1. Overview

Georgian College acknowledges that all campuses are situated on the traditional land of the Anishinaabeg people. The Anishinaabeg include the Odawa, Ojibwe, and Pottawatomi nations, collectively known as the Three Fires Confederacy. Georgian College is dedicated to honouring Indigenous history and culture and committed to moving forward in the spirit of reconciliation and respect with all First Nation, Métis, and Inuit people.

Your academic experience at Georgian College is focused on student-centred learning, support for your success, academic integrity, and academic excellence. Georgian’s academic regulations are based on accountability for academic standards and integrity of course credits and program credentials. Your success at Georgian will be enhanced and guided by these regulations, enabling a smooth path through the academic process and your ability to navigate through exceptions and unusual situations.

A number of non-academic regulations govern your student life and conduct at Georgian College. All regulations apply the principles of the Ontario Human Rights Code, the Ontario Ministry of Colleges and Universities (MCU) regulations and the directives of the Board of Governors of Georgian College. In addition to Georgian’s regulations, you are subject to both criminal and civil law, as enacted by local, provincial, and federal governments. The college co-operates fully in situations that fall under these jurisdictions, but also reserves the right to apply its own regulations, policies, and procedures independent of the processes or outcome of processes required by these jurisdictions.

You can obtain guidance about the situations in which these regulations apply and the regulations themselves through program co-ordinators, student success advisors, academic officers, the Georgian College Students’ Association (GCSA), student success counsellors, staff in the Office of the Registrar or other employees.

Our regulations apply to all part-time and full-time credit applicants and students, and all academic and related experiences offered by Georgian College, unless otherwise stated. For more details on part-time non-credit policies and procedures, please visit the Continuing Education and Corporate Training webpage.

You are required to familiarize yourself with these regulations and reference them on occasions when you have questions about your progress or when circumstances may arise. Lack of knowledge of these regulations does not constitute a valid defence against action by the college.

1.1 Glossary of terms

Below are terms, words and abbreviations that are used throughout the regulations. Definitions are provided to give you a clear understanding of their meaning and to ensure a consistent interpretation by all (applicants, students, and employees).

Academic planning timelines – the official timelines and deadlines that organize the academic year. These are listed as Important Dates on the Georgian website.
Academic promotion – determining if a student has met the required academic performance to advance to the succeeding term.
Academic regulations – the rules, processes and policies that guide college and student activities as they pertain to the academic year.
Academic standing – your academic status is a mathematical calculation based on your performance in courses for the term just completed. This calculation determines academic promotion. Academic standing categories include good standing, academic probation, academic warning, academic suspension, and academic dismissal (Section 5.2.2 Definitions and actions of academic standing).
Academic year – the academic year runs from the beginning of September to the end of August. This differs from a calendar year which runs from January to December. All official dates are outlined in the Important Dates on the Georgian website.
Accreditation – official certification that a school, course, or program has met standards set by external accreditation bodies.
Ancillary fees – fees charged to support services and activities distinct from academic programming or general overhead for the institution. Examples of ancillary fees include student activity fees, athletic fees, and health care and insurance fees.
Apprenticeship program – a pathway to a career in the trades. You take classes and learn your trade by working under the direction of experienced workers – and get paid while you do it.
Banner – the student information system used by the college for admission decisions, registration, records management, academic standing, fees, awards, and graduation.
Blackboard Learn Ultra – the system the college uses for online teaching, learning, community building, and knowledge sharing.
Block transfer – advanced standing for a group of credits or courses at one institution based on their equivalence to a defined set of course or program learning outcomes at another institution. Block credit enables you to enter a program at a receiving institution at an advanced level.
Clinical placement – typically unpaid placements in health, wellness, and sciences programs, which help you develop skills in the clinical setting relevant to your program of study. Placements can vary from one-day to a full semester.
Credential – earning a Georgian credential from the Office of the Registrar confirms that you have achieved a specific educational standard and have certain knowledge and skills. Georgian follows the Ontario Qualifications Framework under the auspices of the Ministry of Colleges and Universities.
Co-op (co-operative education) – one of the several types of practical experience components in Georgian programs. Specifically, enhancement of program of study by providing opportunity to complement academic studies through substantial work experience, alternating with periods of time spent in school.
Core courses – courses in a degree that are within the main discipline of the degree; may be mandatory or elective for the program.
Course – a subject offered either as part of a program or on a standalone basis, can be made up of modules. Courses represent the organization of learning outcomes into the smallest package of related activities for tracking and delivery purposes.
Course code – unique identifier for courses consisting of four alpha characters followed by four numbers. The four-place alpha prefix identifies the subject area; the first place of the numeric identifier denotes level of study (e.g., semester 1, semester 2, etc.).
Course content – a list of topics within the course that relate to the course learning outcomes. Course content appears in the course outline.
Course description – a concise, general description of the course which can broadly include content and goals. It should be general enough to allow for changes in trends and technology over time, but specific enough to reflect content and learning outcomes. Component of both course and program outlines.
Course outline – a contract between the college and you describing what learning you can reliably and/or consistently demonstrate by the end of a course, as well as topics covered throughout the course, and how you will be evaluated.
Cumulative GPA – this includes all credit courses taken, even if you changed programs. This GPA includes all repeated courses too.
Designated Learning Institute (DLI) – A DLI is a Canadian school approved by a province or territorial government to host international students. Georgian College is an approved institution with the DLI # O19395677361.
Equivalent course – an internal college course equal in curriculum to another Georgian College course; must satisfy 80 per cent of the course learning outcomes; course hours can vary. Equivalent courses can be as follows: one-way (e.g., an upper-level course equivalent to a lower-level course but not the other way around), two-way (both courses are equivalent to each other), multiple courses to one (two or more courses satisfy the outcomes of one course), one course to multiple courses (one course satisfies the outcomes of two or more courses). Differs from exemptions as it applies to internal Georgian courses only.
Extenuating circumstances – these are unforeseen situations involving you and/or your immediate family member. These situations include death of an immediate family member (parent, spouse, or child), serious medical trauma to you, or an immediate family member where you are deemed the primary caregiver by your regulated health professional.
Faculty – for the purposes of this document, this term refers to the academic leader of an approved college course and includes professors, instructors, technicians, and technologists.
Field placement – one of the several types of practical experience components in Georgian College programs; specifically, unpaid work exposure to a full range of tasks or skills expected of a competent graduate.
General education courses (GNED) – these are courses designed to complement the vocational studies of students by addressing important issues to our lives as individuals and members of society. GNED’s fit into one of these five themes: Arts in society, Civic life, Social and cultural understanding, Personal understanding, and Science and technology.
Institutional/semester GPA – this GPA is what determines your promotional status each term. This GPA calculation takes all credit courses you have taken in the term, including failed courses and repeated courses.
IRCC (Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada) – a government agency that develops and implements policies, programs and services that facilitates the arrival of people and their integration into Canada. For you, this includes your application to study in Canada as an international student, maintaining your status, extending your study permit, and working during and after graduation. Information can be found on the IRCC website.
MyCreds – this is a national credential wallet for postsecondary learners. It provides you with fast and easy access to request and send your transcripts to other institutions, employers, government offices and others.
MyPath – this is a comprehensive academic advising, student planning, transfer articulation, and credential audit system that helps you take the right courses at the right time and navigate program requirements and prerequisites.
Non-core courses – also referred to as breadth courses, these courses are outside of the main discipline of a degree. They are designed to give you the tools to develop interdisciplinary perspectives that inform your approach to your own discipline, your continued education, and your life outside work. May be mandatory or elective for your degree program.
Official – this refers to something that has approval or authority. It refers to documents, transcripts, dates, procedures, and communications that have come directly from the sources like the college, partner institutions, an employer, or the ministry.
Practicum – an unpaid supervised practical experience in the workplace relevant to academic studies.
Prerequisites – courses in a program you must complete before you can take subsequent courses.
Prior learning assessment and recognition (PLAR) – the process which uses a variety of tools to help you reflect on, identify, articulate, and demonstrate past learning which has been acquired through study, work, and other life experiences and which is not recognized through formal transfer of credit. PLAR allows the evaluation of past learning against established academic standard so that credit can be awarded. The PLAR system evaluates prior learning and relates it to existing courses, through portfolio assessment and challenge evaluation, for the purpose of granting college credit.
Program change – process of moving you from one program to another or change of semesters/progression within the same program.
Program co-ordinator – faculty, who in addition to their teaching responsibilities, provide academic leadership in the co-ordination of courses and/or programs.
Program/graduation GPA – includes all course grades in your program including exemptions for transfer credit and PLAR. If there are repeated courses only the highest grade is used. Failed courses and courses not applicable to your program are excluded from the calculation. Courses that do not meet the minimum required grade for the program are also excluded. This GPA is used for determining eligibility for graduation. This GPA can be seen in MyPath.
Progression – how a program is sequenced at a course and semester level. Progression is stated on the program outline.
Re-sequencing – programs are organized by semesters (i.e., 1 to 8). If you need to take semesters out of order, you should contact your program co-ordinator to discuss options. Often courses in higher semesters have prerequisites that need to be completed in a lower semester. Courses may not be available in future terms. If you complete semesters out of order, this results in a change in program progression and may alter your graduation completion timelines.
Semester – refers to the specific grouping of courses that you are recommended to take in a particular term. For example, semester one of the programs contains six specific courses, semester two contains six different specific courses. Typically, a two-year program has four semesters, and a three-year program has six semesters. The typical semester is 15 weeks including one study week.
Term – a portion of an academic year, the time during which Georgian holds classes. This refers to the four-month periods in fall (September to December), winter (January to April) or summer (May to August).
Total Institution GPA – is the calculation of all credit courses you have taken including repeats. This GPA appears on your transcript.
Transcript – official academic record sent from one institution directly to another; normally includes all academic work completed at an institution.
Transfer credit – credit granted by one program or institution for courses taken at another program or institution. May apply to core courses deemed equivalent in content or may be used to fulfill optional elective course requirements.
WIL (work-integrated learning) – an engaged partnership between an academic institution, a host organization/employer, and you.
Withdrawal – you have chosen to either withdraw from some courses, or your entire program. Official deadlines for withdrawal are in the Important Dates. Depending on the time of the withdrawal, it can also include a financial adjustment.

For additional definitions, please refer to the Office of Academic Quality’s Glossary.