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Psychology

Student resources

This page contains important course policies and forms for undergraduate and graduate students. It includes specific forms for the clinical psychology program, such as practicum paperwork and undergraduate competency requirements. Access the documents you need to stay on track in your program.

Course policy information

The department endorses and enforces the Senate Policy on Academic Integrity. We take it very seriously that students who do their work honestly are protected from those who do not. Be sure to familiarize yourself with academic integrity and plagiarism.

The use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) is strictly prohibited in any submitted work (unless expressly endorsed by the instructor as part of an assignment). The department reserves the right to use AI detectors.

Instructors make every effort to prevent cheating and plagiarism. This may include the assignment of seating for exams, asking students to move during exams, requests to see student identification cards and other measures as appropriate. Instructors also have tools and procedures to check for internet and electronic media-based cheating. Make sure you are aware of the policies and consequences.

Are you a student with a learning disability, ADHD, mental health issue or long-term recurring physical or sensory disability? Do you have chronic health issues? If you do, UVic provides academic accommodations to address barriers to your education.

The Centre for Accessible Learning (CAL) arranges for academic accommodations to help reduce barriers. If you are registered with CAL and experience any barriers to learning, please discuss your concerns with your instructor.

You are expected to attend all classes in which you are enrolled. You may receive a final grade of N or be prohibited from writing final exams if you fail to satisfy the attendance requirement. See UVic’s policy on attendance.

Let your instructor know right away if you can’t attend class due to illness. If your courses are affected by illness, accident or family affliction, you may want to request an academic concession.

If you need to bring your children or pet to class, don’t hesitate to do so. We understand that sometimes this is necessary due to care circumstances. However, please aim to have minimal class disturbance so that student learning is not impacted.

Your instructor may record class sessions. The recordings may be made available to all students in the class via Brightspace. If you have questions or concerns regarding class recording and privacy, please contact privacyinfo@uvic.ca.

Auto-generated captioning may be enabled. Auto-captioning is highly error-prone, especially for specialized terminology and proper names. Refer to the audio feed for clarification.

Instructors make all course content and materials available for educational purposes. They are for the exclusive use of students registered in that class. The material is protected under copyright law, even if not marked with ©.

Any further use or distribution of materials to others requires the written permission of the instructor, except under fair dealing or another exception in the Copyright Act. Violations may result in disciplinary action under the Resolution of Non-Academic Misconduct Allegations policy (AC1300) or the Academic Integrity Policy, whichever is more appropriate for the situation.

Toward the end of the term, you will have the opportunity to complete a confidential course experience survey (CES) about your learning experience. The survey is vital to providing feedback to the instructor regarding the course and their teaching. It also helps the department improve the program.

You’ll receive an email when it is time for you to complete the survey. If you do not receive an email invitation, you can go directly to the survey site.

Please consider this important activity during the course. Consider these important questions:

  1. What strengths did your instructor demonstrate that helped you learn in this course?
  2. Please provide specific suggestions as to how the instructor could have helped you learn more effectively.
  3. Please provide specific suggestions as to how this course could be improved.

In classes based on a percentage grading scheme, we follow UVic’s undergraduate grading scale.

Rounding is only applied to the final grade. It is rounded up at the 0.5% level (e.g., 84.49% is rounded to 84% and 84.50% is rounded to 85%).

The University of Victoria is committed to providing a positive, supportive and safe learning and working environment for everyone. See UVic’s equity statement.

All members of the university community have the right to this experience. We are all responsible for helping create such an environment. The university will not tolerate racism, sexualized violence or any form of discrimination, bullying or harassment.

Student conduct and policies

Online behaviour

You are engaging in a university activity when you log into UVic learning systems. All interactions within this environment are subject to the university’s expectations and policies. To report concerns about online student conduct, email onlineconduct@uvic.ca.

We don’t require medical documentation for short-term absences. We may ask for it if you are seeking a withdrawal under extenuating circumstances or an aegrotat grade. See undergraduate requests for academic concession.

Depending on the nature of your concern, the order in which you should normally try to resolve the matter is:

  1. The course instructor
  2. The chair of the department
  3. The dean of the faculty
  4. The senate

If you're seeking a formal review of an assigned grade, you should also consult the regulations on review of an assigned grade. If you have an academic concern or problem that can’t be resolved with your instructor or chair, you may wish to consult the ombudsperson for guidance.

The ombudsperson is an independent and impartial resource to assist with the fair resolution of student issues. They can clarify information, help navigate procedures, assist with problem-solving, facilitate communication, provide feedback on an appeal, investigate and make recommendations.

Our classroom are trans-inclusive spaces. Please indicate if you have a preferred name and pronoun that you’d like to use in the classroom. Email your instructor or TA if you would like to discuss the climate of any classroom for trans students. Gender-neutral bathrooms are available at UVic.

Students who remain in courses for which they do not have the prerequisites do so at their own risk. If you complete a course without prerequisites you are not exempt from having to complete the prerequisite course(s) if they are required for your degree program.

You are responsible for verifying your registration status. You can verify it using Online Tools. Course adds and drops will not be processed after the deadlines in the academic calendar.

Do not assume that you’ve been dropped from a course if you don’t attend classes. Courses that are not formally dropped will be given a failing grade. You may be required to withdraw and will be required to pay the tuition fee for the course.

Learn more about the field of psychology by volunteering in research studies. Information about studies in the department can often be found posted on notice boards or through our participant pool page.

You can request an academic concession if your course requirements are affected by unexpected and unavoidable circumstances, or conflicting responsibilities.

Learn about the situations and options for academic concessions on the students website.

Learn Anywhere is the student support portal for a full range of student academic and support services. Services include:

The UVSS is a social justice-based non-profit run by students, for students. It is entirely separate from UVic.

As an undergrad student, you are already a member. UVSS members work on issues affecting students such as affordability, public transit, sexualized violence, sustainability, student employment and much more.

They fund clubs and course unions and have several advocacy groups. The UVSS also has a food bank and free store, a peer support centre, and runs your health and dental plan.

Undergraduate resources & forms

Course pre-requisite waiver form

Program planning worksheets

Grad student resources & forms

The Department of Psychology has guidelines that students are required to follow once they are  registered in their specific graduate program (master's or PhD). The Graduate Training Handbook is updated annually. See Faculty of Graduate Studies forms and policies for regulations for graduate students.

Course outlines

PSYC 100B Introductory Psychology II: Social and Applied Emphasis, A04, Duncan McCurrach MSc

PSYC 201 Research Methods in Psychology, A01/A04, Dr. Marlise Hofer

PSYC 201 Research Methods in Psychology, A02/A03, Dr. Steve Lindsay

PSYC 210 Conceptual Foundations of Psychology, A01, Dr. David Polson

PSYC 231 Introduction to Social Psychology, A01, Duncan McCurrach MSc

PSYC 243 Introduction to Lifespan, A01, Dr. Jamie Knight

PSYC 251 Introduction to Mind and Brain, A01, Dr. Jhotisha Mugon

PSYC 251 Introduction to Mind and Brain, A02, Dr. Jhotisha Mugon

PSYC 260 Introduction to Mental Health and Wellbeing, A01, Dr. Todd Kettner

PSYC 300B Statistical Methods in Psychology II, A01, Dr. David Medler

PSYC 300B Statistical Methods in Psychology II, A04, Dr. David Medler

PSYC 332 Heath Psychology, A01, Dr. Jody L. Bain

PSYC 330 Personality, A01, Carrie Kobelsky MSc

PSYC 334 Organisational Psychology, A01, Dr. Ronald Porter 

PSYC 335 Infant and Child Development, A01, Dr. Jamie Knight

PSYC 336 Adolescent Development, A01, Dr. Paweena Sukhawathanakul

PSYC 338 Behavioural Interventions with Children and Adults, A01, Dr. David Polson

PSYC 339 Adult Development and Aging, A01, Dr. Tarek Amer

PSYC 351D Biopsychology, A01, Dr. Jhotisha Mugon

PSYC 365 Fundamentals of Clinical Psychology, A01, Dr. Todd Kettner

PSYC 365 Fundamentals of Clinical Psychology, A02, Dr. Jody L. Bain

PSYC 366 Psychological Disorders of Childhood and Adolescence, A01, Dr. Todd Kettner

PSYC 366 Psychological Disorders of Childhood and Adolescence, A02, Dr. Megan Ames

PSYC 375 Interpersonal Relationships, A01, Dr. Jessica Rourke

PSYC 385 Motivation, Emotion & Well-Being, A01, Maria Stepanyan MSc

PSYC 386 Cultural Psychology, A01, Carrie Kobelsky MSc

PSYC 391 Advanced Special Topics in Psychology: Autism Spectrum Disorders, A01, Dr. Sarah Macoun

PSYC 431i Psychology and Law, A01, Dr. Jessica Rourke

PSYC 435A Advanced Infant and Child Development, A01, Dr. Paweena Sukhawathanakul

PSYC 463 Special Topics in Clinical Psychology: Theories of Psychotherapy, A01, Lauren Matheson MSc

PSYC 463 Special Topics in Clinical Psychology: Community Applications in Health, Education and Sport, A02, Dr. Todd Kettner

PSYC 491 Advanced Special Topics in Psychology: Sport Psychology, A03, Dr. Ronald Porter

PSYC 491 Psychological Principles for Instruction, A02, Dr. Allyson Hadwin

PSYC 491 Forensic Psychology, A04, Dr. Jody L. Bain

Research discussion groups

Announcements of upcoming meetings are posted to the Psychat mailing list.

The Clinical Psychology Colloquium is held weekly for clinical students and faculty. Contact: Dr. Erica Woodin.

The cognition and brain sciences program hosts a weekly seminar series on Fridays, 3-4:30 p.m. Contact: Dr. David Medler.

Anyone interested in cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience, cognitive science or generally anything cognitive is welcome to hear presentations by our faculty, grad students and visiting researchers.

The weekly CaBSSem announcement includes an abstract for the upcoming talk. If you’re not already receiving it through the Psychat mailing list, you can subscribe to the CaBSSem mailing list or visit the CaBSSem website for the latest schedule. 

Student poster session

Don’t miss the Making Waves Undergraduate Research Conference in Psychology around the beginning of April. It’s an annual celebration of the research efforts of undergraduate students from UVic and beyond. All UVic psychology honours students contribute a poster presentation.

Learn about areas like human memory, children's cognitive development, interpersonal social interactions and electrophysiological analyses of brain processes.

Volunteer opportunities

Faculty and graduate students can sometimes provide opportunities for undergraduate students to become involved in ongoing research projects. Learn about the research being done by our faculty members.

You can also volunteer off-campus in positions related to psychology, for example:

  • NEED crisis line
  • senior care homes
  • at hospitals with Alzheimer’s patients
  • Victoria Brain Injury Society
  • Queen Alexandra Foundation for Children

One great way to find out about volunteer opportunities is to talk to your professors. They can give you advice on where to go based on your interests.