Former nursing student kicked out of program for failing twice

Kaity Brown

Staff Writer

Caitlin Seymour, a former Mount Royal University nursing student, was recently kicked out of her program when she was taking the same course for the second time and didn’t receive a grade of a least a C, which is 63.5 per cent.

In a recent General Faculties Council on Jan. 17, it was decided that students in nursing, midwifery, social work, and disability studies who receive a grade that is considered a “fail” or a W for the second time, will be removed from their program.

Seymour received 62.5 per cent, and, because of that, she was cut out of the program.

Caitlin Seymour was kicked out of the nursing program when she twice received grades below a C. Photo courtesy Caitlin Seymour

The new regulation at MRU, which applies to eight programs and diplomas at the university, now mandates that if a student doesn’t receive a grade of C or higher for a course, and fails the same course twice in a row, they will be removed from the program.

“They practiced this for many, many years but it was never really in regulation,” Seymour said.

Seymour is referring to a hearing that happened on Jan. 17, where board and representative members gathered to pass the regulation and make it permanent.

The “two-strikes-you’re-out” policy is not just about getting grades below a C. It also covers W for withdrawals.

“If you get a withdrawal with cause, then it doesn’t count. But getting a withdrawal with cause, from what I heard, is actually really hard,” Seymour said. “So it could put a lot of people in trouble if they can’t get that ‘with cause.’”

A withdrawl with cause is a course that shows up as a WC on a students transcript, indicating that they had a valid reason for withdrawing from a course.

Seymour understands the importance of the hard criteria in order to become a nurse through Mount Royal.

“They didn’t want people re-trying, re-trying, re-trying. Because they want professionals. With nursing they thought it was very important to have very well educated nurses.”

However, she is feeling a bit taken aback about the impersonal approach of the university.

Seymour also said the approach the university is taking won’t be successful, only instilling fear in students — a constant fear that they might fail and ultimately get kicked out of the program.

“I was really devastated about this because I didn’t know what to do. Mount Royal was my dream school. I knew this is where I was meant to be.”