Sustainable Energy Engineering Undergraduates

The policy considers two different scenarios,

1. The student intends to waive the prerequisite, based on their existing knowledge of the course.
2. The student has not succeeded in acquiring the minimum requirements of the prerequisite course in the first attempt, and intends to retake the course as corequisite.

Criteria

When considering a prerequisite waiver appeal, depending on the above-mentioned scenarios, the following criteria will be considered:

Prerequisite waiver based on existing knowledge of the course material

• Proof of successfully finishing an equivalent course in other institutes, in which case the student should make the appeal for Course Substitution/Waiver Appeal, or
• Demonstrated expertise in the requested prerequisite course subjects, e.g. first author of a relevant peer-reviewed publication, or minimum one year of relevant industrial experience

Prerequisite waiver to retake the course as corequisite

    Students who withdraw from the prerequisite course are not eligible to make the appeal for prerequisite waiver.

• No less than D-grade in the failed prerequisite course, and
• Good academic standing with minimum CGPA 2.67, and
• Approval from the instructor of the course, for which the prerequisite is being waived, and
• Consent to the fact that, in case of the appeal approval, the student cannot register in follow-on courses unless they pass both the corequisite, and the course for which the prerequisite is waived.
  

Please Note:

SEE students enrolling in GEOG 324 and GEOG 362W do not have to submit a pre-requisite waiver appeal for GEOG 100. They should be able to enroll by themselves. For any questions, email faspgm@sfu.ca.
 

The policy considers three different scenarios:

1. The course is completed in an institute with which SEE does not have an existing transfer agreement.
2. The course is completed in an institute with which SEE does have an existing transfer agreement.
3. The course is completed in another SFU program and credit transfer is requested based on the course description equivalency statement in SEE calendar.

Criteria
When reviewing a course substitution or a credit transfer appeal, depending on the above-mentioned scenarios, the following criteria will be considered by UCC chair:

If the course is completed in an institute that SEE does not have an existing transfer agreement with.

• Only first and second-year courses will be taken into consideration.
• The institute that course is completed in, must be from either: 
  • an accredited engineering program within Canada
  • an institute or university that is a member of the Washington Accord
• Courses with significant (>25%) Engineering Design and/or Engineering Science content will not be transferred, unless it can be verified that:
  • the courses are significantly (>75%) similar in content, and
  • the courses are taught by licensed engineers who are permitted to practice engineering in jurisdiction where Engineers Canada has mutual recognition agreement
• For 2-year pre-university CEGEP programs (Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel, or General and Vocational colleges) for which no validation procedure is performed, or no agreements exist, the following restrictions apply:
• Engineering science and engineering design: 0 AU¹
  • Mathematics: ≤ 112 AU
  • Natural science: ≤ 112 AU
  • Complementary studies: ≤ 112 AU;
  • No credit is given for the following: engineering economics, impact of technology on society, oral and written communication, health and safety,
  • professional ethics, equity and law, or environmental stewardship and sustainable development.
  • Total transfer credits in all circumstances ≤ 225 AU

¹One lecture hour is considered one AU, and each hour spent in lab sessions, tutorial, or open las is counted as half AU.

If the course is completed in an institution that SEE has an existing transfer agreement

• The course equivalency will be considered according to the existing transfer agreement.
• For students from 2-year pre-university programs given in CEGEPs (Collège d'enseignement général et professionnel, or General and Vocational colleges), for which a one year of preparatory studies is planned for students who have completed their 12 years of primary and secondary studies, the following restrictions apply:
  • Engineering Science and Design: 0 AU
  • Mathematics: ≤180 AU
  • Natural Sciences: ≤ 180 AU
  • Complementary Studies: ≤ 120 AU;
  • No credit will be given for the following subjects: engineering economics, impact of technology on society, health and safety, professional ethics, equity and law, or environmental stewardship and sustainable development.

If the course is completed in another SFU program and credit transfer is requested based on the course description equivalency statement in SEE calendar.

• At the UCC Chair’s discretion, such appeals may be approved or rejected. The appeal could be rejected based on a mismatch between the number of credits or the number of AUs.
  • AUs are calculated based on contact hours, i.e., lecture hours, lab hours, and tutorial hours.
• Under no circumstances can the number of transferred units be more than 925 AUs. In other words, at least 50% of the program must be successfully completed at SEE.

*For all scenarios,

• ≥ 225 AU of Engineering Design and ≥ 600 AU of Engineering Science plus Engineering Design AUs must be completed at SEE. In other words, in all circumstances the significant design experience must be completed at or under the control of SEE and must be under the professional responsibility of faculty licensed to practice engineering in Canada.
• For 2-year CEGEP programs (with or without validation arrangements), no credits in Engineering Science or Engineering Design may be transferred
• For 3-year CEGEP programs and students from feeder intuitions, e.g., satellite campuses, formally documented validation procedures must be in place before any engineering design and engineering science credits can be transferred.

*For all scenarios, the application should include the following:

• A CourSys appeal form
• A detailed course syllabus and/or a course outline
• Sample coursework including sample course notes, sample assignments, sample lab reports and lab manuals (if applicable), etc.
   

Midterm Exams
There is currently no university policy covering missed midterm exams. Instructors may use their discretion whether to allow a student to write a deferred exam, to provide an alternative method to make up the percentage of the grade given to the midterm exam (a project, verbal exam, etc.), or to change the grading structure to add the weight normally assigned to the midterm exam to another part of the grading structure (by adding it to the final exam, for example). The instructors are advised to be consistent in applying the exam make-up policies. 

Final Exams
Students are instructed to be available throughout the entire final exam period, and not to make travel plans, etc. during that time period. The normal rule is that students requesting deferral of a final exam due to illness or compassionate reasons should obtain a physician’s certificate or other supporting documents. Such documents must be filed with the school director or registrar within four days of the date on which the exam was to be written. The appropriate form is available here – see ‘Appeals / Health Care Provider statement, general (non-withdrawal)’
 

Non-SEE students seeking enrollment in upper division SEE courses must check the following criteria, before submitting an enrollment appeal:

Enrollment in upper division courses (300 and 400 level courses*) is allowed for the following cases:

• You must have approval from your school to take this course as a substitution and meet the pre-requisite requirements for that course.

OR

• You are planning to transfer to SEE program and meet the pre-requisite requirements for that course, AND the internal transfer requirements:
  • Minimum cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 2.67
  • Registration in at least 12 units in the term prior to admission
  • No more than 5 repeats
  • Meeting high school admission requirements (English 12, Physics 12, Pre-Calculus 12, Calculus 12, and Chemistry 12 or equivalent)

 * This does not include SEE 486 directed studies course, SEE 475/476/477 Special topics courses and SEE technical elective courses (listed in the SEE calendar)
 

Learn more about our directed study guidelines.