Student Policies

BASIC DEGREE PROGRAMS

MTS, MTS Development, MDiv, CAS, Non-conjoint students are required to take at least 1 course per academic year (Fall, Winter, Summer) to maintain registration. Continued registration each term is required for CTS (Certificate of Theological Studies) students until all degree requirements have been fulfilled.

GRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAMS

Students in all conjoint graduate programs must be continuously registered until all degree requirements have been fulfilled.

See regulations on extension, time limit, Leave of Absence in the Graduate Conjoint Degree Handbook and ThM Handbook on Handbooks | Toronto School of Theology (tst.edu).  

BASIC DEGREE PROGRAMS

Your studies are considered full-time if you have a course load of four to six courses per semester.

Your studies are considered part-time if you have three or fewer courses per semester.

The full-time semesters for the MDiv must be completed in the regular academic year (September through April).

To stay as an active student, one must register for at least one course per academic year, with the exception of Approved Leave of Absence. See Basic Degree Handbook section 7 Handbooks | Toronto School of Theology (tst.edu) 

GRADUATE DEGREE PROGRAMS

Currently, TST does not offer a part-time option for the conjoint MA, the conjoint PhD, or the DMin programs. The MA and PhD are considered full-time from September 1 to August 31 each year. See Section A7.1. Graduate Conjoint Degree Handbook on Handbooks | Toronto School of Theology (tst.edu).

A ThM student may complete the degree program entirely on a part-time basis. A ThM student is considered full-time during the trimester if they are taking three courses (3 X 0.5 FCE) for graduate degree credit. For more details, see §7.3.3 in the ThM Handbook Handbooks | Toronto School of Theology (tst.edu).)

BASIC DEGREE GRADING SCALE

For full details, please refer to the Grading Scale section on the Basic Degree Handbook.

Grades without numerical equivalent:

§  SDF Standing deferred (a temporary extension)

§  INC Permanent Incomplete; has no numerical equivalent or grade point

§  WDR Withdrawal without academic penalty

§  AEG Aegrotat. This report may be given by the college of registration to a student within ten courses of completing his or her degree program who has completed at least 60% of the coursework but because of illness has been unable to complete the whole course, and who would not otherwise.

GRADUATE DEGREE GRADING SCALE

In addition, the following non-grade course reports may be entered on the student’s academic record (ACORN) by the college registrar subject to the policies in subsequent sections (§§A7.9-A7.11).

INC (Permanent Incomplete). This is assigned in special circumstances where course requirements have not been completed but a failing grade is inappropriate or unwarranted (e.g., medical reasons, extenuating circumstances, change in a student’s situation). INC carries no credit for the course and is not considered for averaging purposes. This course report is subject to the conditions contained in §A7.11.5.

SDF (Standing Deferred). This is assigned when a student has been granted an extension to complete the requirements for a course. SDF carries no credit for the course and is not considered for averaging purposes. (See also §A7.11.4.)

WDR (Withdrawn). This is assigned when a student has withdrawn from a course with no academic penalty, subject to the conditions in §A7.11.5.

To obtain credit for a course or dissertation, a grade of at least 70 (B-) must be obtained. If a grade between 65 to 69 is received, the student is entitled to take a supplemental examination or do supplemental work to bring the grade for the course up to 70 (B-). The overall minimum GPA acceptable for graduation and conferral of a degree is 2.7.

BASIC DEGREE LATE WORK POLICY

Basic Degree students are expected to hand in assignments by the date given in the course outline. Under exceptional circumstances a student may request a short extension to be negotiated with the instructor. Instructors are not obliged to accept assignments that are late. If the instructor chooses to accept an assignment, where an extension has not been requested and approved before the due date, then one percentage point per day will be deducted. The absolute deadline for the submission of assignments is the examination day scheduled for the course or the last day of exam week for the semester in which the course is taught, whichever is sooner.

Students with documented medical or compassionate difficulties or exceptional reasons (e.g., a death in the family or a serious illness) who are unable to submit their work by the end of the term are requested to consult with their instructor and request an extension. The form is available on our website at this link Basic Degree Request For Extension | Wycliffe College can be collected from the registrar’s office. An extension request must be submitted, with instructor approval and with an agreed deadline, to the registrar’s office no later than the last day of the exam week or the last day of class in which the course is taken. The extension, when approved, will have a mutually agreed upon deadline that does not extend beyond one year. If a student has not completed work and has not been granted an SDF, a final mark will be calculated that reckons a grade of zero for that component of work that was not submitted.

GRADUATE DEGREE LATE WORK POLICY

The prima facie deadline for the completion of work in a course is the last day of the examination week for the trimester in which the course is taken. Students are expected to meet the course deadlines of the instructor offering the course and are advised to plan their research projects accordingly. Students who find themselves unable to meet deadlines for completing coursework can, under certain conditions, receive extensions for completing the work after the dates set by the college in which the course is offered.

The authority to grant an extension for the completion of work in a course beyond the original TST or college deadline (whichever is earlier) for that course rests with the student’s college Graduate Director, not the instructor of the course. Nevertheless, the instructor’s signature is required for course extension requests to be processed. Students will petition their college Graduate Director for extensions, using a standard form provided by TST on its website. See Section 7.11 of the Conjoint Graduate Degree Handbook.

Students are solely responsible for meeting the College’s graduation criteria, and must ensure that they have satisfied the College’s course and distribution requirements. The Registrar does not monitor students’ programs, but is always available for consultation. Faculty advisors also attempt to keep students on track towards their graduation requirements.

Before a degree or certificate may be granted, approval must be voted by the Academic Committee on behalf of the Board of Trustees. All debts to the College and the University of Toronto, including the University of Toronto Library, must be paid before the degree or diploma can be conferred.

Wycliffe College hosts one Summer convocation per academic year, usually in the month of May. Students may complete their program prior the end of the Winter term (January to April) but will not officially be conferred a degree until approved by the board and conferred during convocation. However, in between the times, students may request a Letter of Confirmation of Completion that states the completion of the program and date of conferral as proof of their completion of the program. 

Students, upon meeting or who expect to meet the graduation criteria prior to convocation, must apply to graduate. The digital form will be sent to students in February or March, or may be requested at other time of the year, via email to the wycliffe.registrar@utoronto.ca. 

Wycliffe students come under the jurisdiction of the Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters [July 1, 2019] | The Office of the Governing Council, Secretariat (utoronto.ca) including its definitions of offences and sanctions and the normative process for adjudicating cases. The Code of Academic Behaviour is concerned with the responsibilities of all parties to the integrity of the teaching and learning relationship.

Plagiarism is defined as “representing as one’s own any idea or expression or an idea or work of another in any academic examination or term test or in connection with any other form of academic work.” Students submitting written material in courses are expected to provide full documentation for sources of both words and ideas in footnotes or endnotes. Direct quotations should be placed within quotation marks. (If small changes are made in the quotation, they should be indicated by appropriate punctuation such as brackets and ellipses, but the quotation still counts as a direct quotation.) Failure to document borrowed material constitutes plagiarism, which is a serious breach of academic, professional, and Christian ethics. An instructor who discovers evidence of student plagiarism is not permitted to deal with the situation individually but is required to report it to his or her head of college or delegate according to the TST Basic Degree Handbook and the Graduate program Handbooks linked from http://www.tst.edu/academic/resources-forms/handbooks and the University of Toronto Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters https://governingcouncil.utoronto.ca/secretariat/policies/code-behaviour-academic-matters-july-1-2019. A student who plagiarizes in this course will be assumed to have read the document “Avoidance of plagiarism in theological writing” published by the Graham Library of Trinity and Wycliffe Colleges: https://www.trinity.utoronto.ca/library/research/theology/avoiding-plagiarism-in-theological-writing/

Wycliffe students who commit this offence are subject to severe penalties, up to and including expulsion from the College.

All email communications from students in conjoint programs must be sent from a utoronto email address. Email communications from other email addresses are not secure, and also the instructor cannot readily identify them as being legitimate emails from students. The instructor is not obliged to respond to email from non-utoronto addresses for students in conjoint programs.  Students in non-conjoint programs should only use the email address they have provided to their college of registration.

Course instructors, registrar's office, and other departments and personnel in the college may decide to send out important information by email. To that end, all students in conjoint programs are required to have a valid utoronto email address and monitor it regularly. Failure to check emails regularly may result in missing important information on courses, key dates, tuition, registration and may lead to de-registration in courses and terms. 

Students must have set up their utoronto email address which is entered in the ACORN system. Information is available at www.utorid.utoronto.ca. 416-978-HELP and the Help Desk at the Information Commons can answer questions you may have about your UTORid and password.Forwarding your utoronto.ca email to a Hotmail, Gmail, Yahoo or other type of email account is not advisable. In some cases, messages from utoronto.ca addresses sent to Hotmail, Gmail or Yahoo accounts are filtered as junk mail, which means that emails from your course instructor may end up in your spam or junk mail folder.

The Principal may require that a student withdraw from the College if at any time he or she fails to commend himself or herself as a person suitable for membership in the College.

SECTION I

1. Wycliffe College governs itself according to generally accepted rules of behaviour. The rules and procedures set out in this Policy are to be applied reasonably, and with due regard for the effect they may have on the life of the College community and of its members.
2. The Wycliffe College Non-Academic Discipline Policy is applicable to all students registered as Wycliffe College students, whether residents or non-residents, to students in any faculty or division of the University of Toronto who are resident at Wycliffe College, and to students in any other university or college who are resident at Wycliffe College.
3. Any amendments to this Policy will be made by the Board of Trustees of Wycliffe College.
4. In exceptionally grave or complicated cases consultation with a solicitor is encouraged.

SECTION II

1. The Wycliffe College Non-Academic Discipline Policy shall apply to all non-academic discipline offences listed in Section III, whether arising on College property or during off-campus College activities.
2. The Principal and any one of the Academic Dean or the Registrar or the Executive Director or a majority of them may decide whether an alleged offence falls within the purview of the Policy.
3. Infractions of Section III of this Policy that can be considered to be instances of sexual harassment or violations of the Human Rights Policy of the Province of Ontario will not be dealt with using the procedures of this non-Academic Discipline Policy.

SECTION III Non-Academic Offenses

1. The discipline procedures apply to anyone subject to this Policy who knowingly engages in any of the following activities:
   1. Dangerous Activity: any conduct or activity that may endanger or threaten the health or safety of any person.
   2. Disruption of Activities: any conduct or activity that unreasonably infringes upon or disrupts college or residence activities, academic or otherwise, or the privileges of any member of the College.
   3. Assault: any conduct or activity that causes or threatens physical or mental harm to any person
   4. Theft or Damage to Property: any conduct or activity that results in the theft of, destruction of, or damage to College or private property.
   5. Trespass: the unauthorized presence in, entry to, or use of College or private facilities.
   6. Undermining the Reputation of Others: any conduct or activity that seriously and maliciously undermines the reputation of any member of the College or Residence.
   7. Breach of Discipline Procedures: abuse of the discipline procedures, as complainant or as adjudicator, e.g. laying of false charge, malice.
   8. Breach of Discipline Decisions: refusal or failure to comply with any decision made under the discipline procedures.
   9. Counselling Offences: the counselling or aiding of any person in a conduct or activity that would be an offence listed in this section.
2. In this Policy “member” includes members of the academic and administrative staffs, students, residents and visiting professors.

SECTION IV Informal Resolution Procedures

1. Whenever possible and appropriate, reason and moral suasion should be used to resolve issues of individual behaviour before resort is made to formal disciplinary procedures.
2. If the complaint is between students who are resident at Wycliffe College and not registered at Wycliffe College, the complainant is encouraged and has the right to discuss the matter with the other resident. If this discussion fails to resolve the matter, the resident should bring the complaint to the Residence Don. The Residence Don will act to initiate a process of conciliation between the residents, normally, within one week from the date the resident reports the complaint.
3. If the complaint is between students who are registered at Wycliffe College, the complainant is encouraged and has the right to discuss the matter with the other student. If this discussion fails to resolve the matter the student should bring the complaint to the Chaplain. The Chaplain will act to initiate a process of conciliation between the students, normally, within one week from the date the student reports the complaint.

SECTION V Mediation Procedures

1. If an issue between two or more members of the College, at least one of whom is a student or resident, cannot be satisfactorily resolved at the informal resolution stage, the parties may agree to proceed to mediation. At this stage, the issue must be documented and the party wishing mediation must inform the other party in writing.
2. The party requesting the meeting must inform the Mediator(s) chosen in writing. Both parties will be entitled to have a support person present at the meeting or meetings with the Mediator.
3. It is the intention of the Policy that the mediation process will be the stage of the disciplinary process at which the great majority of complaints will be resolved.
4. A Panel of Mediators to be comprised of four members will be appointed by the Principal, in consultation with a Faculty member, the Executive Director, the Residence Don, a representative of the Wycliffe College Board of Trustees, and a representative of the Wycliffe College Student Council, to three-year overlapping terms, with the new member being appointed each academic year. Members of the Discipline Committee (6.2, 6.3) will be excluded from this panel. Members of the Panel will mediate complaints, either singly or in pairs, as designated by the Principal (or Chair of the Panel).
5. Either party may request the Principal to review the recommendation of the Mediator(s) within thirty days thereafter.

SECTION VI Discipline Committee Process

1. An allegation of a breach of this Policy shall be in writing, specifying the alleged offence, the nature of the conduct complained of and the date, time and place of hearing.
2. If the issue is not between residents but involves an offence under Section III by a resident who is not a Student at Wycliffe College, the charge shall be dealt with by a Discipline Committee to be composed of the Executive Director, the Residence Don and the Senior Student or his or her designate.
3. If the issue is not of the nature of a complaint between students registered at Wycliffe College but involves an offence by a registered Student under Section III, the charge shall be dealt with by a Discipline Committee to be composed of two Faculty members designated by the Principal and the Senior Student or his or her designate.
4. In either case the person against whom a complaint has been made will have the right to have a support person of their choice and have that identified person make submissions on his or her behalf.
5. The decision of a majority of the members of a Discipline Committee shall be the decision of the Committee.

SECTION VII Appeals Process

1. An appeal may be taken from the decision of the Discipline Committee to the Principal for final review by notice in writing within thirty days of the issuance of the decision.

SECTION VIII Sanctions

1. The following sanctions or combinations of them may be imposed by a Discipline Committee or on appeal, by the Principal, upon Students found guilty of an offence under this Policy:
   1. formal written reprimand and requirement of apology;
   2. order for restitution of property or the payment of damages;
   3. a fine or bond for good behaviour not to exceed $5,000;
   4. requirement of public service work not to exceed 100 hours;
   5. denial of access to specified services, activities or facilities of the College for a period of up to one year;
   6. expulsion from residence.
2. No costs of any proceedings under this Policy shall be awarded against the College or any party to the proceedings.

As a federated college within the University of Toronto (U of T), and a founding member of the Toronto School of Theology (TST), Wycliffe’s Board of Trustees adopted in January 2017 the University of Toronto Policy on Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment. The policy was adopted with the following modifications as particular to Wycliffe College:

In accordance with this policy, and in an attempt to create a safe educational experience in which all members of the college can experience an educational and work experience free from all forms of sexual violence and harassment, Wycliffe College requires that all staff, faculty and students complete the online Sexual Violence Education and Prevention (SVEP) training module made available by the Sexual Violence Prevention & Support Centre.

You can read more here: Sexual Violence and Sexual Harassment Policy and Resources | Wycliffe College 

In keeping with the Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) Wycliffe College is committed to providing an equitable and inclusive environment for all members of its community. The document outlining this commitment is posted on our website: Accessibility Services and Policies | Wycliffe College. As per the TST Basic Degree Student Handbook we adhere to the following principles and procedures:

PRINCIPLE OF NON-DISCRIMINATION

Under the Human Rights Code of Ontario, every person has the right to equal treatment without discrimination because of disability. The TST and its colleges aim to provide students with disabilities (including physical, learning, and mental health disabilities) the opportunity for the same quality of educational experience as that available to students without disabilities. To that end, the TST and its colleges will comply with their legal obligations by arranging reasonable accommodations for students with disabilities. Accommodations do not alter program or course requirements or expectations.

PROCEDURES

Students in conjoint degree programs: Such students should develop an individual plan in partnership with the professionals at Accessibility Services at the University of Toronto. The student initiates this service by registering with Accessibility Services, which has two locations on the St. George campus: the first floor of Robarts Library (for students with learning disabilities), and 215 Huron Street (for students with other disabilities). In requesting accommodation on the student's behalf, Accessibility Services will not disclose confidential information about the student without his or her permission. A student with a disability should not seek accommodation directly with instructors, since they are not trained to determine suitable accommodations, and will usually not be familiar with the University's policies and procedures in this area.

Students in non-conjoint programs: please contact the registrar at Wycliffe.registrar@utoronto.

REDRESS

A student who is denied accommodations recommended by a disability counselor at Accessibility Services, or who has otherwise experienced discrimination as defined by the Human Rights Code, should contact the head of his or her college, or the TST Director. The student also has a statutory right to file a complaint with the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal.

Academic records may be shared with the University and the TST, but are not made available to others without the student’s permission, preferably in writing. Applications for admission, references, student self-evaluations, evaluations by field education supervisors and College authorities, and other confidential documentation, are available only to the College faculty and staff, and members of the Academic Committee, unless the student specifically directs that they be released to others.

The only documentation which is routinely kept confidential from students themselves are the reference letters supporting their application for admission.

Students who are candidates or postulants for ordination in the Anglican Church are normally expected to consent to the release to their bishop of relevant documentation.

College personnel may share their judgments of particular students with a competent authority such as a bishop or the Principal for reasons involving the educational work of the College or the ministry of the Church. Conflicts occasionally arise when a faculty member feels a pastoral responsibility to the student to keep sensitive information confidential but realizes a responsibility to report information required by law or as a result of a professional obligation to protect the safety of the individual and the welfare of the college community and of the Church. In such circumstances the faculty member will bring the matter to the attention of the Principal.

Wycliffe College and the University of Toronto respect your privacy.

Personal information that you provide to the College is collected pursuant to section 2(14) of the University of Toronto Act, 1971.

At all times your personal information will be protected in accordance with the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act.

Your information is collected for the administration of admissions, registration, academic programs, university-related student activities, activities of student societies, safety, financial assistance and awards, graduation and university advancement, and reporting to government.

The College provides information to the University which is also required to report student-level enrolment-related data to the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities as a condition of its receipt of operating grant funding. The Ministry collects this enrolment data, which includes limited personal information such as Ontario Education Numbers, student characteristics, and educational outcomes, in order to administer government postsecondary funding, policies and programs, including planning, evaluation, and monitoring activities.

If you have questions, please look online or contact the University Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Coordinator at McMurrich Building, Room 104, 12 Queen's Park Crescent West, Toronto, ON, M5S 1A8.