can probation/suspension students use the gym or the counselling people? is that allowed? or are we no longer considered students???
hey there,
ok so this is sort of an interesting one because there’s nothing official said about this on any of the U of T websites. so we’re gonna have to rely on our sleuthing and reasoning powers here.
first off, probation and suspension are two different academic standings (here is some Official info on that). when you’re on probation, you’re still enrolled as a student, but your grades are sort of put on watch. the best way i can think of explaining it is, it’s basically academic purgatory lol. you’re not quite suspended, but you’re also not in good standing. it’s sort of the buffer zone before getting suspended, where you still have the chance to pull your grades up and get back into good standing — but if you don’t, you’ll get suspended. you can read more about the specific GPA’s that determine all this on that site i linked.
meanwhile, when you’re suspended, you’re technically not enrolled/registered for the school year, so everything sorta goes on pause.
can you still use the gym?
using the gym and (some) of the libraries would require that your T-card works. however, your T-card would not work if you’re suspended.
the biggest determining factor here is incidental fees. if you’re suspended, and you aren’t registered for the school year, you won’t be paying your fees, which is what gives you access to the gym in the first place.
i guess you could separately pay to access some of the gyms though, like the hart house gym, which i know non-U of T folks can pay to use.
can you access counselling/mental health services?
by counselling services, i’m going to assume you mean health & wellness services and registrar counselling?
again, the services provided by health & wellness are covered through incidental fees and that makes me think that maybe you won’t have access.
BUT i did some digging and found this one person on reddit (keep in mind, idk how reliable this is) who was asking a similar question to this just last month. they were asking if they could still go to their mental health appointment if they were placed on 4 month suspension. they then came back to update us (king behaviour, imo) that they were still able to go to their appointment! so it seems like you’re not automatically kicked out of the system if you’re suspended.
so it seems to me that if you already have an ongoing relationship with someone at health & wellness, it’s worth reaching out directly to them for clarification. they might be able to continue working with you, especially if your suspension is short, but you’d need to confirm that. like for example, if you see your therapist every week and get suspended, i don’t think you should get cut off from therapy? there has to be a way around that.
it’s just if you’ve never gone, and try to initiate something after you’re suspended that you might run into issues, i think.
so ultimately, your best bet here is to double-check with health & wellness to know for sure. if they don’t have an answer, maybe your registrar’s office will.
because even in the worst case scenario in which you are completely cut off from accessing health and wellness services, you won’t be completely stranded. if you’re suspended, you still have access to your registrar’s office for support and advice. (this fact comes directly from my registrar). they will be able to offer you counselling services and mental wellness support — and some colleges or faculties might have specific resources or guidance for suspended students, so definitely check them out.
sooo tldr: if you’re on probation, you’ve got access to gyms and counselling services. if you’re suspended, no access to gyms, possible access to health and wellness counselling, definite access to faculty/college registrar counselling.
and, yeah! i hope this was helpful. best of luck to you, feel so free to reach out again if you have more questions!
over and out,
aska
