Fine Arts Academic Advising

• Review Fine Arts program requirements
• Determine what courses you need to take to graduate 
• Guide new students through the first year of their program
• Help you declare your major (see program requirements section below)
• Develop an academic path to best suit your goals and interests
• Choose electives to meet your goals
• Issue a letter of permission to attend post-secondary studies elsewhere for transfer credit (see section below)
• Connect you with personal counselling services for students who have a personal problem that is affecting their quality of life or academic performance.
• Connect you with career counselling services for students who are unsure about their academic or career path.
• Connect you with the International Student Services office for planning an Exchange term at a partnership institution.

For advising about graduate programs, please contact the applicable Fine Arts department.

For career development support, including exploring potential careers, or applying for jobs or graduate school, you can meet with Michelle Floyd, Career Educator for Fine Arts. Book an appointment by logging on to Learning In Motion, select the "Appointments" tab and choose "Career Services". Then select Michelle’s calendar to find an appointment time that works for your schedule.

For information about co-op or work experience programs, you can meet with Allison Benner, Co-op Coordinator for Fine Arts. Book an appointment by logging on to Learning In Motion, select the "Appointments" tab and choose "All Other Co-op Programs". Then select Allison’s calendar to find an appointment time that works for your schedule. Allison also has regular hours in the Fine Arts Building (Room 124) on Thursday afternoons, from 1:30 to 4:00. You can either book a time with her on Learning in Motion or just drop by to see her.

Start planning your registration well in advance of your registration date. Review:

• UVic’s Registration Guide (see Step-by-Step tutorials)
• How UVic Courses Work
• The course description for prerequisites, co-requisites, and year restrictions as applicable.
• The detailed course schedule entry to view any applicable notes or department, major, or year restrictions by course section.
  • To access course details by section click on the hyperlinked CRN from the Look Up Classes results list from the My Page portal or
  • Click on the hyperlinked course title from the class schedule search portal.

If your question is not answered by the resources above:

• For general registration help contact Student Support Services: studentsupport@uvic.ca or (250) 721-8121. Be sure to include your full name, student number, the course code, section number, and CRN with each request. Attach a screen shot of any error messages you need help to interpret.
• Contact the course department directly for permission to register or questions about prerequisites (including waiver requests based on transfer credit). Departments will often include helpful resources for undergraduate students on their websites. The departmental secretary, administrative officer, undergraduate area advisor, and/or chair are available to assist students with department-specific requests.
• If you want to register in a course that is reserved for a specific program, you may need to apply by advertised deadlines and meet admission requirements. Requests to add a Minor, or second Major program, or declare Honours should be submitted to your faculty advising centre at least six to eight weeks prior to your registration date. During peak periods requests to modify a program may take six to twelve weeks to process.

Please note: Declaration requests received in April and May will be processed during April-June prior to the Winter Session registration period. There may not be time for requests received in June to be processed prior to registration.

Review UVic's Program Planning Guide (see "program outlines" and "courses for first-year students").

On completion of year one (at least 12 units) request to declare your program(s) in order to gain access to a custom online degree evaluation (CAPP) report that will help you track the requirements for your chosen program(s) to graduation.

• Contact the Fine Arts Advisor by email or visit during drop-in adivsing hours to make your request.
• 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.
• 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 from the fine arts advisor. Ony those who are registered as degree students with at least 6 units complete or registered at UVic are eligible for a letter.

• To make a request for a letter, email fineartsadvisor@uvic.ca with 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 $46 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 offical 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 Spring graduation and September 10 for Fall graduation.