Undergraduate Academic Advising for Fine Arts

The advisor can help you:

• Review fine arts program requirements
• Determine what courses you need to take to graduate 
• Guide new students through the first year of their program
• Declare your degree program
• 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 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.

Career development

Michelle Floyd, Career Educator for Fine Arts, can assist you with exploring potential careers or applying for jobs or graduate school.

Co-op, work experience, or post-study internship programs

Allison Benner, Co-op Coordinator for Fine Arts

To book an appointment with Michelle or Allison, log into Learning In Motion, select the "Appointments" tab and choose "Career Services". Then select a calendar to find an appointment time that works for your schedule.

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

• The Winter Session course schedule is released May 15. The registration period begins late June. Time tickets are issued early June.
• The Summer Session course schedule is published February 15. Registration begins late March. Time tickets are issued early March.
• UVic students register for fall and spring (Winter Session) courses on the same date. Do not delay registering in spring term courses.

Review

• UVic’s registration guide (see Step-by-Step tutorials)
• How UVic courses work
• Course descriptions in the most recent Calendar. Check for prerequisites, co-requisites, and year restrictions.
• The online class schedule. Always read the detailed course schedule view to view any applicable notes or department, major, or year restrictions by course section.

To access class registration details by course 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.

For registration help

Contact Student Support Services: studentsupport@uvic.ca or 250-721-8121.

• 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 when you need permission or assistance to register.

• Check the departmental website for helpful information and resources.
• To register in a course that is reserved for a specific program, you may need to apply by advertised deadlines and meet admission requirements.

Fine Arts students: Contact the Fine Arts Academic Advisor 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.