Progression & Promotion Policy

• Students registered in the Bridging program will register for a full course load each semester. 

• Students may repeat the same course once only. 

• A student unsuccessful in any course twice OR unsuccessful in any other professional nursing course may be withdrawn from the program. 

• A leave of absence may be granted once. Only under extenuating circumstances will a second of leave of absence be permitted. Any leave of absence greater than one semester may result in the need to repeat courses in the interest of patient safety. 

• Students experiencing academic challenges should contact the appropriate support person.  

• For course specific content or evaluation concerns, contact the course professor.

• For course scheduling, adding, dropping courses, inquiring about a Leave of Absence, academic progression and referral to college support services, contact your Student Academic Advisor. 

• For personal and academic counselling or accessibility needs, contact the office of Counselling and Student Accessibility. 

• For program concerns, please contact the Bridging Coordinator. 

• No letter grade is assigned to BRN203 Seminar and Simulation Course, it is graded sat/unsat. You must achieve a sat on this course in order to move on to 2nd semester.

• You must achieve a 65% in every course to move to the next semester and into the BScN Program.

• You must achieve an overall 65%  /C+/GPA 2.5 in order to progress to the next semester and in order to enter the BScN Program.

• General Education and Liberal Studies Courses - A minimum of D (50%) grade is required to pass and progress. 

• Students who choose to drop a course without academic advisement, may jeopardize their progression in the program. 

• Students may drop a course once. The subject must be successfully completed the next semester or the student may be withdrawn from the program. 

• Not attending class and/or notifying the professor of your intention to withdraw, does not qualify as a withdrawal. 

• Students are considered to have withdrawn from a course only when they drop the course officially through Student Centre. 

• Day 10 (week 2) – Courses dropped by this date will not appear on the transcript. This can be done independently on Student Centre or by an academic advisor. 

• Day 45 (Week 9) - Courses dropped by this date will receive a Did Not Complete (DNC) code on the transcript. This does not affect the Grade Point Average (GPA). Only an academic advisor can assist with this type of withdrawal.

Students are placed on Academic Probation if they are unsuccessful in any one bridging course. They will remain on academic probation for the remainder of their program. 

**Students are not permitted to drop any bridging course while on probation. ** 

The Promotions Committee may recommend to the Chair, or designate, that a student be withdrawn from the bridging program. A student who is unsuccessful in two or more bridging courses may be withdrawn from the program. Students who have been withdrawn should seek academic advisement. 

• Students are required to contact the Academic Advisor for a leave of absence (LOA) from one to three terms (one calendar year) for an extenuating circumstance which temporarily affects the student’s ability to continue in the program. 

• A leave of absence may be granted once. Only under extenuating circumstances will a second of leave of absence be permitted. 

• The student must complete the Leave of Absence Request: Full Time Program form. https://www.senecacollege.ca/registrar/forms/LeaveOfAbsenceFT.html 

• Leave of absences must be received by the tenth day of classes in order to receive a refund for that term. Students who apply for a leave of absence after the tenth day of classes are not entitled to a refund and are required to pay any balance of fees outstanding for the term. Other timelines will be considered in extenuating circumstances. 

• Students must contact the Coordinator and Academic Advisor 8 weeks before returning to the program to discuss program progression. 

• Students who have been out of clinical practice for 1 year or more and/or graduated from their nursing program prior to 5 years ago, will be required to meet with the coordinator and potentially to do a clinical skills refresher prior to admittance to the program. 

Voluntary Withdrawal from the College 

A student who wishes to withdraw from the College must notify the Registrar's Office in writing to be eligible for appropriate academic standing and fees refund where applicable. The official date of withdrawal for 

grading and refund purposes will be the date on which the student’s letter of withdrawal is received in the Registrar’s Office. 

http://www.senecacollege.ca/academic-policy/acpol-14.html

Mandatory Withdrawal from the College 

A Promotion Meeting, regularly or specially convened, may recommend to the Dean, or designate, that a student be required to withdraw from the College. Such a College-initiated requirement may be made before the normal completion date of a course or program. The basis of mandatory withdrawal may be a student's behaviour; and/or attendance; and/or performance; where one or all of these are detrimental to the learning process, or disruptive to the aims and objectives of the College. The unexpended portion of fees may be refunded. 

http://www.senecacollege.ca/academic-policy/acpol-14.html 

APA Format/Guidelines for Written Work 

To support clear and consistent communication within a discipline, each profession selects a writing style that meets the needs of its members. All formal papers and assignments, unless otherwise specified, should comply with the American Psychological Association (APA) guide. 

American Psychological Association (2019). Publication of the American Psychological Association (7th Ed.). 

Late Assignments/Assignment Extension 

Any student in need of an extended deadline must negotiate a reasonable extension with the faculty in advance of the published deadline. Only under extenuating circumstances will late assignments be accepted without communication prior to the deadline. 

Documentation of the extenuating circumstances must be provided by the student upon request. At the discretion of the faculty, deductions may be applied for any late assignment submissions. 

Students are required to contact the course faculty no later than 24 hours prior to the due date to request an assignment extension (See Universal Design for Learning).

Any assignment submitted late OR any assignment for which an extension has been granted that is not submitted by the negotiated date and time is subject to the following penalty(s): 

• 1 day late (any time up to 24 hours after time due): penalty is 5% which means 5% is deducted from the grade for the assignment (e.g., a mark of 75% would be reduced to 70%) 

• Each subsequent day late (each 24hour period: 5% will be deducted.) 

• 2 days late deduction of 10% (e.g., a mark of 75% would be reduced to 65%) 

• 3 days late deduction of 15% (e.g., a mark of 75% would be reduced to 60%) 

• 4 days late deduction of 20% (e.g., a mark of 75% would be reduced to 55%) 

• 5 days late deduction of 25% (e.g., a mark of 75% would be reduced to 50%) 

Assignments submitted later than five calendar days without negotiation will not be accepted. 

Exceptions for extenuating circumstances may be considered and will require submitting supporting documentation (e.g. health care provider statement). 

Request for Grade Reappraisal Guideline 

Academic work eligible for grade reappraisal include scholarly papers, a video recording or a final examination. 

Oral or group presentations are not eligible. Non-academic grounds (such as illness or misfortune) are not relevant grounds for grade reappraisals. 

• Students may, with sufficient academic grounds, request that their grade be reappraised. 

• Students are expected to first contact the course faculty to discuss the grade received and to request 

• Their work to be reviewed within five school days of receiving the evaluation. 

• If applicable the course faculty may choose to re-evaluate the student’s work and make the appropriate grade change. 

• If after meeting with the course faculty, the issue is unresolved, the student may request a grade reappraisal by emailing the Program Chair. Grade reappraisal may only be requested within ten school days (excluding statutory holidays) from the release of final grades on student centre. 

Process for Requesting a Grade Reappraisal 

1. Email requesting grade reappraisal including rationale for the request must be submitted to the Academic Chair within 1 week of the release of the final grade. 

2. The original academic work with all comments and feedback. 

3. A blind (name and student number obliterated), unmarked copy of the paper to be evaluated. 

4. Information about the assignment including marking guidelines or rubric. 

5. A request for a grade reappraisal may result in the original grade being raised, lowered or confirmed. 

6. The Academic Chair informs the student and course faculty of the result of the reappraisal via email. 

Online Testing 

This is a reminder that the following are considered cheating under Seneca's Academic Integrity Policy: 

• Open group chats discussing any test material with class members and peers during testing.

• Sharing of any answers/questions with peers and class members on tests and final evaluations. 

• Any photo or distribution of test material. 

• Cutting and pasting answers from online sources/resources and textbooks. 

Any student that is suspected of a violation of the Academic Integrity Policy may face academic sanctions. 

The professor will report the concern to the Academic Coordinator and suspected violations may be brought forward to the School of Nursing Academic Integrity Committee. 

Students are expected to affirm their commitment to Academic Integrity at the start of online assessments. 

"By beginning this test, I affirm that I will not give or receive any unauthorized help on this exam and that all work provided will be my own. I agree to abide https://www.senecacollege.ca/about/policies/academic-integrity-policy.html by Seneca's Academic Integrity Policy and I understand that any violation of academic integrity will have consequences as per policy.” 

Test/Examination Review 

To maintain academic rigor and integrity while upholding the standards of the profession, students will not be able to review online exams virtually. General feedback on performance and key concepts will be given, however individual questions may not be reviewed. 

Request for Deferred Evaluation Privilege for Tests and Exams 

Students are expected to complete evaluations at their scheduled time and are strongly discouraged from missing an evaluation. Students may request a deferred evaluation privilege for extenuating circumstances: 

• Incapacitating illness 

• Death in the family 

• Legal proceedings 

• Seneca varsity athletes 

• Religious, Indigenous or Spiritual observance by the student 

Process for Requesting Deferred Evaluation Privilege

1. Notify course faculty and academic coordinator by Seneca email within 48 hours of the missed evaluation 

2. Complete and Submit the Request for Deferred Evaluation Form sent to you when you notify your coordinator.  Along with supporting documentation to course faculty within one week of the missed evaluation. 

Medical Deferred Evaluation needs to have a providers note which includes:

• Date(s) of illness 

• The date(s) and time(s), the student was examined 

• Functional impacts of the illness 

• HCP’s signature with CPSO/CNO number 

Required Documentation 

• Incapacitating illness: Students are required to submit documentation on the health care providers (HCP) practice letterhead and must include: 

• Death in the family: Students are required to submit proof such as: death certificate/obituary 

• Legal proceedings: Students are required to submit a copy of the required legal proceedings/summon(s) with date(s).

• Varsity Athletes: Athletes are required to submit written documentation from their coach/athletic coordinator. 

• Religious, Indigenous or Spiritual observance:  Students are required to provide a brief written statement that outlines the specific religious, indigenous or spiritual observance. 

Final Decisions: 

1. Failure to adhere to the required process and timelines will result in a grade of zero (0). 

2. If the request for deferred evaluation is denied, the evaluation will be given a grade of zero (0). 

3. All approved deferred evaluations will be scheduled in week 11 or 12. The faculty will notify the student of the date, time and location of the evaluation. 

4. The format of the deferred evaluation may differ from the missed evaluation. 

5. An evaluation can only be deferred once. If the deferred evaluation is not completed, a grade of zero (0) will be given. 

Good: Successfully completed all courses with a term GPA of 2.5 or greater 

Probation: Failed one course or term GPA is below 2.5. 

Academically Withdrawn: Does not meet program progression requirements. Failed two or more courses. 

Appeals 

Students must meet the grounds for Appeal, as outlined in the Academic Appeals Policy. Students may appeal any academic decisions made by the college, including but not limited to: final grades, academic honesty decisions, continuation or status in a program, School, Faculty or the college. It is College policy that you will be given a fair hearing when you proceed with an academic appeal. See Section 13 Seneca College Academic Policy Handbook. www.senecac.on.ca/academic-policy/appc.html

• 1. Review the grade with the course faculty. 

• 2. If the issue is unresolved, review the grade with the Academic Coordinator 

• 3. If the issue is unresolved, review the grade with the Chair of Health Sciences 

Informal Resolution 

It is best for both the student and the College to resolve differences quickly and informally. Therefore, if you disagree with any College academic decision the student must discuss the matter with their faculty member(s) and Academic Advisor, Program Coordinator or Chair as soon as possible to see if a mutually satisfactory solution can be reached. Students who want to appeal a grade should adhere to the following protocol: 

Formal Appeal 

If you are unable to resolve the matter through the informal resolution, then you may file an appeal with the College. 

Students can seek assistance from the Student Services Office. 

During an appeal, permission must be received from the Chair for the student to audit/attend class until the Appeals Committee has put forth a decision. Students are not permitted to attend clinical practicum during the appeal process.