Choosing an elective can be complex. Here is some information that will help you make the most informed decision when browsing the course schedule for electives!
What is a degree completion elective?
A degree completion elective is a course that is not listed as "required" for a major or minor, but is taken to meet the credit hour requirement for a particular credential. Electives can be taken from any subject area. For example, a student who is majoring in Psychology may be interested in electives in Anthropology, Biology, Chemistry, English, Commerce, and any other subject outside of required Psychology courses.
How should I select an elective?
We encourage all students to embrace Academic Breadth in both knowledge and skills. The ideal graduate has demonstrated literacy and numeracy in study, has acquired breadth of knowledge outside the chosen discipline(s) of study, and has developed the habit of analytical and critical thought. Electives are an opportunity to explore other subject areas that may be of interest to you!
We encourage you to search the course schedule by level to find electives. For example, a first-year student would leave the subject area of the course schedule finder blank, but might enter "1%" into the field to search all 100-level courses being offered at UNBC that semester. This allows for the student to search all subject prefixes (such as BIOL for Biology, CHEM for Chemistry, COMM for Commerce, and so on), and ultimately find courses that might be of interest to them!
Can I strategically use electives for future career plans?
Absolutely! If students have a future academic goal in mind (such as social work, education, medical school, dentistry, optometry, dietetics, pharmacology, and many more), sometimes electives play an important role in planning for that. For example, students who would like to apply for a Bachelor of Education program may need to work composition or literature courses into their coursework and so will use their electives to take those classes. Similarly, students who are planning to apply to medical, or medical related programs in their futures will research admission requirements for their goal programs and “work backward” to use their electives to make sure that they have those requirements met in time for their future application.
Students will also use electives to help them complete requirements for a professional designation (such as Chartered Professional Accountant (CPA), Registered Professional Biologist (RPBio), or Registered Professional Forester (RPF).
My program has the Academic Breadth requirement. Are these courses considered electives?
They sure can be! At least one course toward the Academic Breadth requirement for all programs will be a program required course (for example, the BSc Computer Science requires Computer Science (CPSC) courses, and an English (ENGL) course, so they will naturally meet both their Physical Science and Arts and Humanities academic breadth requirements with their program required course selection). If a student takes a course outside of their program requirements to fulfill their academic breadth requirement (for example, FNST 100 for the Social Science requirement, and/or HHSC 105 for the Natural Science requirement for the Computer Science program), those courses are considered electives.
Can you tell me which elective to take?
While your Student Advisor won’t be able to choose your elective for you, we can certainly work with you to help you choose the elective(s) to best suit you and your goals. We can explore your options for declaring a minor and how those requirements might fit into your degree, the pursuit of future academic goals and how electives might play an important role, the completion of certificates (such as the Certificate in Business Administration Fundamentals, offered by the Commerce Department), or because you’re interested in the subject and want to explore it further. We’re here to help!