<Faculty of Fine Arts

Academic Advising and Student Responsibility

The information contained in this calendar and other publications is designed to be self-explanatory. The Faculty recognizes, however, there may be specific questions about regulations which are not answered here. Those questions should be addressed to one of the following sources of information given below.

Student Client Services (The Registrar's Office)

The Registrar's Office administers most of the academic regulations contained in the Faculty of Fine Arts section (416-736-5440; http://www.registrar.yorku.ca). This office provides a wide range of administrative services to students, staff and faculty members, including:

• performing general registrarial functions relating to enrolment and record-keeping;
• applying the Faculty's rules on academic standing, including eligibility to graduate;
• reporting final grades to students;
• producing official university transcripts;
• advising students about petitions and receiving petitions for exemptions from academic regulations.

Student and Academic Services

Student service/guidance personnel, prospective and current students and other interested persons wishing further information about the Faculty, the University and its programs or who wish to arrange a visit to the campus may contact the Student and Academic Services office, 2nd floor, Joan and Martin Goldfarb Centre for Fine Arts, at 416-736-5135. This office also coordinates academic and peer advising programs for new students and provides information and advice to undergraduates and faculty concerning admission, degree programs and their requirements, academic regulations and procedures and convocation.

Department Offices

Enquiries regarding auditions and evaluations, course offerings and faculty should be addressed to the various department offices. Office locations and telephone numbers are listed in the departmental sections of this calendar.

Advising

The Faculty of Fine Arts considers academic advising an important responsibility. The Student and Academic Services area in the Faculty of Fine Arts provides assistance and support to students in the following areas:

• interpretation and application of the Faculty's academic regulations;
• selecting a major and courses;
• academic planning.

The above functions may vary in their significance to students at different times of the academic year and at different points in a student's academic career. Non-academic advising and counselling is offered by Career Services, the Counselling and Development Centre, and the Office of Student Affairs.

Advising students is a shared responsibility of the Student and Academic Services office, the FASAM (Fine Arts Student Advising and Mentoring) Centre, and the departments of the Faculty.

The FASAM Centre is a resource centre which offers peer mentoring and a wide range of resource and referral information from knowledgeable upper-year students.

Students are invited to drop in to the centre during its office hours, weekdays from 10am to 4pm, for assistance with academic queries, referrals to the appropriate contacts on campus, resource information on services at York and the wider community, post graduate studies etc. The centre holds reference materials and resources for researching quick answers on the Internet, academic-related forms and pamphlets, news on workshops and events, tutor contacts, study tips, job opportunities and much, much more.

The FASAM Centre is also the home of the FASAM Mentor Program. Profiles of each of our trained, upper-year student mentors are available in the centre. First year students can contact a mentor whose interests and experience most closely match their needs at the beginning of each term. Mentors will provide support and encouragement to first year students throughout the academic year.

In addition to the office hours, the FASAM Centre offers e-advising through fasam@yorku.ca.

Students should contact department offices throughout the year for advice and information related to their academic career including academic performance, degree programs and requirements.

Student Responsibilities

Every effort is made to ensure that students in the Faculty of Fine Arts have access to accurate information and individual advice and guidance. Within this context, and within the framework of Faculty and program regulations, students are responsible for making their own choices regarding courses and programs. Students should take special care to:

• ensure the courses they choose meet all the requirements for graduation;
• ensure the courses they choose meet prerequisites and are not exclusions or equivalents of other courses already taken;
• ensure the times of the courses they choose do not conflict;
• ensure the accuracy of their registration records, including all changes;
• note and observe deadlines and procedures, especially deadlines for adding and dropping courses;
• ensure full documentation is provided in support of petitions and other requests for special consideration;
• keep themselves informed about their academic progress, including their performance in individual courses. It is incumbent on faculty members to make available to their students assessments of their work and, if requested, to discuss students' progress with them.

Letters of Permission

Letters of permission allow Faculty of Fine Arts students to receive credit at York for courses taken at other universities. In order to receive credit for such courses, a letter of permission must be obtained prior to enrolling. Application forms for letters of permission are available at Student Client Services or on the Current Students Web site at http://www.yorku.ca, click on Current Students.

Courses which students propose to take on a letter of permission must be acceptable to the Faculty of Fine Arts teaching unit best able to judge their academic merit. The Faculty is under no obligation to accept courses taken without its permission.

Students must be in good academic standing to be eligible for a letter of permission; students under academic warning or debarment warning are not eligible.

In order to receive credit for courses taken on a letter of permission, students must arrange for the host institution to submit an official transcript to the Registrar's Office, Student Services Centre. A minimum grade of C as understood by the Faculty of Fine Arts is required for credit to be granted. Grades earned in courses taken at other postsecondary institutions are not part of the student's York transcript and are not incorporated into the student's grade point averages in the Faculty of Fine Arts.

Should a student leave York University to pursue study at another postsecondary institution without a letter of permission, upon return to York, a new application to York is required and all previous transfer credit will be reassessed.