Resources & Policies

Resources

Policies

Resources

Course Selection

Once you make your course plan, here are some resources that can help with termly course selection and add/drop periods. If you haven't started your course plan yet, choose your plan and check your requirements!

Academic Success

Here is a collection of resources that could help support your academics at Waterloo. 

Understanding your Academics

Trying to understand a Waterloo rule or decision? Here are some links to help.

The Academic Calendar changes every year. However, your requirements are based on the year you started at Waterloo or within the Faculty of Arts. To make sure you are using the correct Academic Calendar, you will need to use the archives.

  1. Navigate to the Undergraduate Calendar
  2. Choose Archives at the top of the screen
  3. Choose the calendar year that you started at Waterloo or that you completed your transfer to the Faculty of Arts, whichever is most current.
  4. Now you can navigate normally through the calendar. 

Scholarships, Awards, & Tuition Support

Student Financial Services

Economics Awards & Scholarships

Sarah Inam Memorial Award

An award, valued at $2,000, will be provided annually to a full-time undergraduate student enrolled in Year Two, Three, or Four of any program in the Department of Economics in the Faculty of Arts. Selection is based on academic achievement (minimum 75% cumulative average) and demonstrated extracurricular involvement and/or participation in volunteer activities in the area of social justice. Interested students should submit an application by February 1. This fund is made possible donations from Omer Inam and the friends and family of Sarah Inam (BA ’05, MA ’07) in memory of her life and time at UWaterloo.

Jacqueline Armstrong Gates Scholarship in Economics

A scholarship, valued at $2,000, will be awarded annually to a full-time undergraduate student enrolled in Year Two or Three majoring in any program in the Department of Economics in the Faculty of Arts. Selection is based on academic excellence (minimum 80% cumulative average). This fund is made possible by a donation from Jacqueline Armstrong Gates (BA ’91).

Alan Uffelmann Award in Economics

An award, valued at $2,000, will be presented annually to a full-time undergraduate student enrolled in Year Two, Three, or Four of any program in the Department of Economics in the Faculty of Arts. Eligible candidates must be in good academic standing (minimum 70% cumulative average) and demonstrate financial need as determined by UWaterloo. To be considered, students must complete the on-line UWaterloo Full-time Bursary application by October 15. This fund is made possible by a donation from Alan Uffelmann (BA ’86 - Economics).

Undergraduate Forms

Wellness & Personal

Policies

School of Economics Deferred Exam Policy

How to apply for an Economics Deferred Final Exam

If you have compelling and verifiable evidence that you are unable to write a final exam at the scheduled time, you must follow this procedure to apply for a deferred exam. 

  1. Read this entire web page to understand the Economics deferred final exam policy.
  2. Submit your documentation to the Verification of Condition or Extenuating Circumstances Portal
    • You will receive a confirmation email once your documentation has been processed. You do not need to wait for the notification to complete the remaining steps.
    • If you do not have documentation, you may skip to Step 3.
  3. Download the deferred final exam request form (PDF) and rename the form per below:
    • ECONXXX_LastName_FirstName_StudentID Deferred Exam Request.pdf
    • DO NOT USE OLD FORMS.
  4. Fill in the form completely using Adobe and digitally sign the document.
  5. Email the completed form to econdefexam@uwaterloo.ca within 2 business days of the missed final exam.

Important notes:

  • If you miss more than one final exam in your economics courses, you must complete a separate request form. You may attach multiple request forms in one email. You only need to submit your documentation to the Verification of Illness or Extenuating Circumstances Portal once.
  • You will be notified at your University of Waterloo e-mail address whether your request is approved or denied; it is your responsibility to ensure that your UW email account is working properly.
  • If approved, you will be informed of a new date to write the exam. You must be available until the end of the final exam period.

Deferred final exam policy

This policy is consistent with the Registrar’s Office Accommodation Due to Illness policy.

Deferrals of final examinations are not automatic upon the presentation of suitable medical verification. We will use this documentation together with other information to determine whether accommodation is warranted.

By university policy, students are required to write their final examinations as scheduled. In extenuating circumstances, students may request a deferred final exam. However, the following are not considered legitimate reasons for requesting a deferred exam:

  • Requesting more time to study.
  • Travel arrangements during the final exam period.
  • Illnesses that are not supported with proper documentation.
  • Misreading the final exam schedule.
  • Contradictory information (e.g. write one exam but not another on the same day without explanation).
    • Should this be the case, your request may be forwarded to the Associate Dean, Undergraduate Students for a potential Policy 71 violation.
  • A full or busy final exam schedule (the policy on time conflicts and overlaps is outlined in the Registrar’s Office’s final exam relief information).
* Please note, requests for deferred examinations will not be accepted if any of the following circumstances exist:
  • You have not written any of the midterms for your course or your final exam is worth more than 90% of your course grade.
  • You fail to provide supporting documentation explaining why you missed the final exam.
  • You missed the Registrar’s Office deadline for final exam relief for a busy/conflicting exam schedule.
  • Your deferred final exam request is excessively late.

How to fill out the form

Ensure you complete the entire form. You may add additional pages if needed. Please submit only one .pdf form per course.

Final Exam Schedule Section

Use this key to fill in your final exam chart:

Course: enter course and section number.

Final Exam Schedule: enter day of week, date, start and end time; enter “N/A” for a course with no final exam.

Status: Completed You have already written the final exam for this course.

  • Request DFE: You are requesting a deferred final exam for this course.
  • To write: You will write the final exam for this course (you do not need a deferred exam).
  • No exam: This course has no final exam.
  • N/A: Provide an explanation if none of the above applies (attach additional pages if needed).

Here is an example of a completed chart:

# Course Day of the Week Date Start-End Time Status
1 MATH 128-002 Monday Apr 15 1:00 p.m. - 3:00 p.m. Completed
2 ECON 206-002 Tuesday Apr 19 7:30 p.m. - 9:30 p.m. Request DFE
3 CS 100-003 Wednesday Apr 20 9:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. Request DFE from Math
4 ECON 391-001 Saturday Apr 22 9:30 a.m. - 12:00 p.m. To Write
5 ENGL 109-001 N/A N/A N/A No exam

Frequently Asked Questions

  1. I missed a midterm due to illness; what do I do?

    • This policy applies to final exams only. Please refer to your course outline or speak to your course instructor about missed midterms.

  2. I missed a final exam due to illness; where do I submit my request?

  3. How long do I have to submit my request?

  4. Do I need supporting documentation?

  5. I missed more than one ECON exam; can I submit one form for all of my courses?

  6. I missed an exam in a non-ECON course; what do I do?

  7. When and how will I know if my request was approved or denied?

    • You will likely receive a response within 10 business days, via e-mail to your Waterloo account.

  8. If I am approved to write a deferred exam, when will I write it?

    • You should be prepared to write the exam at any given time during the final exam period, or during the next term. Do not assume that you will write the exam at the end of the next term.

  9. My deferral request was approved, but I have already made travel plans before deferring my exam; what should I do?

    • Travel plans are not a legitimate reason for deferring a final exam, or for missing a deferred exam. Students need to be available during the entire final exam period, including to write a deferred exam. It is expected that you will make all possible accommodations to write a deferred final exam at the beginning of the next academic term if your deferred exam needs to be scheduled as such.

  10. My deferral request was approved. Can I access LEARN materials from my class?

    • According to IST policy, access to courses on LEARN is made available to students on the first day of classes. Access to courses from the previous term will be disabled on that day as well. It is the responsibility of students writing deferred final exams to ensure that they save course materials posted on LEARN during the term.

  11. Will I be writing an exam prepared by my own course instructor?

    • Yes. The deferred exam will be prepared by your course instructor based on the material covered when you took the course.

Updated Winter 2024. This policy has been in effect since Fall 2013.

School of Economics Course Override Policy

The School of Economics only manages overrides into ECON or MGMT courses. For other course codes, please consult the Arts enrolment problems page or connect with an advisor in that area.

The School of Economics will not override:

  • Section reserves
  • Class limits
  • Time conflicts over 20 minutes
  • Time conflicts where both courses are required
  • Pre-requisites for major required courses

Requesting an override:

For all other overrides into an ECON or MGMT course, please follow these instructions:

  1. Are you receiving an error message? Try the following steps to troubleshoot:
    1. Search the Schedule of Classes to ensure that the course is offered this term.
    2. The most accurate resource for seat availability is Quest (updated in real time), or the undergraduate schedule of classes. UW Flow is not an official resource and does not accurately reflect seats remaining. 
    3. Course meeting details, including room and instructor name: follow the Quest instructions for how to search for a class. 
    4. Review the enrolment error messages webpage for further steps if you are receiving an error message. IMPORTANT NOTE: for the 'seats are reserved and you do not meet the reserve capacity requirements' or 'class is full' error messages, it is often not the instructor who can grant course overrides. You will need to connect with an Economics advisor.
  2. If your reason for requesting an override wasn't addressed,send your request via e-mail to the Economics Department advising team from your Waterloo account: econugadv@uwaterloo.ca.
  3. Your message must state the following information in this order:
    • Your full name
    • Your Waterloo student ID number
    • The course you wish to enter, including the section number and 4-digit class number
      (Example: ECON 290-001 (class #XXXX))
    • A screenshot of the error message you are receiving in Quest
  4. Your message must explain why you think you satisfy the requisites for the course and how the course fits into your academic plan.
     
  5. Before making a request, ensure that:
    • There is room in the course, taking into account the course reserves.
    • If you are asking to take a 6th course, please see your program advisor for permission.
      • If you are an Economics major, you can request this in the same email as the course override above.
    • There are no time conflicts in your schedule.

Petitioning to add a course:

You may need to petition to add a course. If required, the advisor in that area will let you know. The most common reasons to need a petition to add a course are to add a course late or to add a 6th course. 

If you are petitioning to add a course late, after the add period is over, you are required to have instructor and department consent to do so. 

The School of Economics does not provide consent to add a course late if:

  • The course was full at the end of the add period or
  • There are time conflicts

Students who petition to have a pre-requisite overridden will not be approved if the school does not approve. 

Please note that the course enrolment period is a busy time across campus. If you do not receive an answer immediately it is due to a higher than normal volume of requests. Your request will be addressed as soon as possible.

Co-op Sequence Changes

The economics co-op sequence was created to ensure that you can meet all of your academic requirements and your co-op requirements on time. The sequence is also used to plan and schedule required courses. Changing your sequence could affect your ability to continue to take Economics major required courses. Because of this, sequence changes are not always approved. Your request for a sequence change will be assessed based on your reason and availability of planned courses. 

If you are requesting a sequence change:

  • Valid reasons for a sequence change request:
    • forfeiting a work term for a full-time course load
    • securing a longer work term
    • extending a work term with a current employer
    • returning to a previous co-op employer
    • found a job
    • to accommodate an academic exchange
    • to accommodate academic requirements
    • to pursue an optional academic course
    • Other: you must provide supporting documentation
  • Co-operative Education request for academic/work term sequence change form

University Wide Policies