UBC Calendar: Program of Study
Please read the full Senate policies in the Calendar.
MAIN POINTS - ALL STUDENTS
Registration
- Students must maintain continuous registration throughout all years until graduation by keeping up with tuition fee payments, except for periods of time for which the student is away on an approved leave of absence. Note: Continuous registration includes the summer term.
- Failure to register for two consecutive terms may result in the student being required to withdraw.
DOCTORAL STUDENTS
Supervisory Committee
- Doctoral supervisory committees must have at least three members (including the supervisor). They may have either one supervisor and at least two committee members, or one primary supervisor and one co-supervisor and at least one committee member, or two co-supervisors and at least one committee member. They may not have three co-supervisors.
- With the approval of the Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, the committee may also include qualified persons who are not faculty members. See Supervision on this website for details.
- 50% of the committee must be members of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.
Program of Study
- Doctoral students consult with supervisor(s) to develop a program of study, which is subject to the approval of the home graduate program.
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The program of study will consist of seminars, directed readings, consultations and such formal courses as may be deemed essential for the fulfilment of the requirements for the degree. Students must pass or satisfactorily make up all courses they are taking as part of their degree program.
Note: Students intending to take courses that are not part of their degree program. If they wish to do so, they must first obtain permission from their program office or Supervisor or Graduate Advisor. Important: Courses taken for academic enrichment that are not required to complete a degree program are still subject to the grading requirements of courses taken as part of the graduate program. Failed courses, whether taken for degree completion or for other reasons, are subject to the process for Unsatisfactory Academic Progress.
- Changes in the program of study must be reviewed and approved by the student's supervisory committee and the home graduate program.
MASTER'S STUDENTS
Program of Study
- Each student's program of study must be approved by the home graduate program.
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Students must pass or satisfactorily make up all courses they are taking as part of their degree program.
Note: Students intending to take courses that are not part of their degree program. If they wish to do so, they must first obtain permission from their program office or Supervisor or Graduate Advisor. Important: Courses taken for academic enrichment that are not required to complete a degree program are still subject to the grading requirements of courses taken as part of the graduate program. Failed courses, whether taken for degree completion or for other reasons, are subject to the process for Unsatisfactory Academic Progress.
- Individual graduate programs may be full- or part-time, and may or may not require a thesis.
Master's Requirements
- The minimum course requirements are 30 credits, of which at least 24 must be numbered 500 to 699. A maximum of 6 credits at the undergraduate level in courses numbered 300 to 499 may be counted toward the requirements of a 30-credit master's degree.
- Thesis-based master’s students must have a supervisory committee. The committee must have at least two members, and should have at least three members (including the supervisor). Committees may have either one supervisor and at least one committee member, or one primary supervisor and one co-supervisor and one committee member, or two co-supervisors and one committee member. They may not have three co-supervisors. 50% of the committee must be members of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. See Policies and Procedures / Supervision for details.
- A comprehensive examination in the form of a final written and/or oral examination is at the discretion of the graduate program.
- In specific programs, minimum requirements may be higher than 30 course credits. Undergraduate courses numbered 300 to 499 may account for no more than 20% of the course credit requirement.
- Courses listed in the Calendar under graduate programs may not all be offered annually.
Program Requirements
From the Calendar:
“Degree or program requirements are established and modified with the knowledge and approval of Senate and are recorded in the faculty and school entries. Unless a student takes an extraordinary number of years to complete prescribed studies, the student is usually given the option of meeting requirements in effect when first enrolled or of meeting revised requirements subsequently approved by Senate.”