Courses

Scheduling and contacts

Guidelines pertaining to fees for learning resources and field trips

Course Outlines

Use of copyright-protected material

Signing of override forms

Technology in the classroom

Student Course Perceptions

Scheduling and Contacts

Back to top

Guidelines pertaining to fees for learning resources and field trips

The Ministry of Colleges and Universities (MCU) regulates fees that universities can charge to students. The University’s guidelines pertaining to fees for learning resources used for academic assessment and field trips are posted on the Secretariat website:

Questions regarding the MCU ancillary fee protocol and the use of digital resources should be directed to either David DeVidi, Associate Vice-President Academic at david.devidi@uwaterloo.ca, or Carrie MacKinnon, Institutional Analysis & Planning at cmackinnon@uwaterloo.ca.

Course Outlines

A course outline or syllabus must be provided to all students in an undergraduate course, either electronically or hard copy, by the end of the first week of classes. This document is a contract and therefore it needs to be unambiguous with respect to all aspects of course content, expectations, and methods of student assessment. The Secretariat website lists all the course outline requirements.

Instructors are strongly encouraged to use Outline.uwaterloo.ca. This online repository, developed by Science Computing, allows instructors to create and edit course outlines using pre-formatted layouts; mandatory content is included in the templates. For a detailed user guide visit: Getting Started with Outline.uwaterloo.ca.

Background and Expectations for Winter 2025:

In August 2024, following the passage of Bill 166, Ontario’s Ministry of Colleges and Universities sent out a directive to all publicly assisted post-secondary institutions imposing new requirements that post-secondary institutions must disclose and publish the costs associated with attending a post-secondary institution in Ontario. In particular, the directive states that by January 2025:

  1. Every course must include the individual cost for each textbook or other learning material and indicate whether it is required or optional.
  2. In addition to textbooks, learning materials include all supplies that students need to participate equally with others in the course, such as lab supplies, field trip costs, subscriptions, etc. (not calculators, phones, computers).  Instructors must also list any restrictions related to the use of second-hand and/or free versions of the learning materials. 
  3. Institutions must report annually to their own governing bodies on the implementation of this directive, including reporting the percentage of courses that include this information in their syllabus. A similar annual report must be sent to the Ministry. 

Summary of instructor responsibilities:

  1. You need to include the cost of learning materials in your course outline or designate that there are no costs associated with the course
  2. You may use any credible source for the price of your course’s learning material. Do not include tax or delivery charges.
  3. If second-hand copies or previous editions of textbooks or other learning materials are not acceptable, this must be indicated in the course outline. 
  4. Include costs for course learning materials placed on Waterloo’s course reserves, since there are often limitations on student access to materials placed on reserve in the library.
  5. If the course requires that students have learning materials (e.g., lab coats, goggles) that they will generally have acquired in a prerequisite course, this should be indicated in the course outline in the comment box, or a link can be provided to a web page outlining program level requirements that itemizes these costs.

Notes about course outlines:

  • Changes to the course outline:  
    • If it becomes necessary to update the course outline, students need to be informed of the change as soon as possible so they have ample opportunity to respond; it should be apparent what part of the course outline has changed.       
    • University regulations stipulate that the time and date of tests cannot be changed without unanimous consent from the class, except under extreme circumstances.                    
    • Policy 70 (Student Petitions and Grievances) indicates changes to a course outline without proper notice can be a reason for a student grievance.
  • Test information:            
    • All in-term test dates must be indicated in the course outline. When setting test dates,                   
      • Tests should be scheduled such that they, or alternative forms of evaluation, are held and graded before the end of the WD period (normally the end of the 3rd week of the 3rd month). This provides students the opportunity to get a sense of their progress (or lack thereof) while they can still drop the course without penalty.                   
      • Instructors should consider the Science midterm schedule. Instructors can view the schedule throughout the term via an Outlook shared calendar (SCI exams) or by consulting their undergraduate (UG) administrator. Instructors should contact their UG administrator to enter their tests, including test slots; the earlier this is done before the term the better chance there is to avoid test conflicts.                               
    • Assessment course rules should be explicit (e.g., multiple final grade calculation rules; ‘must pass’ course elements).
      • Instructors are encouraged to assign a final grade of 4 marks less than the passing grade for students who earn a passing final mark but have failed a ‘must pass’ course element/average; this approach is consistent with how expired INC grades are treated (see the section, ‘When to record course grades as INC, DNW or IP’).       
  • Course calculator policy:              
    • For courses that need calculators, a course calculator policy should be clearly indicated in the course outline (e.g., whether an approved calculator is required or not).                              
    • Science provides Blue Goggle calculators (non-programmable calculators with a pad-printed ‘blue goggle’ logo on it) to incoming students. The goal is to make the ‘blue goggle’ calculators the norm in Science, while accepting Math's long-standing ‘pink-tie’ calculators. Having an approved calculator program is intended to simplify the ability of students, including internal transfer students, to avoid misconduct unknowingly by using an inappropriate calculator.
  • External organizations offering access to course materials:           

Course outlines should: 

  • Include a statement on generative artificial intelligence (GenAI; ex. Chat GPT)

  • Include clear expectations, specifying what is expected to be individual work;  

  • Specify that course material provided by the instructor, including notes and assessments, is subject to copyright and cannot be legally uploaded online by another person without permission, as outlined in the intellectual property resource; 

  • Include the referencing resource, particularly in courses where lab reports are submitted or where students may not be experienced in paraphrasing and referencing. Inclusion of a checklist with the report may help students verify that they are submitting appropriate work, and; 

  • Include the resource for group work if group work is expected in the course. Using a checklist for group work can help students avoid costly errors, where the instructor can very clearly outline what is permitted and what is expected by all members of the group. 

For assessments, instructors can: 

  • Indicate on the front of the assessment, what materials are permitted and what are considered unauthorized materials (e.g., having a phone or other communication device on your person during an assessment) that could lead to a Policy 71 allegation; 

  • Employ assigned seating (set this up through Odyssey); and 

  • Seek help from CTE’s Science liaison, Jason Thompson (jason.thompson@uwaterloo.ca) to best adapt their assessment to their learning objectives.

Use of copyright-protected material

Instructors must be aware of the regulations governing the use of copyright-protected material in their teaching and research activities. Copyright@Waterloo is the central hub for copyright information at the University of Waterloo. 

The following services and resources can assist instructors (questions about copyright or licensing can be sent to copyright@uwaterloo.ca): 

  • Course Reserves, W Store, or the Centre for Extended Learning staff will assess copyright concerns on the instructor’s behalf, and apply fair dealing, a Library license, or purchase transactional licensing for the instructor.  

  • Copyright workshops are offered each term and there are also webinars now. These sessions provide a simple overview of copyright as it applies to teaching.

  • E-Journals and e-Books are almost always covered by license agreements. License agreements set out specific rules to follow when using electronic resources.   

  • To find out if an instructor can use licensed content in LEARN, the Finding Usage Rights page provides step-by-step instructions on how to find license terms.   

  • A listing of Librarians by subject area is located at: Librarians by subject. 

Signing of override forms

Students may request overrides for course requisites, time conflicts, course limits or permissions. The instructor signature (whether in ink or digital) on the override form allows students access to the course. It is important for instructors to be diligent in completing the appropriate “action box”, signing and providing their office phone extension and indicating the date.

  • If the Registrar’s Office is uncertain of which action has been approved, students may not gain course access and they will need to revisit the instructor to obtain another form. The best way to deal with an override only once is to use a clear checkmark (√) for the override item and put an ’X’ in those categories that do not apply. This will stop students, who do not have an appropriately filled-in form, from ’adjusting’ it without the proper approval.  

  • When instructors are uncertain whether students are eligible to take a course, they should encourage the students to see their Academic Advisor who can indicate eligibility in the ’notes’ portion of the override form.  Students would then return the form to their instructor, for a signature.   

  • Instructors, who have courses that are either cross-listed or anti-requisites with other courses, should be especially diligent when students ask for overrides of ’requisites’.  The kind of requisite being overridden should be established, when possible.  If it is an anti-requisite, then students could get credit for both courses, and that should not be approved.  

  • Instructors should also watch for test slots when signing overrides (they may be unintentionally creating a conflict between test dates and the rest of the student’s schedule).  

Assuming that their department/school does not authorize overrides, instructors should ideally complete the Course Override Form or, if communicating permissions to the Registrar's Office by email, use rorec1@uwaterloo.ca.  Emails should include: 1) the student Waterloo ID; 2) name; 3) related class number(s), and 4) what overrides are required. 

Technology in the classroom

Points in this section only apply if the course has an in-person component. The Schedule of Classes indicates the delivery mode, day, time, and location for courses; it can be found at: https://classes.uwaterloo.ca/under.html.

Classroom AV Access

Information on classroom technology is on the ITMS webpage.

  • E-rooms: these are classrooms that are equipped with PC computers, data projectors, and VHS/DVD players. Podium fobs are not required to use the instructional technology in Registrar e-rooms.
  • Non-E-rooms: instructors can request data projectors from Chem Stores; this should be done well in advance of the need and may require equipment pick-up by instructors. To request DVD players instructors should contact eclass@uwaterloo.ca or submit an IST instructional and presentation technology request.

In-class Response Systems (e.g., iClicker Classic, iClicker Cloud)

For support:

Laptops in the classroom

Notwithstanding the numerous valid pedagogical reasons why and how laptops and related devices are used in the classroom setting by students, these devices have the potential to be misused and cause disruption in classes. The Centre for Teaching Excellence (CTE) has an informative page (Managing Students' Use of Technology in the Classroom), which reviews some of the common issues associated with laptops in classrooms, such as: “Can I ban laptops from my classroom” (the answer is “no” but this applies to a special situation), and “I've had several students complain about the visual content that a classmate is accessing through his laptop during class.”

Instructors can access the EdTech Hub to find resources and instructions for centrally supported digital technology tools for teaching and learning.

Student Course Perceptions

 Information about Student Course Perceptions (course and instructor evaluations) can be found on the Teaching Processes website.