Deferred Standing is a request for additional time to complete course work after the published deadline for submission of term work, or to postpone an exam. The deadline for completion of term work is usually the same as the first day of exams. For most departments it is granted due to illness or misfortune and will require documentation as proof of your situation. While applying for deferred standing the University assumes that you are continuing to complete the work.  

Using the standard Deferred Standing Agreement (DSA) Form, it is your responsibility to make arrangements with the course director to complete the course and file the form with the appropriate departmental/unit office by the deadline specified on the form. Course directors have the option not to consider requests for deferred standing; in such cases you must file a petition with the relevant Faculty-level committee for consideration within the established deadline. DSA forms must be handed in with a Course Performance Summary Form which also needs to be completed by your professor.  

You will often find that if you are applying for deferred standing you should apply for a few of your courses as opposed to just one. First, if you need the time then you should take it. Trying to push yourself at a time when you are already under stress never makes sense. Also, if it is just for one course it begins to look like you just didn't do your work in that course. Document well and ask for what you need.  

There are certain things which will help you in applying for deferred status:

• your professor supports the application.
• you have been active in the course and have good attendance and record of completing work prior to the situation causing your deferred standing application.
• the cause of your application is well documented.
• it is your first time asking for deferred status.
• the period of time of your hardship is clearly documented.

Aegrotat Standing, from the Latin for "she/he is ill", excuses students from completing the required work for their studies, and AEG is entered on transcripts instead of a grade. Aegrotat standing is very rarely granted in any but the last year of a program, and even then only in the most exceptional of cases, such as a terminal illness. 

The following section outlines some of the specific requirements for each Faculty.  

Education, Environmental Studies, Fine Arts, Health, Liberal Arts and Professional Studies, Science and Engineering  

Rules for reaching a deferred standing agreement: 

Deferred Standing must be agreed upon for reports, assignments, essays, tests, final exams and other work assigned in the course, but may not be used for supplementary work, or assignments that are outside the formal marking scheme announced in class. There is no provision for rewriting a final exam to improve a final grade.  

The Course Director must agree that the circumstances warrant deferred standing. You must come to an agreement with your Course Director as to when the due date is for outstanding work.

If the faculty member does not agree to approve the deferred agreement form, or if you require an extension to an original deferral, then you must file a formal petition. Petitions relating to enrolment status or academic standing must be submitted within thirty days of the release of final grade reports for the session. Such petitions may be considered for a period of up to one year if they are based on special circumstances.

This petition must be submitted to the Student Client Services Office and should include the Undergraduate Academic Petition Form, your written petition letter, and a Student Course Performance Summary Form. All of the above named forms are available at the Registrar's Office.  

The deadlines for submission of the Deferred Standing Agreement Form to your Departmental Office are: 

Fall Term January 15

Full Year/Winter Term May 1 

Summer Session 

1st Term June 30

2nd Term August 26 

Deadline:

The student must initiate petitions for deferred standing not later than five working days after the end of the examination period for the appropriate term.  

Conditions:

Both deferred and aegrotat standing are granted only due to cases of recognized hardship under one of the following four categories:  

• illness
• personal misfortune
• unforeseeable economic hardship
• academic misfortune (unforeseeable inability to obtain necessary research
• materials or a confirmed error on the part of the institution).

You may petition through the Office of Student Programs, if you have the appropriate evidence for: 

• Withdrawal from any number of course without penalty.
• Deferred standing in one or more courses, for work expected to be in progress during the period of hardship.
• Aegrotat standing in one or more courses. Aegrotat standing shall not be granted in more than one year of study and will seldom be granted in any but the final year.

SSB may grant deferred or aegrotat standing on the grounds of sickness, accidents or family misfortune. You are responsible for providing adequate proof of your situation. For the granting of aegrotat standing you must also be able to prove a record of satisfactory academic work.  

Process:

If you would like to request for an exam deferral or application for aegrotat standing from instructor; if you are denied, you must petition to the Schulich Student Affairs Committee supplying reasons.