BA and BSc Programs and Regulations

• Honours Programs
• Non-Honours Programs
• Interdepartmental Programs
• University BA and BSc Regulations

Honours degree programs are a minimum of 20.0 credits. Students normally take 5.0 credits (or 10 0.5-credit courses) each year for four years. Honours programs allow a more specialized study of a particular discipline, and are usually required for advanced study and research. Combination Honours BA programs allow students to combine honours work in two disciplines. An honours program in a discipline may also be combined with a secondary program from available options/minors in other disciplines to a maximum of two. The successful completion of a secondary program will be recognized on the student's transcript at graduation.

Numerous options allow students to combine honours programs with a secondary specialization, e.g., Legal Studies, Management Option.

The Environmental Science Option is available to students registered in the Honours BSc program in geography, as well as other Honours BSc programs available through the Faculty of Science. (Refer to the Faculty of Science chapter for details of the Applied Mathematics Option.)

Students are admitted to Laurier into honours programs only. Due to the achievement of inadequate overall GPA, or area of specialization GPA, or course results, a student will be withdrawn from the honours program and placed in a general degree without designation. General degree programs are normally 15.0 credits. Students usually complete 5.0 credits (or 10 0.5-credit courses) a year for each of three years. General degrees in the Faculty of Arts will not have majors, options or minors.

Students who have completed four years of an honours program but are unable to achieve the GPA necessary to graduate, may receive a BA or BSc degree (without General or Honours) with the major of the honours program and a maximum of two eligible options/minors denoted on the transcript. Concentrations or specializations are not allowed with this degree. A major and overall GPA of 4.00 is required.

Students whose overall GPA is a minimum of 4.00, are allowed to register in Honours Arts without specialization for Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3 and may graduate with a general BA without designation or transfer into an area of specialization at any time when they have met the required course requirements and GPA regulations and have been approved by the academic department.

The Faculty of Arts offers many interdisciplinary programs in applied water science, cultural studies, environmental science, history and philosophy of science, languages, medievalism and medieval studies, North American studies, and women and gender studies. An interdisciplinary program combines core courses with courses from other disciplines. This provides students with an opportunity to explore different themes or fields of study.

1. Course Equivalency
   Departments may, with the approval of the dean, recognize a specific course as the equivalent of a required course when a student has obtained satisfactory credit for the course at this or another institution.
2. Prohibition from Registration
   1. A student deemed by the department offering a particular course to have the knowledge or skills taught in that course may be declared ineligible to register for credit in that course.
   2. A student who has failed the equivalent of 2.0 junior credits in a subject, whether the failure occurred in the same course(s) or different course(s), will be barred from registering for credit in further junior courses in that subject, except by permission of the dean and of the department offering the subject.
3. Directed Studies/Irregular Courses
   Directed Studies/Irregular courses dealing with subjects not covered by courses listed in the calendar may be offered to individuals or small groups of students. All outlines for Directed Studies courses together with the completed Directed Studies/Irregular Course Registration Forms must be submitted to the Dean of Arts for approval prior to the last day for adding a course in the term in which the Directed Studies/Irregular courses begin. All outlines must include a schedule of meetings, requirements for at least one graded assignment and a list of readings.
4. Honours Courses
   Several departments in each faculty offer a limited number of courses which are specifically intended for, and restricted to, honours students in the discipline. For these courses, all other students require special permission from the department concerned to register in the honours-level courses.
   400 level seminars are open only to Year 4 honours students registered in the program in which the 400 level seminar is offered. Other students wishing to take 400 level seminars require permission of the department offering the course and the department in which they are specializing. A 400 level seminar cannot be repeated.
5. Interdepartmental Programs
   The co-ordinator of an interdepartmental program must authorize the student's program in writing. Permission to take individual courses is granted by the department or the co-ordinating committee offering the courses.
6. Double Counting
   Students are permitted to double-count courses for more than one program in which the same course is a required course or an elective.