Frequently Asked Questions

• Common work areas: Education, Human Rights, Policy, Public Service, Social Service, Writing
• Common career opportunities:

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The Pauline Jewett Institute of Women’s and Gender Studies offers a practicum course (WGST 4903, WGST 4904) for Women’s and Gender Studies students who choose to pursue a specific area of research?  Opportunities are provided to students to apply their women’s and gender studies knowledge to a specific project or problem.  Students may have the choice of identifying a specific research project or area that they wish to pursue in conjunction with an institutional placement.  Each placement will be negotiated individually as a contract between the student, instructor and institutional partner.

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Registration for courses is divided into blocks called time-tickets. Your time-ticket indicates the date and time when you can first access the registration system and officially register for courses. Access to the course calendar is made available before the time-tickets open, which allows students to view courses and build a tentative timetable (a “Worksheet”). For more information, click here.

There may be several reasons for this:

• You do not have the prerequisites
• You have a time-table conflict (you cannot take two classes that run at the same time and day)
• There is no more room in this class and/or the Waiting List is full

You may be able to resolve this issue by filling out a Registration Override Request (found on Carleton Central under “Registration”). The Academic Advisor will look at your request within 48 hours and will inform you as to whether you will be allowed to register.

A Major is a discipline or area of specialty studied in some depth as part of a degree program.  Students may choose to pursue two Majors through the course of their degree.

A Major is a discipline or area of specialty studied as part of a degree program. A Double Major (or Combined Honours) is simply two Majors completed in one degree. Deciding to take a Double Major reduces the number of elective courses a student may take.  Some students opt to take a Double Major because they are interested in two areas of study.  For example, one might take a Double Major in law and psychology.  A Double Major gives you a field of concentration in two areas rather than in one.

A Minor is a specified number of credits in a discipline that provides you with grounding in that area and may complement your main area of study.  A Minor gives students the chance to pursue another area of interest without having to do a Double Major, and gives a greater choice of electives.

A Concentration is a defined pattern of courses within a degree program that gives you a particular expertise in a specialized area of interest. For example, in Carleton’s Bachelor of Arts in Law degree, you could choose to concentrate in Business Law.

A Bachelor Degree is a program of study that takes at least three or four years of full-time study to complete. The four-year degree (or Honours) is a more intensive and in-depth study of discipline and is often the prerequisite for graduate studies, such as a master’s program.

Both are Bachelor Degrees, however an Honours degree is a more intensive and in-depth study of the discipline than a General degree. An Honours degree refers to a 20-credit program in which the average student taking a full course load normally graduates within four years. A General degree refers to a 15-credit program in which the average student taking a full course load normally graduates within three years.

Both degrees provide Carleton students with the critical skills and training required for a professional career. However, the four-year Honours degree offers students an opportunity to pursue education at the graduate level.

If you are interested in continuing your education after completing an Honours Degree, you may be interested in applying to a Graduate Program. Pursuing a Graduate degree gives students the opportunity to focus on a specific topic(s) within a field of study. Carleton offers three graduate programs: Master’s, Doctoral, and Graduate Diploma. Generally, a Master’s degree requires, at the minimum, that students have completed an Honours Degree. The Doctoral programs require, at the minimum, that students have completed a Master’s degree. A Graduate Diploma is an optional program that is meant to enhance and compliment a Graduate program. For more information about the Graduate Programs that Carleton offers, please click here.

A Faculty is a major teaching division of the University, divided into departments, schools or institutes, and headed by a dean. Carleton has five undergraduate faculties: the Faculty of Arts and Social Science; the Faculty of Public Affairs and Management; the Faculty of Science, the Faculty of Engineering and Design and the Sprott School of Business.

• What are your interests?
• The first step to choosing a major is to consider what you like.
• What things do you truly enjoy?
• Begin brainstorming your interests by jotting down some answers to the following questions:
• What activities do you like to participate in?
• What are your hobbies?
• Do you enjoy spending your time outdoors or indoors?
• Do you prefer to work alone or as part of a team?
• What types of jobs appeal to you?
• What is your dream job?
• What are your abilities?
• What are your strengths, weaknesses, and what skills do you possess?

Once you have a basic understanding of what you want to do, but are still in need of some council, visit the Student Academic Success Centre to meet with an adviser to help you decide.  SASC assists undergraduate students in developing meaningful education plans. SASC offers study skills workshops, personal advising, tutor referral service, mentoring programs and more!

The answer for the most part is yes. It is easier to change a program within your Faculty than outside of your Faculty. For example, students enrolled in History can fairly easily switch to English, but if enrolled in History, students generally lack the necessary math and science courses necessary (prerequisites) to transfer to Aerospace Engineering.

The following changes to your Degree can be made at the Registrar’s Office:

• Switch from one program to a different program within the same degree
• Add or drop a Minor, Concentration, or Specialization

Changes to your program generally require 30 days for processing.  Please contact the Carleton Registrar’s Office for details. You should also visit the Registrar’s Office website to download the appropriate forms for submission.

We suggest that you discuss your degree changes with the Institute’s academic advisor, and if required, an academic advisor at the Student Academic Success Centre to ensure you know all the important facts before making a decision.

Many programs offer students the opportunity to branch off into a more specific area within their program. Depending on the program, this focus may be referred to as a stream, concentration, specialization or theme. Students can also double Major (combined Honours) and Minor in subject areas that are of particular interest to them. These decisions are not usually made until a student has completed at least five credits or one year of full-time study.

The normal course load for a full-time student is anywhere between 4 and 5 full credits per year (4 to 5 ccourses each semester). A full credit runs from September to April during the fall/winter session and a half credit runs from September to December or January to April. Students may also enroll in full or half-credit summer courses. It is important not to overload yourself with too much work either at school or outside of school.  It is important that as a full time student you are able to keep up with your work with proper time management skills.

Prerequisites are courses that must be taken BEFORE another course is taken. For example, you cannot take second year WGST 2800 before you have taken first year WGST 1808 or its equivalent.   Prerequisites may also be a certain level of standing, for example, you may choose to take WGST 3005 only if you have third year standing in your program.

In choosing courses, it is extremely important that you check the prerequisites listed in the course descriptions part of your Calendar.  Success in the course will be jeopardized if you do not possess the appropriate prerequisites. Also, when you are planning your courses, it is important to look ahead to courses you wish to take in future years and ensure you take the required prerequisite courses beforehand.

Typically, lower level courses are courses numbered as 100 or 200; these are generally completed in the first and second years of degree programs. Upper level courses are courses numbered 300 and 400 and are usually completed in the third and fourth years of degree programs.

Course selection must be completed according to the requirements of the faculty or school and major department(s) in which the student is registering.   The Carleton undergraduate calendar lists all programs and what the requirements are for that program. For example, each program has a list of compulsory courses a student must register in, and complete. For example, for a B. A. in Women’s and Gender Studies, a student would be required to take WGST 1808, Introduction to Women’s and Gender Studies or FYSM 1402 Issues in Women’s Studies or FYSM 1403 Women and the Arts in their first year. After first year, you get to choose from more courses that interest you within that program of study.   Each Program has different course requirements.  Please consult your academic calendar.

Many reasons can lead students to drop a course…

• Scheduling conflicts with other classes
• It is not a compulsory course
• Didn’t like the course
• Failing

Before you decide to drop a course, it is recommended that you meet with your academic adviser to go over all of your options.

To drop a course logon to Carleton Central. “Add/Drop Classes” is found under “Registration”. There are two important dates to consider when dropping a course:

• With fee reassessment deadline (usually at the end of the first month of term)
  If you drop a course before this date you will be reimbursed for the cost of the course. If you drop the course after this date you will not be financially reimbursed.
• Academic withdrawal deadline (the last day of term)
  If you wish to drop a course you MUST drop it before this date. After this date you will not be able to access the Add/Drop Classes function on Carleton Central. 

A degree Audit shows how courses you have taken apply toward your programs course requirements.  The audit shows what courses you have completed, and what requirements a student has yet to complete.  The audit is like a map showing the student what courses to take next.

Carleton provides each student with a degree audit once a student has completed courses. You can run an audit at any time, simply logon to Carleton Central and find “myAudit” under “Student Support Services”.

Many of your courses will evaluate your performance in the course on more than one assignment or exam. Often, some of your marks will be determined based on your participation in the lecture, seminar, or discussion group.

Participation marks encourage all students to take part in discussions, debates, and exercises that are relevant to the course material. Discussion often leads to deeper understanding and analysis of the given topic.

Refer to your course syllabus for guidelines on how participation will be graded for each course, or ask your TA or instructor for more information. It is also a good idea to talk with your TA or instructor if you are nervous or worried about participating, they may be able to offer you with helpful suggestions or work with you to ensure you get to participate.

Professors keep office hours, the times and locations will be on your syllabus that is distributed on the first day of class. Office hours are a good time to ask questions that you may have about the course content or to clarify assignments.  Also, it’s always a good idea if you are having difficulties to talk to your professor.  By doing this your professor can offer suggestions to help you or help make complex course materials more understandable.   In big classes it is sometimes hard to make contact with your professor but office hours give students, who may be shy, the opportunity to talk one-on-one.

Teacher’s assistants are usually graduate students who work for professors.  TAs handle a number of things such as run your class tutorials, mark papers, as well as exams.  Each TA’s work is different depending on what the professor wants them to do.  Most TAs hold office hours where you can go to get extra help with course content or simply to ask any questions you may have. The office hours and contact information is usually listed in the course syllabus.

Goal setting is an important part of academic success at any educational institution. When a student decides to set goals of what they want to achieve it directs energy towards working to attain that goal. Goals can be set as a sense of discipline and direction like making a detailed time management plan that you stick to. Achieving goals, even small ones, can bring a sense of accomplishment, and further reinforces the goal process. There are many types of goals a student may have, for example:

Students can drop by 302 Tory (8:30-4:30, Monday-Friday) and they will be seen the same day by an academic adviser (no appointments necessary).

“You must be an active participant in deciding and planning your academic future”

If you have problems with your audit, for example: a course completed not shown counting towards your degree, you may also speak to Claire Ryan, the Institute Administrator, at 613-520-6645.

Questions regarding the Graduate Program content should be directed to the Graduate Supervisor, Karen March, or the Institute Administrator, Claire Ryan.

For information on applying to the Women’s and Gender Studies Graduate program check out the PJIWGS page for prospective graduate students, here.