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School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design – Academic Advising and Student Responsibility

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The information contained in the Undergraduate 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.

Advising

The School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design (formerly Faculty of Fine Arts) considers academic advising an important responsibility.

Advising 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 the Career Centre, the Counselling and Disabilities Services Centre and the Centre for Student Community and Leadership Development.

Advising students is a shared responsibility of the Registrarial Services office and the Office of Advising and Integrated Student Services.

Registrar’s Office

The Registrar’s Office administers most of the academic regulations contained in the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design section (416-872-YORK; 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 Office of Advising and Integrated Student Services, 3rd floor, Joan and Martin Goldfarb Centre for Fine Arts, 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 admissions, academic planning, interpretation and application of academic regulations and procedures, degree management advising, petitions, student awards, convocation and referrals to a network of other resources and services for students on campus.

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 publication.

Student Responsibilities

Every effort is made to ensure that students in the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design 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 School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design 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 online at the Letters of Permission website at http://www.registrar.yorku.ca/enrol/lop/index.htm.

Courses which students propose to take on a letter of permission must be acceptable to the School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design 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, Bennett Centre for Student Services. Credit is granted when an approved course is completed with a minimum equivalent grade of C+ (65 per cent) in major courses or C (60 per cent) in non-major courses. 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 School of the Arts, Media, Performance & Design.

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.