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1. What is the Extended First Year program?

It is a program in which the student reduces the number of courses being taken in second term (the student must drop a full year course and/or a second term half course) and postpones completion of the courses that have been dropped until summer session.  In addition, the student will not be adjudicated for progression into year two until summer session courses have been completed.

2. What is the purpose of the program?

Studies carried out over the last few years have revealed that one of the major reasons for the lack of success of first year engineering students who fail out, is difficulty in adjusting to the heavy workload and academic demands of the first year Engineering program.  In many cases the necessary adjustments are not made until second term, by which time it is difficult to redress the losses that have taken place in first term.  Through the Extended First Year Program it is possible to offset the lost marks accumulated in first term and provide time to concentrate on selected courses in second term.

3. Who is eligible to participate in this program?

All first-time, first year engineering students are eligible.  However, the program is intended primarily for students who have attained an average mark in the range of 55 to 59 in mid-year examinations. All students with an average of less than 60% should consider participating in the program.

4. How it works:

After the winter break when we have your first terms marks, we can calculate a crude average based on your final grades for your three half courses (“A” term) and your mid-term results in AM 1413 (Calculus), ES 1050 (Design) and ES 1022Y (Statics).  We do not use any lab marks in this calculation.  We also do not use your non-technical elective here only because everyone’s doing a different course and logistically it would be impossible to get all those grades in time.  However, your grade in your non-technical elective course IS included in your final year-weighted average.  Students should keep in mind that the ES 1050 class carries a weight of 2.0 and will strongly influence your overall average.

It is recommended that anyone between 55% and 60% come in to the Undergraduate Services Office, SEB 2097, and speak to Karen Murray, Nina Lowes, Martha Fediw or Jan Shepherd McKee, academic counsellors, about the program details.

If you are borderline, we recommend signing up for the EXFYP, in which you will  drop one of your full year and/or 2nd term courses in order to lighten your load so you can spend more time on the remaining courses.  If you choose to drop a full year course, such as AM 1413 (Calculus), we will backdate the drop to November 30 so that a WDN shows on your transcript instead of an ‘F’. This only applies however, if you agree to participate in the EXFY Program.  Then you take the course that you dropped at Western in the summer.  We agree not to look at your average after your final grades are received in May, but will wait until you complete the summer course(s).

So if, for example, after your April exams your YWA is 58% based on 6.5 full courses, we don’t look at that average as failing the year.  We wait until you complete the summer school course, say AM 1413 (Calculus), then we put that final mark into the average calculation and take the YWA over 7.5 courses.  Hopefully this is enough to raise your average over 59.5%.

5. Important information

a. The courses must be taken at Western.  In order to participate in this program you must be able to stay in London and take the course here at Western University.

b. If you drop a full course in January, agree to participate in the EXFYP and we backdate the drop so a WDN shows on your transcript, and then you decide not to participate, we will go back and put the failing grade in for the course.  Therefore, if you decide against participating in the EXFYP after having agreed to do it, there could be very serious repercussions.

c. If you wish to get into one of the popular departments (i.e. Civil & Mechanical) you may forfeit your chance to get into the department by participating in the EXFYP.  The first choice into a department is given to those students who get through first year cleanly (i.e. those with a full course load who have not dropped or failed any courses).  Therefore, if the demand on a particular department is such that it is filled by those students who have passed all their courses during the regular school year and you don’t finish all of your courses until after the summer session, then you will be placed in your second or third choice. Not enrolling in the program may result in your being required to withdraw from the Faculty.

When you drop a full year course and/or one of your second term half courses in order to lighten the load, you may then take the course(s) in the summer. If you failed a course in first term and sign up for the EXFYP, you must drop a full year and/or second term half course to lighten the load and then take the failed course and possibly the dropped course in the summer.

Note: If you fail a course in first term, you are not allowed to repeat that course in second term. You must wait until the summer session to take the failed course.

Every case is different, which is why we ask you to come in and speak with an academic counsellor so we can go over your specific courses.

6. The procedure is:

Check your marks on the Student Services website in January http://studentservices.uwo.ca

Make an appointment to talk to one of the academic counsellors about your particular situation. We realize that many of you need to discuss this with your parents, so you have until January 20th, 2012 to sign up.

If you decide to participate in the program, you must sign a contract outlining the courses you will be taking in second term and summer sessions.  You must agree to participate in the program so that we can track you and remember, we will not adjudicate you at the end of April.

The summer school calendars come out in February, just before Reading Week.  You can pick one up in the Undergraduate Services Office, SEB 2097. You must register for the summer course in March. Courses fill quickly – it is your responsibility to register for the course as soon as possible.

7. How much will it cost to participate in the program?

It is not possible to provide a specific answer to this question.  The cost of first year summer session courses in 2011 was $978.57 per half course and $1,957.12 per full course.  The maximum number of courses to be taken by Extended First Year Program students is one course at either Intersession or Summer Evening and/or one course in Summer Day.  These courses must be completed at Western and may not be taken on a letter of permission.  In addition, it is recommended that students do not undertake full time employment while registered in summer session courses.  Finally, for students whose home is not in London the cost of accommodation must be borne in mind.

8. How long is summer school?

There are three summer sessions:
Intersession : May 16 – June 24, 2011
Summer Evening : May 9 – July 22, 2011
Summer Day* : July 4 August 12, 2011

9. What courses will be offered at Summer Sessions from the First Year Engineering program?

In addition a number of non-technical elective courses will be offered.

*The Summer Day session is not over until August 12th.  By the time we receive the marks it is the last week of August.  Therefore you won’t know if you’re allowed to go into second year or which program you can get into until early September.

10. Must I enroll in the Extended First Year Program in order to drop courses and register in summer sessions?

No, you may withdraw from winter session or “B” term courses by the deadlines noted in the Academic Calendar and register in summer session courses, without enrolling in the Extended Year Program.  However you will be adjudicated for progression on the basis of your winter session performance.  Your summer marks will not be included in your average. If your performance is unsatisfactory, that is, your average mark is less than 60%; you may be denied permission to register in summer school.  You can certainly take a summer school course without being on the EXFYP but the course does not count in your YWA calculations and the extension of the drop deadlines will not apply.

11. Information regarding average calculations and the Extended First Year Program

Dropping a course without academic penalty:

Drop Deadlines:
Full Year course – November 30, 2011
“B” term course – February 15, 2012

No mark is given to you for the course but a WDN goes on your transcript to show that you were registered in this course but withdrew from it.  No mark goes into your average calculation, so your average is calculated using only 6.5 credit courses instead of 7.5.

You have 2 averages - a Year Weighted Average and a Cumulative Weighted Average.  The YWA is used to see if you progress into the next year.  It is a weighted average and is calculated as follows: each course you take is weighted - either 0.5, 1.0 or 2.0 (ES 1050).

The half courses are Algebra, Chemistry, Materials, Physics, Programming and Statics.

The full courses are Calculus and normally your non-technical elective (unless you have taken Anthropology, Geography, Music, Philosophy or MIT half courses).

The 2.0 credit course is ES 1050.

Your final grade in each course is multiplied by its weight.   Then the sum of these is divided by the total of the course weights, normally 7.5.  If you were to drop a full course, then the sum would be divided by 6.5.

In order to progress to second year you must obtain a YWA of greater than 59.5%.  The YWA is based on only those courses you take during the fall and winter terms.  Courses taken in the summer are not used in the YWA (unless you have registered for the Extended First Year Program).  Normally if you take a course in the summer at Western it only affects your CWA.  The CWA is the average of all the courses you take at Western for your Engineering degree and this must be 60% or greater in order to graduate.

An ‘F’ in any non-Engineering course such as AM 1413, Physics 1401A/B & 1402A/B, your non-technical elective, etc. goes into your average calculation as your actual mark if it is 40-48% or as 40% if your mark is less than 40.

A failure in an Engineering course such as ES 1021A/B, ES 1022A/B/Y, ES 1036A/B or ES 1050 goes into your average calculation as the actual mark you earned.  For example, if you decided to not write the final exam in Statics (ES 1022Y), which is worth 60% and you have accumulated 26% on the other 40% of the course in the mid-term and assignments, 26% would be used for the average calculation.  Therefore, drop deadlines become very important to maintain a 60% YWA.