Leave of Absence or Withdrawal

Withdrawal from Courses after Registration

• Students cannot withdraw from individual courses in terms #1 – #7. During these terms, withdrawal can only be from all the courses in a term. Such a withdrawal would require the student to wait until the next regular offering of those courses to take them and continue in the program.
• In terms #8 and #9 students must complete these terms in sequential order (consecutively) as successful completion of Strategic Integration Project (B) and  Strategic Integration Project (C) are required in the same year.
• If a student wishes to withdraw, without a financial penalty, from the program in a term in which they are already registered, they must apply for the withdrawal prior to the first residency.
• In third year, students can withdraw from non-BLPT elective courses following the rules that apply to those courses.
• In the third year, students can withdraw from BLPT elective courses prior to the first residency without financial penalty, but must wait for the next regularly scheduled offering of the course if they wish to register in it again.
• After the first residency and up to the end of the ninth week of the term, withdrawals may be permitted with financial penalty (but no academic penalty), if one of the following is the case and appropriate documentation is submitted:

a) Medical issues – required documentation: doctor’s certificate describing the medical concerns.

b) Changes in the student’s employment (e.g., transfer, promotion, extraordinary overtime requirements unanticipated at the time of registration – required documentation: letter of explanation from immediate supervisor on company letterhead)

• After the end of the ninth week of the term, and until the last day of classes, students may not withdraw without academic penalty, from the program or a course (as outlined above); however, they may request a deferred examination (if applicable) on the basis of either (a) or (b) above.
• Requests for consideration under the above items must be made in writing to the BLPT Program Officer (askblpt@mcmaster.ca) and be accompanied by appropriate documentation. These requests must be received no later than the following times:

a) Before the first residency of the term for cases requiring no documentation

b) End of the ninth week of the term for cases with documentation (medical or employment)

c) Last day of the regular academic term or the day prior to an examination (whichever date falls first) for requests for deferred examination privileges.

• Students can change electives before the final day to add courses for the term, however if a student is wishing to add a blended-formatted elective, they need to add this course prior to the start of the first synchronous webinar or residency of the term (whichever activity falls first).
• Students who have withdrawn from the program may petition for re-admission to the program, provided that they do so within five years of the date of withdrawal and they may be eligible for reinstatement at the Program’s discretion upon reapplication. The permissible time to complete the BLPT MBA program is limited to eight calendar years from the date of first registration in the program. Should a student’s petition for re-admission be accepted, they will be subject to the Program policies in place at the time of their re-admission. In addition, if re-admitted and the program curriculum has not changed since the time of their withdrawal, they will be allowed to re-enter the program during their next scheduled academic term as per the BLPT term sequencing outlined in the SGS Academic Calendar.  If, however, program curriculum has changed since the time of their withdrawal from the program, students’ petitions will be assessed on a case-by-case basis for re-admittance.