POLICY FOR MINORS
Studio and Liberal Studies Minors for degree programs have been developed with the objective of offering students greater opportunity to add cross-disciplinary knowledge to their major program of study.
Definition
A minor is a sequence of courses comprising no fewer than 3.0 full credits and up to 5.0 full credits in a single field of study (disciplinary minor) or in a thematically based cross-departmental or cross-faculty area of study (interdisciplinary minor).
Declaring a Minor
Students wishing to declare a minor must be in good academic standing.
Undergraduate students wishing to have a minor recorded on their transcript must declare the minor no later than February 1st of the year they apply to graduate, and no earlier than February 1st of their first year of study at OCAD U.
Alumni in the degree completion program wishing to pursue a minor must declare a minor by the end of their first academic year as a degree completion student. Alumni in degree completion with a declared minor may only register for courses required for degree completion and the minor. Alumni must contact the relevant Faculty office to request access to courses required for the minor.
Forms for declaring the minor are available online as well as from Student Advisors in each of the Faculty Offices.
Once per term, the Office of the Registrar shall issue a comprehensive listing of all students with declared minors, which may be used by the Faculty Offices to assist in course planning.
Determining Credits for the Minor
A minor consists of no fewer than 3.0 credits and up to 5.0 credits, selected from a menu of courses stipulated by the Faculty responsible for the minor. No 100-level courses may be used toward a minor; no less than 1.0 full credit of the minor must be at the 300 or 400 level. Only courses completed within the seven years prior to the declaration of a minor may be applied to the minor requirements.
Programs at OCAD U include electives or expansion studios as well as distribution requirements in the Faculty of Liberal Studies (5.0 credits required for graduation). Of these, up to 2.0 credits of Faculty of Art electives may be used toward a minor; up to 1.5 credits of Faculty of Design expansion studios may be used toward a minor; up to 3.0 credits of Faculty of Liberal Studies distribution credits (for graduation with a BFA or BDes) may also be used toward a minor.
Students may not use the same course for multiple minors, nor may they apply the same course toward both their major and a minor. Previous courses already recognized as transfer credits may be applied to the minor, however no new transfer credit may be initiated to apply to the minor.
Most minors include both required and elective courses. Students are responsible for ensuring they meet all the requirements for a declared minor. Failure to complete a declared minor does not carry any academic penalty; however only completed minors will be recorded on the student’s transcript.
Credit Attempts for a BFA or BDes Major and Minor
A minimum of 20 credits is required to graduate with a BFA or BDes. Currently the maximum number of credit attempts to achieve these 20 credits is 25. The addition of a minor to an OCAD U student’s program of study will normally require between 21 and 25 credits to complete. Undergraduate students with a declared minor may increase their maximum number of credit attempts to 30.
Alumni in degree completion programs with a declared minor may increase their maximum number of credit attempts, as determined at the time of admission, by 5.0 credits.
Last Modified:5/2/2013 4:22:18 PM
