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Faculty Information

Dean, J. Keshen: 403.440.6960
Associate Dean, S. Gannon: 403.440.6455

Arts Advisors
R. Doe: 403.440.8585

General Information

A Bachelor of Arts degree opens doors to a wide range of learning and career opportunities.

Features of the Mount Royal Bachelor of Arts program include the following:

• high academic standards;
• relevant, current, and rigorous curriculum based on clearly articulated outcomes;
• strong General Education/breadth component;
• special emphasis on developing communication and critical thinking skills;
• high level of student-teacher interaction;
• highly qualified faculty dedicated to excellent instruction;
• both Major and Honours streams available in several disciplines to accommodate career-oriented students as well as those planning further study;
• use of leading edge technology to enhance learning and classroom delivery;
• experiential learning components where applicable (such as internships); and
• opportunities for international study.

As well as obtaining breadth of knowledge, students in the Mount Royal Bachelor of Arts program will achieve depth of knowledge in the subject area they select for their Major. BA students also have the option of selecting a Minor area of concentrated study in addition to their Major. Qualified students planning to pursue graduate school or wishing to explore their selected field in more depth can apply to the Honours stream.

BA students at Mount Royal can pursue a Major in seven subject areas, an Honours stream in six subject areas, and a Minor in 22 subject areas.

Opportunities For Further Study

Entrance into graduate or professional school is competitive. The Bachelor of Arts degree, including the Honours stream, does not guarantee admission into graduate or professional school. Graduates must meet the individual university’s admission requirements in a competitive process. Students considering graduate school or professional school are encouraged to investigate their postgraduate educational plans with an academic advisor at the institution in which they are seeking to enrol.

International Education Opportunities

Qualified Mount Royal students have the opportunity to take part in international education experiences such as international field schools and semesters abroad. For more information, contact an Advisor or the Mount Royal Office of International Education.

Declaration of Major

Students must declare their Major field of study within one year (ten courses) of enroling in the program. Students who have decided on their Major are advised to declare it as soon as possible to facilitate proper course selection and access to core courses.

Note: Undeclared students admitted to the Bachelor of Arts in Fall 2011 or later should be aware that there is an enrolment cap on the Psychology major. Students who are interested in pursuing a major in psychology must formally apply for admission to the Bachelor of Arts - Psychology using the Application for Admission. You may apply for admission online (within the timelines specified in the Academic Schedule section of this Calendar). Admission to Mount Royal programs is competitive and as such admission will be granted to those applicants who have the highest average based on the conditional admission criteria for each admission category. Please see the Admissions section of this Calendar for more detail.

Double Majors

Double majors must be chosen within the six majors offered as part of the Bachelor of Arts and include

1. 12 General Education courses, of which, four can fulfill the requirements of the double major.
2. All core courses specified for each major (a minimum of thirty-two courses), with the following exception:
   Double major in Psychology and Sociology; 16 core courses in each discipline, including:
   • PSYC 2210 - Statistical Methods for Psychology I  or SLGY 3321 - Quantitative Methods  
   • PSYC 2213 - Research Methods I  or SLGY 2232 - Introduction to Sociological Research Methods  
   • PSYC 2211 - Statistical Methods for Psychology II  
   • SLGY 3323 - Qualitative Research Methods  
   • Students who take PSYC 2210  and PSYC 2213  must take an additional two options in Sociology
   • Students who take SLGY 3321  and SLGY 3323  must take an additional two options in Psychology

Honours Stream

Students who are interested in pursuing graduate school or who wish to explore their selected field in more depth are advised to apply for admission into the Honours stream in the Bachelor of Arts program. Core BA program requirements are augmented with additional work in the subject area, such as completing more courses in the subject area, taking part in Honours seminars, completing an Honours thesis requiring original research, or completing an Honours project.

Acceptance Requirements - Honours Stream

Students may complete a Department application for acceptance into the Honours stream upon successful completion of 20 courses in the Bachelor of Arts program.

Acceptance into the Honours stream is competitive and is not guaranteed. Students must present a minimum Grade Point Average of at least 3.00 in the last 10 courses completed. Contact a department Advisor for current information on the GPA and other criteria required for the Honours stream in your specific area of interest.

Application for Entrance into the Honours Stream

In order to apply for entrance into the Honours Stream, students must complete an Application for Entrance into the Honours Program, available from the department/discipline in which the Honours program is housed. Before applying for Honours, students must also have declared a major in the Honours discipline. Students may apply for entrance into Honours between March 1 and May 1 of the academic year in which they have successfully completed 20 courses. Departments/disciplines in which Honours programs are housed will meet to decide on who will be admitted into Honours, based on the number of applications received and the qualifications of the students who have applied.

Continuance Requirements - Honours

Students accepted into the Honours BA must maintain a term GPA of 3.00 in each semester. Subject to review by the Chair, students accepted into an Honours program who fail to maintain a term GPA of 3.00, will lose their place in the Honours program. Students will normally not be permitted to reapply for Honours, and may do so only with the permission of the Chair of their honours discipline. Students permitted to reapply must follow the procedures for “application into the Honours stream,” as mentioned above. There is no guarantee that a student will be re-admitted into the Honours program.

Specific subject areas may have additional requirements for academic progress, continuance, and performance. Check the specific subject area sections below for details and/or consult with an Advisor.

Residency Requirement

Normally, 50% of the academic work completed toward the award of a Mount Royal parchment must be completed at the University, except where written approval has been given by the dean/director of the appropriate faculty/centre/school.

In addition, the internship component of the Policy Studies BA Major must normally be completed as a student of Mount Royal.

General Education

For course information visit mtroyal.ca/gened/courses. Students are encouraged to meet with an advisor before registering in a course.

Time Limitation

All graduation requirements for the BA degree program must be completed within eight years of initial admission to and enrolment in the program. The prior learning of all students entering baccalaureate programs will be fully assessed at the point of admission for possible advanced standing or transfer credit. Applicable credit for prior learning which is recognized at the point of entry into the program will remain valid for the same time limit (eight years) as is permitted to complete the program.

Continuance Requirements

Students accepted into the Mount Royal Bachelor of Arts program must comply with all Mount Royal policies and regulations regarding academic progress and continuance.

Progression Requirements

All students in the BA program must obtain a minimum grade of C- (1.70 on the 4-point grade scale) in all courses to be used as prerequisites.

Eligibility To Graduate

To be eligible to graduate from a Mount Royal program, a student must have been officially admitted into the program and must normally complete at least 25% of the graduation requirements as a student within the program, except where written approval has been given by the dean/director of the faculty/centre/school.

To be eligible to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts with a Major, students must satisfactorily complete all the General Graduation Requirements for the BA with a Major as well as all the Specific Graduation Requirements for their Major area of study (see below). To be eligible to graduate with a Bachelor of Arts with Honours, students must satisfactorily complete all the General Graduation Requirements for the BA with Honours as well as all the Specific Graduation Requirements for the BA with Honours for their area of study. Students completing the Honours Program who have failed to satisfy all the requirements for an Honours degree but who have satisfied all requirements for a BA Major degree shall receive a BA Major degree upon graduation.

Students must follow the graduation application procedure outlined in the current Mount Royal Calendar. Applications must be submitted by the date published in the Calendar.

Application for Honours after receiving a Bachelor of Arts in the same discipline.

A student who has graduated with a Bachelor of Arts may not apply to enter Honours in the same discipline in which he or she has received the Bachelor of Arts degree.

All students must meet the general admission requirements for Mount Royal University programs, as indicated in the Admission section of this calendar.

General Admission Requirements

All students must meet the general admission requirements for Mount Royal University programs, as indicated in the Admission section of this calendar.

Additional Admission Requirements

In addition to meeting the general admission requirements indicated in the Admission section of this calendar, applicants must also satisfy the following criteria for each Major:

Academic Course Requirements

The following specific courses (or their equivalencies) with the specified minimum grades are required for admission into the Bachelor of Arts program:

Majors: Anthropology, English, History and Sociology

• English Language Arts 30-1 - 60%
• Mathematics 30-1 or 30-2 or a 30-level language

Major: Psychology

• English Language Arts 30-1 - 60%
• Mathematics 30-1 or 30-2

Note: There is an enrolment cap on the Psychology major. Students who apply will be considered for admission to the Psychology major on the basis of a competitive admission average.

Major: Policy Studies

• English Language Arts 30-1 - 60%
• Mathematics 30-1 or 30-2 - 60%

Although Conditional Admission may be granted in advance of receipt of final/official transcripts, confirmation of the achievement of specified minimum grades will take place after all final/official transcripts have been received by the University. Applicants who do not meet these minimum grade requirements will be denied admission.

Aboriginal Student Admission

Each year, 6% of the seats in the Bachelor of Arts program will be reserved for Aboriginal applicants through an Aboriginal admission target. To be considered for admission under the Aboriginal admission target, the applicant must:

1. self-identify as an Aboriginal applicant on the Application for Admission
2. meet the definition of an Aboriginal Applicant
3. meet the minimum admission requirements as indicated in the general admission requirements for Mount Royal University as well as any program level admission requirements

Designated seats for this special consideration target will be filled by Aboriginal applicants on a competitive basis. Applicants are encouraged to apply during Early Admission period. Any unfilled designated seats will be released on June 1 to students applying under the general admission requirements.

See general admission requirements in the Admissions section of this calendar for further information.

Program Structure for Mount Royal Bachelor of Arts Degrees

1. Total number of three-credit courses (or equivalent) (40 courses minimum)
2. Program Core/General Education/Electives
   1. Program Core (See each Major for specific core course requirements) (16-24 courses)
   2. General Education (12 courses minimum)
   3. Electives (4-12 courses)
3. First-year course limit (16 courses maximum)
4. Maximum number of courses outside of the Faculty of Arts, and/or the Faculty of Science and Technology, and/or courses designated as General Education courses (8 courses)
5. Course limit in a single discipline (24 courses maximum)
6. Grade Point Average (GPA) to graduate (2.00 minimum)

Note: Each program area may have additional graduation requirements. Refer to the specific section in this calendar for details and/or consult with a faculty or Academic Advisor.

Program Structure for Mount Royal Bachelor of Arts Degrees (Honours)

1. Total number of three-credit courses (or equivalent) (40 courses minimum)
2. Program Core/General Education/Electives
   1. Program Core (See each Honours program for specific core course requirements) (20-24 courses)
   2. General Education (12 courses minimum)
   3. Electives (4-8 courses)
3. First-year course limit (16 courses maximum)
4. Maximum number of courses outside of the Faculty of Arts, and/or the Faculty of Science and Technology, and/or courses designated as General Education courses (8 courses)
5. Course limit in a single discipline (24 courses maximum)
6. Grade Point Average (GPA) for last 20 courses completed 3.00 minimum

Note: Students taking honours in Policy Studies are allowed 3 electives

Thirty-two courses selected from the Faculties of Arts or Science, or courses designated as General Education courses. The thirty-two courses mentioned above may include the following:

Faculty of Arts: Any university-level course in Anthropology, Art History, Canadian Studies, Chinese, Classics, Economics, English, Film Studies, French, German, History, Humanities, Indigenous Studies, Interior Design, Italian, Japanese, Latin American Cultures, Linguistics, Mediterranean Cultures, Philosophy, Policy Studies, Political Science, Psychology, Religious Studies, Sociology, Spanish, and Women’s & Gender Studies. Faculty of Science and Technology: Any university-level course in Astronomy, Biochemistry, Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, Ecology, Ecotourism and Outdoor Leadership, Engineering, Environmental Science, Geography, Geology, Geophysics, Mathematics, Microbiology, Natural Science, Physics.

General Education: Any university-level course with the General Education prefix (GNED) or any courses labelled as General Education [G] in the Mount Royal Calendar.

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