The following will apply to all courses that have a practical laboratory component. A practical laboratory component is distinct from the lecture and is not a tutorial based component such as is often the case for mathematics laboratories.
1) The laboratory component will have a value between 10 and 40% of the total grade for the course as determined by the instructor and/or department.
2) To receive a passing grade for a course, a student must obtain a grade of not less than 50% of the value in both lecture and laboratory components. For example, in a course where the lecture portion counts for 80% and the laboratory component 20%; to qualify for a passing grade the student must achieve as a minimum 40/80 in the lecture portion and 10/20 in the laboratory portion.
3) A student who achieves more than 40% in the lecture portion (i.e. 32/80 in the above example) and more than 60% in the laboratory portion (12/20 in the above example) will be eligible for an exemption from the laboratory portion if she/he repeats the course within a 12 month period. The previous mark for the laboratory portion will carry forward to this (these) subsequent repeat(s) of the course (within a 12 month period). After 12 months, the laboratory grade will no longer carry forward and if a student repeats a course, she/he will be required to complete the laboratory portion as well. This does not preclude a student who is eligible for an exemption from repeating the laboratory portion in an attempt to achieve a higher grade.
4) Under no circumstances will a student receive an exemption from the lecture portion of a course.
5) Since the practical laboratory component is an integral part of the course and provide essential practical experience that a student who receives a passing grade is expected to have mastered, a student will be allowed a medical excuse for a maximum of 20% of the scheduled laboratory sessions (i.e. medical excuses can be used for a maximum of 2 laboratory sessions in a course with 10 scheduled sessions). Any missed laboratory sessions over the 20% will be given a zero when calculating the students mark for the laboratory portion of the course.