Declare your program

Declaring your program is how you officially tell UVic what you want to study. 

As a UVic undergraduate student, you are required to formally declare your program, even if you indicated an intended area of study on your application for admission. Declaring means that you'll be able to access and review your CAPP report and see exactly which requirements you've met, which requirements you still need to complete and which courses you have in progress.

Second-year biology student Liberty shows you the ropes with helpful tips for UVic students in their second year of study and beyond. In this episode, Liberty discusses the why and how of declaring your academic program.

Before you declare

You can request to declare your program through Online tools if

  1. Your current program is in Humanities, Science or Social Sciences, and
  2. Your new program is also in Humanities, Science or Social Sciences.

In all other cases, you'll need to review the process for declaring your program.

Submitting a declaration request

Use the program declaration or change link through Online tools to submit any of the requests below:

  • declare a major program
  • declare an honours program to which you have already applied
  • add or remove a minor, option or concentration
  • add or remove a diploma or certificate
  • add a major or honours program in another faculty

Read through the following sections for things you should consider before submitting a request through Online tools.

Review the eligibility requirements

Do you have 12.0 units of coursework completed (including transfer credit)?

Has your first registered term at UVic already started?

Have you reviewed our choose and plan section?

Have you spent time with the academic calendar and found 300- or 400-level courses in your area of interest that you are excited to take?

If you are declaring in the Faculty of Science (and you are currently in Social Sciences or Humanities), are you in good academic standing and have you reviewed the eligibility requirements to ensure that you have met them?

Declaring a major program

When submitting your request, you can let us know which calendar year you are following by typing it in the comment section. This is an optional step.

You can change your program once you've declared. Simply submit a program change request through Online tools and we will update your record.

Declaring an honours program

Once you have applied to your department for entry into an honours program, you can submit a declaration request if you've not already declared your program or a program change request if you have already declared your program.

Please note: because there is no honours option in the program declaration or change section of Online Tools, you will need to submit your honours declaration request as a request for a major program. Select "I am interested in completing my program with honours" and "I have already applied to the Chair or Honours Adviser for my department". Many students also choose to put a note in the comment section advising us that they have been accepted into an honours program.

Adding or removing a diploma or certificate

The program declaration or change section of Online Tools does not include diploma or certificate programs in its drop-down menu. To add or remove a diploma or certificate, submit a program change request for your currently declared program and note the diploma or certificate you want to add in the comments.

To remove a diploma or certificate, simply submit a program change request which omits the certificate or diploma from the comments.

Submit a request through Online tools

Once you've submitted your program declaration request, it can take up to six weeks for it to be processed.

You can only submit one declaration or program change request per term. If you need to adjust your program within that time frame, please come in to the Advising Centre in person so that we can assist you.

Review your CAPP report

Once you have submitted your program declaration request, you will get an email confirmation that it has been received. Two to six weeks later, you will receive an email from one of our academic advisers to let you know that your report has been updated.

Please note: depending on the time of year and the volume of requests we receive, it may take longer than six weeks for an adviser to process your CAPP report.

Once you have received the email from your adviser, you will be able to access and review your CAPP report online. If you have questions or need assistance, contact the Academic Advising Centre at .