2.2.5 Declaring a Major

Students enroled in the Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science degrees can complete their degrees with a “major” - a planned selection of courses intended to provide background and depth in a discipline.

The first step is deciding the discipline in which you wish to major. Those taking a Bachelor of Arts can choose from among: Canadian studies, cultural studies, economics, English, French, history, linguistics, mathematics, religious studies, political studies, psychology, public policy studies, sociology/anthropology, Spanish and women’s studies. For a Bachelor of Science, the possibilities are: biology, chemistry, mathematics, and psychology. Your decision will be aided by first investigating the requirements for a specific major. The specific requirements for Majors and Minors are found under Section 4 Departments, Programs and Course Listings.

Secondly, you should seek advice from the Chair of the department, (the name of the Chair for each program appears directly under the program name in Section 4), who will help you or direct you to someone who can. You are encouraged to seek this advice early in your studies to ensure the proper course selection and sequence for your program.

Once you have decided to declare a major, you must:

have your Faculty Advisor in the department in which you intend to major sign a Declaration/Change of Program: Degree, Major, Concentration, Minor form.
take the completed form to the Registrar’s Office to have your major officially declared.

Until you declare your intention to pursue a major or general studies program, your Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science program will be noted as “undeclared”.

Students must declare their major before registering for their sixth unit of coursework. Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science students who do not declare their intention to complete a major or a general studies program within this time frame will not be permitted to register for further coursework.

Changing a Major
Students who wish to change their major must proceed as follows:

have your faculty advisor, in the department in which you intend to major, sign a Declaration/Change of Program: Degree, Major, Concentration, Minor form.
take the completed form to the Registrar’s Office to have your major officially declared.

Declaring a General Studies Program
Students enroled in Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science degrees can complete their program in general studies, a planned selection of courses intended to provide a broad background in the humanities, sciences and social sciences.

You must seek advice with your course selection and sequence from the Student Academic Advisor. Once you have decided to pursue a general studies program, you must:

have the Student Academic Advisor sign a Declaration/Change of Program: Degree, Major, Concentration, Minor form.
take the completed form to the Registrar’s Office to have your general studies program officially declared.

Students must declare their intention before registering for their sixth unit of coursework. Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science students who do not declare their intention to complete a general studies program within this time frame will not be permitted to register for further coursework.

Academic Note: This online web-based calendar is current, as of the final senate meeting for the academic year held May 9, 2011, and should be used for Summer/Fall registration purposes. The web-based calendar is updated once a month after each Senate session up until the final session of each academic year. Please be advised that the "Official" 2011/2012 Academic Calendars are currently availabe in PDF.