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Psychology Minor (Spring 2012 or earlier)

March 29, 2012

PSYCHOLOGY MINOR
(10 Psych Courses = 5.0 units)
(Admission Must be Spring 2012 or Earlier)

The information provided on this website is supplementary to the information provided in the Undergraduate Calendar.

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RESTRICTIONS FOR ENROLMENT IN THE 10 COURSE PSYCH MINOR
(Admission Effective Spring 2012 or earlier)

Check the restrictions of your home Faculty regarding enrolment in a Minor plan (e.g,. Psych Minor):

Arts Faculty: Students enrolled in any Honours Major or Four-Year General Major academic plan may pursue a Psychology Minor. Students in Liberal Studies plans (Three Year or Four Year) and Three Year General Major plans are precluded from doing the 10 course Psych Minor (listed on this website) and are referred to the 'new' 8 course Psych Minor effective Fall 2012 (other website) for information.

Other Faculties (information reported to the Arts Undergraduate Office March 2012):

  1. AHS Faculties: Students enrolled in degree studies may pursue a Minor plan.
  2. Engineering Faculty (including Architecture): Students enrolled in degree studies may pursue a Minor plan.
  3. Environment Faculty: Students enrolled in any Honours plan may pursue a Minor plan. Others may not pursue a Minor plan.
  4. Mathematics Faculty: Students enrolled in degree studies other than Three Year General Math may pursue a Minor plan.
  5. Science Faculty: Students enrolled in Three Year General Science, Optometry, or Pharmacy may not pursue a Minor. Those in other degree plans may pursue a Minor plan.

NOTE: In some cases, those doing 2 or more academic plans (e.g., Major, Minor, Option, Specialization) will require more than the usual minumum number of units required for the degree.

ADMISSION REQUIREMENTS FOR THE 10 COURSE PSYCH MINOR
(Admission Effective Spring 2012 or earler)

All of the following:

  1. satisfactory standing Honours or Four-Year General Major (excluding Liberal Studies as noted above).

  2. successful completion of at least 4.0 units (e.g., i.e., 8 term courses) - meaning year 2 standing or beyond.

  3. successful completion of PSYCH 101.

  4. cumulative Psychology average of at least 65%.

APPLICATION TO ENROL IN THE 10 COURSE PSYCH MINOR
(Admission Effective Spring 2012 or earler)

Those interested in the Psychology Minor are encouraged to apply in year 2 or 3 rather than year 4 because:

  1. students officially enrolled in the Psych Minor can take advantage of reserved seats for Psych Minors in several Psychology courses;

  2. students officially enrolled in the Psych Minor also receive priority on waiting lists for enrolment in Psychology courses.

To apply for admission to the 10 course Psychology Minor (admission must be effective Spring 2012 or earlier) described on this website, submit a Plan Modification Form to the Psychology Undergrad Office Drop Box off the 3rd floor elevator in the PAS Building. Please indicate on the form that you want to follow the requirements for the 10 course Psych Minor effective the 2011/2012 Undergraduate Calendar or earlier.

Notes:

  1. If you prefer to apply for admission to the 'new' 8 course Psychology Minor (admission Fall 2012 or later) instead of the 10 course Psychology Minor (admission Spring 2012 or earlier), click here (other website) for those instructions/requirements. Note that the "double counting" rules are more lenient for the new 8 course Psych Minor compared to the 10 course Psych Minor.

  2. Those 'officially' enrolled in the Psychology Minor (10 courses) Spring 2012 or earlier but prefer to switch to the 8 course Psychology Minor effective Fall 2012 or later, see the next section for details.

ADVICE FOR THOSE CURRENTLY ENROLLED IN
THE 10 COURSE PSYCH MINOR
(Admission Effective Spring 2012 or earlier)

Those 'officially' enrolled in the 10 course Psychology Minor Spring 2012 or earlier ("official" meaning the Psych Minor appeared on the unofficial transcript on Quest):

  1. may continue to follow the requirements for the 10 course Psychology Minor (details below).

  2. may not switch to the new 8 course Psychology Minor (admission effective Fall 2012) if graduating in 2012.

  3. will be contacted by the UW Psychology Advisor if enrolled in courses Fall 2012 and/or Winter 2013 regarding whether or not they want to switch from the 10 course Psychology Minor (admission Spring 2012 or earlier) to the 'new' 8 course Psychology Minor (admission Fall 2012 or later). Our plan is to facilitate migration from the 10 course Psychology Minor to the new 8 course Psychology Minor in bulk rather than by individual student request. Stay tuned for further details about that process. Note that the "double counting" rules are more strict for the 10 course Psych Minor (see details below) compared to the new 8 course Psych Minor.

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE 10 COURSE PSYCH MINOR
(Admission Effective Spring 2012 or earlier)

Example: 1.0 academic units = 2 term courses worth .5 credit weights each)

Psychology Course Requirements:

A minimum of
5.0 PSYCH
labelled units
are required including:

NOTES
101 Introductory Psychology (or Psych 121R) For those who took PSYCH 120R (no longer offered), see comments below.

3 of the 5
Discipline Core Content Courses
including at least
1 of PSYCH 207 or 261:

207 Cognitive Processes
211 Developmental Psych
253 Social Psych (or Psych 220R)
257 Psychopathology (or Psych 323R)
261 Physiological Psych

  1. Recommend that you complete the 'Discipline Core' requirements before taking other second and third year Psych courses.

  2. Most students prefer not to take both PSYCH 207 and 261 in the same term.

2 Advanced Psychology Courses from
PSYCH 304 through 380 (excluding Psych 323R), 420, 439
  1. See Question 1 of FAQ for a complete list of the Advanced Psych courses.

  2. NOTE: Those who were at least year 2 prior to Fall 2009 will only be required to take 1 Advanced Psychology course. See 'WARNING' below.

4 PSYCH Electives at any level

(or 5 PSYCH electives if only 1 Advanced PSYCH - see 'WARNING')
  1. WARNING: Those who were at least Year 2 prior to Fall 2009 and choose to take 1 instead of 2 Advanced Psych courses (see NOTE above) will be required to take 5 Psych electives instead of 4 in order to bring the total number of Psych labelled units to 5.0 units.

  2. For those who took both PSYCH 120R (no longer offered) and PSYCH 121R, PSYCH 120R counts as a Psych elective for this academic plan.

 

Other Requirements for the Psychology Minor (effective Spring 2012 or earlier):

65% cumulative Psychology average

Note: All Psychology courses taken will count in the Psychology average calculation even if students take more than the minimum number of Psychology courses required for the Psychology Minor.
Exception to the Psych average calculation: Grades for Psychology courses that are officially "cleared" from the average calculations (e.g., because of a Faculty transfer or a 'Required to Withdraw' academic standing) will be excluded from the Psychology average calculation for the Psych Minor.

Residency Requirements:

a) You must not exceed the amount of allowable transfer credits (including internal and external transfer credits) and you must satisfy the 'residency requirements' for your home Faculty:

b) You must also satisfy the 'residency requirements' for the Psychology Minor as dictated by the Faculty of Arts and the Psychology Department including:

  • At least 2.5 of the 5.0 PSYCH units must be taken from UW.
  • At least 2.5 of the 5.0 PSYCH units must be taken on a numerical grading basis and these courses must be included in the cumulative Psychology average.
Double Counting Restrictions:

No more than 1.5 of the 5.0 Psychology units for the Psych Minor can be "double counted" towards Psychology course requirements in Majors, Minors, or Options in other disciplines.

Please review the "double counting" rules with each of your academic advisors in case some academic units/disciplines have rules which are more strict than those of the Psychology Department. When a pair of academic units/disciplines have different policies, the default is to the one more strict.

'Triple counting' of individual Psych courses is not allowed. Meaning, a single Psychology course cannot satisfy a Psychology course requirement in more than 2 academic plans. No exceptions allowed. This is UW Policy.

ACADEMIC ADVICE REGARDING THE PSYCH MINOR

The information provided on this website is supplementary to the information provided in the Undergraduate Calendar. It is your responsibility to ascertain that all requirements for graduation have been met. Monitor your progress on a regular basis and think ahead about future Psychology course availability. Refer to the Undergraduate Calendar for the Psychology course descriptions and prerequisites for enrolment.

Courses that count towards the Psychology Minor:

Psychology courses offered under the rubric 'PSYCH' (e.g,. PSYCH 101) count towards the Psychology course/average requirements for the Psychology Minor.

The following four courses are 'cross-listed' as Psychology courses and therefore count towards the Psychology course/average requirements for the Psychology Minor regardless of the rubric that the student enrols in:

  • GERON/HLTH/ PSYCH 218 (Psych of Death and Dying)
  • PHIL/PSYCH 256 (Intro to Cognitive Science)
  • PHIL/PSYCH 446 (Cognitive Modelling) - no longer offered
  • PHIL/PSYCH 447 (Seminar in Cognitive Science)

There are numerous courses at UW that have psychology content but are not offered under the PSYCH rubric and are not cross-listed as Psychology courses. Such courses DO NOT COUNT towards the Psychology course/average requirements for the Psychology Minor. See FAQ 8 elsewhere on the Psychology undergraduate website for a list of examples.

Psychology course enrolment:

  1. Students in year 1 (i.e., up to 5.0 units in total) should not take more than 1 Psych Course per term.

  2. Students in year 2 and 3 (i.e., 5.0 to 15.0 units in total) should not take more than 3 Psych courses per term.

Examples of academic plans where students must be cautious regarding "double counting" if they also want to pursue a Psych Minor:

  • Applied Language Studies Option (plan inactivated effective Sept 2012)
  • Applied Language Studies Minor (new effective Sept 2012)
  • Cognitive Science Minor (new effective Sept 2012)
  • Cognitive Science Option (plan inactivated effective Sept 2012)
  • Human Resources Management Minor
  • Human Resources Management Option (plan inactivated effective Sept 2012)
  • Honours Kinesiology with the Behavioural Neuroassessment Option
  • Honours Kinesiology with the Ergonomics Option
  • Honours Mathematics/Business Administration with the Human Resources Management Option (plan inactivated effective Sept 2011)
  • Peace and Conflict Studies - Major or Minor
  • Peace and Conflict Studies Option (plan inactivated effective Sept 2012)
  • Sexuality, Marriage, and the Family - Major or Minor
  • Sexuality, Marriage, and the Family Option (plan inactivated effective Sept 2012)
  • Social Development Studies - Major or Minor
  • Speech Communication - Major or Minor
  • Speech Communication Option (plan inactivated effective Sept 2012)
  • Honours Therapeutic Recreation
  • Women's Studies - Major or Minor
  • Women's Studies Option (plan inactivated effective Sept 2012)

CONTACTS

Please direct questions regarding the Psychology course and average requirements for the Psych Minor to the Psych Minor Advisor.

Please refer questions regarding your faculty level requirements or requirements for your other academic plans (e.g., Major, Minor, Option, Specialization, etc.) to the appropriate advisor(s). Click here for the list of advisors.