Undergraduate Academic Advising: Faculty of Fine Arts

The Fine Arts Academic Adviser can help you:

• Review Fine Arts programs requirements
• Determine what courses you need to take to graduate 
• Guide new students through the first year of their program
• Declare your degree program (on completion of 12 or more units including transfer credit) 
• Develop an academic path to best suit your goals and interests
• Choose electives to meet your goals
• Issue a Letter of Permission to attend another post-secondary institution (transfer credit)
• Connect you with the International Student Services office for support planning an Exchange term at a partnership institution.
• Connect you with career education services for students who would like career and academic path planning support.
• Connect you with personal counselling services if you're feeling overwhelmed, alone, or stressed about your studies or career direction.

For advising about graduate programs, please look up the program and graduate admissions/advisor contact.

Joy Andrews, Career Educator for Fine Arts, can help you explore career options or prepare for job and graduate program applications.

To book a 30-minute phone or video conference appointment with a career educator:

1. log in to the Co-op and Career portal 
2. select the "Appointments" tab and choose "Career Services"
3. select the staff member you would like to meet with

Tutorial: How to book an appointment in the Co-op and Career portal

Allison Benner, Co-op Coordinator for Fine Arts, can orient you to co-op, work experience, parallel co-op, and post-study internship options.

• Office: Clearihue D128
• Co-op coordinator: Allison Benner, hufaco@uvic.ca, 250-721-7629
• Co-op assistant: Annette Bailey Smith, hufacoop@uvic.ca, 250-721-8841
• Program flyer

Start planning your course registration before your assigned registration date. Leave yourself plenty of time.

• First Term is September to December (Fall). Second Term is January to April (Spring). Together, the first and second term are referred to as the Winter Session. Some courses are scheduled full-year, September to April, and so registration in both terms is required.
• Students should add courses in both terms on their assigned registration date. Do not delay registering in your second term courses or you may be waitlisted.
• Tip: If you're unsure what you need to take on your registration date, try to add placeholder courses on an 'in case' basis using the program planning worksheets to guide you, then consult an academic adviser. Ideally, you'll do this planning well ahead of your course registration date. Academic advising offices are very busy during the course registration period.
• First/Second Term class schedules are posted mid-April. Course registration begins mid-June. Your registration date/time will be posted in My page in early June.
• Summer Session (May-August; various dates) class schedules are posted mid-February. Course registration begins mid-March. Your registration date/time will be posted in My page in early March.
• Your assigned registration date/time (time ticket) is the earliest date you can add courses. You must pay the acceptance deposit (or apply to resume studies if you've been absent for more than a year) before a date will be assigned. Continuing students are automatically assigned a registration date based on their year level and GPA.
• You can add/drop courses in each term up to deadlines posted in the Calendar (see Academic Important Dates).

Review

• UVic’s registration guide 
• How UVic courses work
• Course descriptions (always check for prerequisites, co-requisites, and year level restrictions)
• Online class schedule 
• Waitlists

Tip: Use hyperlinked information provided on the class schedule to access important detailed notes for each course section including program and year level restrictions. There are two methods to access these depending on how you look up classes: (1) Click on the hyperlinked 'course registration number' (CRN) from the 'Look Up Classes' results list in My Page OR (2) click on the hyperlinked course title from the class schedule search portal. 

Course Load

• The program planning worksheets show how to complete the requirements in a four-year degree format with 15 units per year; this is not intended to suggest that completion within four years is mandatory.
• There isn't a minimum load for participation in Faculty of Fine Arts programs; you can schedule classes on a part-time or full-time basis depending on your situation; your graduation date will depend on when you complete all program/degree requirements. 
• You will need a minimum load if you are studying on scholarship, receive government loans or bursaries or other funding, live in residence, or participate on a varsity team or in the Work Study program. 
• The University's definition of full-time is an undergraduate student taking 12 or more units in the Winter Session (September to April) or 6 or more units in the Summer Session (May to August). 
• If you are an international student you are advised to consult the International Student Services office if you plan to take less than full-time studies in any term. 
• If you are registered with the Centre for Accessible Learning you may be eligible to take a reduced course load and maintain full-time status. 

Registration Help

Course registration system support: Contact Student Support Services: studentsupport@uvic.ca or 250-721-8121. Include your full name, student number, the course code, section number, and CRN. Attach a screen shot of any error messages you need help to interpret.

Tip: Contact the course department (academic unit) directly whenever the course description indicates 'permission of department' is needed or if you have a question about a pre- or co-requisite or the class schedule. If a course is reserved for a specific program you may need to apply to or request to declare the program first.

AHVS courses contact ahvsasst@uvic.ca 
ART courses contact visualarts@uvic.ca
FA courses contact fineasst@uvic.ca 
MUS courses contact musicadmin@uvic.ca
THEA courses contact theatre@uvic.ca
WRIT courses contact writing@uvic.ca  

Fine Arts students: Contact the Fine Arts Academic Adviser by email or visit during drop-in advising hours to request to declare your program(s).

Requests to declare or change a program (honours, major, minor, double major, or any interfaculty program) should be submitted to your faculty advising centre at least six weeks before registering. During peak periods requests to modify a program may take longer to process.

• Students with 12 units of credit or more may request to declare a program within a degree.
• Declared students can access an online degree evaluation (CAPP) report at My Page for tracking graduation requirements.
• Program requirements can change from year to year, so make sure you have the current year’s calendar when preparing for registration.
• Degree requirements are normally determined by the calendar edition in effect in the term of entry to the fine arts faculty or program.
• Review UVic's program planning (see "program outlines" and "courses for first-year students").
• Remember, the ultimate responsibility for academic success lies with you, so understanding course and program requirements is in your own best interest.

Letter of Permission

Fine Arts students who want to take a course at another college or university as a visiting student must request a letter of permission. Only those who are registered as degree students with at least 6 units complete/registered at UVic are eligible.

To request for a letter of permission, email fineartsadvising@uvic.ca.

• Include your name and student number, the name of the institution you want to attend, up to five course codes and titles, and the expected start and end dates for each. Please expect a minimum of 5-10 business days for processing (longer if a transfer credit evaluation is needed first).
• The fee for each letter is $10. Students who provide an official transcript for transfer credit assessment without a paid letter of permission will be charged a $47 document evaluation fee by Undergraduate Records.
• Once your letter has been issued, an informational hold will appear on your administrative transcript until you submit an official transcript to the Undergraduate Records office with your final grade(s) or to show course withdrawal.
• Your official transcript is due as soon as the studies elsewhere are completed. A transcript will still be required if you withdraw from the course or do not complete it successfully.

Students using transfer credit

It is a student's responsibility to ensure all degree requirements are met. Students using transfer credit toward a UVic degree must consider the following limitations:

• at least 18 of the 21 units upper-level courses required at minimum for graduation must be UVic courses (this may include "Exchange" credit)
• no more than 6.0 upper-level units required for an Honours Program may be taken elsewhere
• no more than 3.0 upper-level units required for a Major Program may be taken elsewhere
• no more than 3.0 of 9.0 upper-level units required for a Minor Program may be taken elsewhere

Transfer credit permission letter

A letter of permission will clarify how credit will transfer to UVic (no credit, level credit, course credit), but not how it will apply to your degree. Transfer credit is only awarded for courses completed successfully. If credit for any of the course(s) listed above, or their equivalent(s), has been previously obtained, no further credit will be granted. Consult the calendar regulation on repeating courses that also applies to transfer credit received for courses taken elsewhere.

Academic standing

Grades do not transfer to your UVic transcript, although grades for studies elsewhere are included in sessional GPA calculations to determine academic standing (in good standing, academic probation, or required to withdraw) and are also reviewed for any relevant program requirements. Upper-level courses taken elsewhere are not used in calculating the student’s graduating grade-point average.

Graduation deadline for transcripts

Graduation will not be permitted until all transcripts for issued letters are received. The final deadline for transcripts is February 15 for graduation in the spring and September 10 for graduation in the fall.

Grades for Term Work

During the session, students who believe that a grade awarded for term work is unfair should discuss the matter informally with the instructor concerned. If discussion with the instructor fails to resolve the matter, the student may appeal directly to the Chair/Director or designate of the department or school.

End of Term

Any student that has a complaint about an assigned grade in a course run by the Faculty of Fine Arts should submit a written statement to the instructor within seven business days of receiving the grade. Following this an additional review by the chair or director may be requested. Students should be prepared to re-submit all assignments and supporting documents related to the appeal.

For more information please see the online Calendar regulation for the Review of an Assigned Grade.

To request a copy of the Faculty of Fine Arts Procedures for Review of Assigned Grades please contact the Dean’s office and/or the Fine Arts Undergraduate Academic Advisor by email: fineasst@uvic.ca or fineartsadvising@uvic.ca.