Directed studies involve individual work under the direct supervision of one or more faculty members. You'll be responsible for approaching potential instructors, and the course must be planned in consultation with them.

Before you can register in the course, the instructor and the school's graduate adviser must approve the course's content, credit value, and method of evaluation. You'll also need to complete a pro forma proposal form.

You are responsible for:

• being familiar with the regulations of the Faculty of Graduate Studies
• making yourself familiar with the school’s requirements
• ensuring that your chosen courses conform with the faculty and school regulations. You’re also responsible for the completeness and accuracy of your registration and program. Discrepancies can often be detected by examining the Curriculum Advising and Program Planning (CAPP) form.
• registration for the duration of your program. You must register or withdraw with permission in every term once your program begins (three terms per year).
• making yourself familiar with your fee obligations.
• maintaining open communication with your graduate supervisor, supervisory committee, and the SCYC graduate adviser through mutually agreed-upon meetings. Bring any problems (current or potential) to their attention -- there are formal routes of appeal.
• promptly reporting changes in address and telephone number in MyPage. A letter mailed to your address as it appears on record in MyPage will be deemed adequate notification for all matters concerning your record.
• making yourself familiar with the research approval requirement.

See also:

• SCYC responsibilities in the supervisory relationship policy
• Student responsibilities in the Graduate Studies calendar.
• UVic policy on academic integrity

We expect our graduate students to develop and adhere to a professional code of conduct. We support models for professional conduct based on the following guidelines:

• submitting to a professional code of ethics
• exercise of personal discipline, accountability and judgment
• acceptance of personal responsibility for continued competency and learning
• willingness to serve the public, client or patient and place them before yourself
• ability to recognize the dignity and worth of all persons in any level of society
• willingness to assist others in learning
• ability to recognize your own limitations
• maintenance of confidentiality of information appropriate to the purposes and trust given when that information was acquired
• acceptance that your professional abilities, personal integrity, and the attitudes you demonstrate in relationships with other persons are the measure of professional conduct.

Unprofessional conduct

Graduate students are subject to the code of ethics of their respective profession. You may be required to withdraw from the school for violating them. You may also be required to withdraw when ethical, medical or other reasons interfere with satisfactory practice in your discipline.

The grad student listserve is an email list for all SCYC graduate students. It’s useful for sharing information about courses events, funding and job opportunities.

We’ll add your name to the listserve at the start of your program. Contact the graduate program assistant if you have problems or questions.

The Master of Arts in Child and Youth Care program is predicated on the assumption that students will approach their learning by participating in a self-directed and responsible manner.

"Self-directed" means taking the initiative to ensure that:

• the learning objectives of courses are well-addressed.
• course instructors are notified in advance of unavoidable absence.
• any missed material or information is passed on by a fellow student or requested from the instructor.
• discussions are held with course instructors in advance of deadlines if alternative arrangements need to be negotiated.

Grades for courses within the School of Child and Youth Care (SCYC) graduate degree program are assigned in the following manner based on SCYC and Faculty of Graduate Studies’ standards:

Every grade of B- or lower in a course taken for credit in the Faculty of Graduate Studies must be reviewed by the student’s supervisory committee or the departmental graduate committee, and a recommendation must be made to the Dean of Graduate Studies. Such students will not be allowed to register in the next term until approved to do so by the Dean of Graduate Studies.

Upon the advice of the committee, the Faculty of Graduate Studies may impose conditions for continuation in the program; if these conditions are not met within the specified time limit, the student will be required to withdraw.

Students in the Faculty of Graduate Studies must achieve a grade point average of at least 5.00 (B) for every term in which they are registered. Individual departments or schools may set higher standards. Students with a sessional or cumulative average below 5.00 will not be allowed to register in the next term until their committee reviews their academic performance and the Dean of Graduate Studies approves continuation in the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

Note: grades for courses designated FNC (For No Credit) or for Transfer Credit courses will not be used in the calculation of sessional or cumulative grade point averages.

A student who fails to meet academic standards or whose dissertation, thesis, or project is not progressing satisfactorily may be required to withdraw from the Faculty of Graduate Studies with the advice and consent of the department concerned.

Related links:

• Academic performance
• Review of assigned grades and other appeals
• Appeal process and procedures
• Graduate Studies Calendar

You are responsible for assuring that you receive the appropriate review and approvals from the Office of Research Services before undertaking research during your program.

The university requires that all studies with human participants receive ethical approval by the human research ethics board before data collection.

Following your committee's approval of the thesis/project proposal, you must complete the appropriate ethics forms and submit them. Approval may take four to six weeks. If you submit your application during the summer, it may take longer.

If you are collecting data in a non-profit or public agency, you will be expected to get approval from the relevant managerial authority. It is useful to obtain this approval before submitting your application to the ethics board.

Get the required forms and guidelines for human research ethics (you'll need to sign in with your NetLink ID).