soon as reasonably possible, of the missed final examination or assignment deadline. Supporting documentation (e.g. Toronto Metropolitan Health Certificate) must be provided.} 

Assignment of an incomplete grade (INC)

If the ACR has been granted and the missed component cannot be completed before final grades are due that term, the student can request an incomplete (INC) grade to allow extended time to complete and submit the work. An INC form must be filed by the faculty/contract lecturer indicating the date by which the work must be completed. See Policy 46 for details on an INC grade.

It is the students’ responsibility to follow up with the faculty/contract lecturer to ensure completion of an INC within the approved time frame. If the INC is not completed during the designated time frame, it will convert to a grade of “F”.

If students encounter problems making arrangements for completing an INC with their faculty/contract lecturer they must contact the Chair/Director as soon as they are aware of the issue.

Once an Alternate Arrangement is accepted by the student, it is final. If a subsequent Extenuating Circumstance interferes with the fulfillment of that Alternate Arrangement, students must immediately contact the faculty/contract lecturer to discuss next steps.

All consideration decisions and arrangements must be documented via Toronto Metropolitan email.

The final grade in the course may not be appealed by the student based on an allegation that the alternate arrangement was inadequate or unfair.

Request Not Granted

Students who are not offered an alternate arrangement (because they have not satisfied the requirements of this Policy); or do not accept the alternate arrangement offered by the faculty/contract lecturer, may consult with the Chair/Director of the Teaching Department or in the case of Graduate Students, with their Graduate Program Director.

Grade Appeals

If after the consultation with the Chair/Director of the Teaching Department (or in the case of Graduate Students, with their Graduate Program Director), the student’s alternate arrangement remains unresolved, or if the alternate test or assignment becomes a point of contention in the final course grade or violates the Course Management Policy 166, the student may submit an appeal of their grade once released by the Registrar’s Office. 

Academic Consideration vs Academic Accommodations

Academic Consideration is the general name given to a number of different alternate arrangements that may be made in response to students with shorter-term issues (or what are officially called “extenuating circumstances”) and normally do not exceed three business days, are outside of a student’s immediate control, could not have been reasonably foreseen or avoided, and significantly impacts a student’s ability to fulfill their academic requirements.  

Alternate arrangements can only be provided at the discretion of the faculty/contract lecturer and must meet the guidelines outlined in Policy 166: Course Management. 

Academic Accommodation involves a planned variation or modification in the way a student with a disability receives course curriculum and materials, participates in course and non-course degree requirements, and is evaluated and assessed, in order to acquire and demonstrate the essential academic requirements needed to successfully meet the learning objectives of a course or program.

Academic Accommodation Support (AAS) works with students to create and implement individualized academic accommodation plans. Developing academic accommodation plans will vary from student-to-student depending on individual disability-related needs. 

For students with an expectation of receiving academic accommodation support, it is very important to register early with AAS. 

AAS has a deadline every term by which it must receive requests for exam accommodation.

Students who may require additional support. 

Departments have the ability to monitor students with high volume submissions to the ACR system.  Students who submit two or more ACR's in the same term will receive an automatic notification advising them to contact the department/school/program or academic advising, for support. 

However, departments can also be proactive and reach out early when they notice a student who submits multiple requests and may be struggling to maintain their academic committments.  Students in these situations may be experiencing circumstances that require a referral to Academic Accommodations Support or other TMU student support services. 

AAS in partnership with the Senate office have developed  tools to assist students, administrators and program directors to assess when academic consideration may involve a conversation about or a referral for academic accommodations.