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2023-2024 Academic Calendar Mount Royal University [ARCHIVED CATALOG]
First-Year Advising Guide - Bachelor of Business Administration
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Welcome to the Bissett School of Business at Mount Royal University!
Congratulations on your admission to the Bachelor of Business Administration! As a BBA student, you will join over 2000 other students working on business degrees that combine experiential learning and small class sizes to become the community leaders of tomorrow.
If you are eager to register in your courses, below are the recommended first-year courses for all majors. However, the rest of the information on this page is equally important, so please continue to read all of the information on this page.
If you have already completed some post-secondary coursework, please also read the information specifically for students with previous post-secondary.
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Degree overview
| Core - 16 courses |
All BBA students complete 16 core courses throughout their four years, beginning with an introduction to key disciplines (e.g. Accounting, Marketing) and ending with capstone courses (Strategic Management, Business Plan Development). |
| Major - 10 courses |
Students can choose from the following majors in the BBA:
- Accounting
- Finance
- Concentration in Financial Services
- Concentration in Financial Analysis
- General Management
- Concentration in Innovation and Entrepreneurship
- Concentration in Social Innovation
- Human Resources
- International Business
- Marketing
- Supply Chain Management
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| General Education - 10 courses |
You choose your General Education (GNED) courses from four clusters:
- numeracy and scientific literacy,
- values, beliefs and identity,
- community and society, and
- communication
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| Electives - 4 courses |
Your remaining courses are electives, any three-credit course at any level from any subject area, as long as you meet the prerequisites.
We recommend you leave these requirements until later in your degree in case you want to pursue the Honours program, a semester abroad, minors, Directed Readings, or field schools.
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First-year courses
All new BBA students (no matter the intended major) take the same courses in their first year. This sequence is designed to balance course workload and to ensure you take junior courses before senior courses with prerequisites.
The program is built on five courses per semester, so if you maintained a regular full-time course load in high school, you should be able to take five courses per semester at MRU. If you are especially worried about the transition or have significant outside commitments (sports, work, family, personal), you can consider taking only four courses per semester and making up the remaining courses in a future optional spring semester, or by extending your degree over a longer period of time.
You will register for both the fall and winter semesters at this time.
Year One, choose up to 5 courses per semester (Registration begins April 17, 2023)
- Choose your Business Option, one of the following:
- Choose three Foundation General Education courses***:
- Cluster 1 - one of GNED 1101 or 1103 (if you are hesitant about numbers, this can help you prepare for Accounting and Statistics), or
- Cluster 4 - one of GNED 1401 or 1404 (if you are hesitant about writing, this course can help you improve your academic writing and citation skills), or
- Cluster 2 - one of GNED 1201 , 1202 , or 1203 , or
- Cluster 3 - one of GNED 1301 , 1303 , or 1304
*ACCT 2121 , ECON 1101 , ECON 1103 and MGMT 2262 all have an extra lab or tutorial component. This is important in the course registration process and building your schedule.
***To graduate, students must take all 4 foundation GNED clusters. However, there is only room for 3 of the 4 in the first-year recommended courses. Students will take their remaining foundation GNED cluster in their second year of the program.
OPTIONAL - Spring and Summer Semesters (Registration begins in March 2024)
Some students may choose to take courses in these optional, condensed semesters to ease their fall and winter workload. Note that course offerings are limited and the spring/summer schedule of classes is not available until March 2024. Until then you can use the current year’s spring/summer schedule as a guide.
Two courses in a spring or summer semester are comparable to four courses in a fall or winter semester and are considered full-time.
Sample of first-year course selection for a student with no previous post-secondary coursework:
Fall Semester, Sept. - Dec.
Winter Semester, Jan. - Apr.
Tips for Scheduling Courses
- There are a number of tools available to help you with course planning and scheduling, links to the most up-to-date information about in-person courses, courses with available seats, and a schedule builder tool are available on the Registration web page.
- There are multiple sections of most first-year courses. Scroll to the very bottom of the listed sections to find ones with more available seats. Recently added sections will appear at the bottom of your screen.
- You may not be able to have a perfect schedule. It is better to get a seat in most of your courses, and waitlist for fewer.
- Know thyself! If you know you are not an early riser and will not be able to be on time for an 8:30 a.m. class, choose a different section of the same course.
- ECON sections can be difficult to organize in your schedule. The lab sections are walk-in tutorial assistance with no formal instruction. You need not worry about any potential time conflict with the lab as you can attend the lab whenever you want during the posted lab hours: Monday - Friday between 9:30 am and 5:00 pm in EA 2065.
- You may choose to take either ECON 1101 or ECON 1103 first, one is not a prerequisite for the other.
- Try to add some time in between your courses during the day/week. This will enable you to grab a bite to eat, meet for group project work, volunteer on campus, study or research in the library, or work out at the gym.
- Your advisors recommend that students coming directly from high school avoid evening, online, and block format sections in their first year.
Action items for students with Previous Post-Secondary Credit
As a student with previous post-secondary experience, your first task is to review your transfer equivalencies and previous course work, and how they are currently being used in your program. If you think you have additional coursework that is not showing, or coursework being used differently than you think it should be, you need to take action.
- View your transfer equivalencies in mymru.ca as well as through mruGradU8.
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Ensuring that your previous coursework is applied to your Business curriculum is in your best interest. The maximum number of courses and credits that can be applied from institutions outside MRU is 20 courses or 60 credits (the amount applied is program dependent). Please be sure to review your assigned transfer equivalencies in your myMRU account, under the My Program tab in the Admission box (Check transfer equivalencies) and your new mruGradU8 program audit (refer to the ‘Tracking your degree progress’ section of this guide.
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Keep in mind that if you have recently completed winter semester courses, transfer equivalencies will be established once your official transcripts have been received by Mount Royal (after June 30, 2022). More information about transfer equivalencies can be found online here.
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If you have unspecified credit (e.g. UNSP 1XXX or FNCE 1XXX) the only place this course can be used in your degree is as an elective and it will not work as a prerequisite. If you think the course is equivalent to courses useful in your degree (e.g. core or pre-requisite), you will need to submit the course outline to have it reviewed and possibly changed to a direct equivalency that can be used as a core or GNED requirement in your degree, or as a prerequisite. For example, if you took Intro to Finance at another school, and it has not been evaluated for equivalency at MRU before, it may appear as UNSP 1XXX or FNCE 2XXX. This course can only be used as an elective for now (it will not work as a prerequisite) unless you request more specific equivalency. If you submit the course outline, and the course is determined to be equivalent to FNCE 3227 (required for the BBA), you will not have to take FNCE 3227 here.
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Note: International applicants are only assessed for eight equivalencies as part of the admission process. If you think you have more courses that could be used in your degree (e.g. additional electives), you need to contact transfercredit@mtroyal.ca to ask them to evaluate additional courses.
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More information about transfer equivalencies, including timelines for transfer equivalency assessments, is available online. If you miss the posted deadline, an equivalency may not be established in time for course registration. This can affect whether a prerequisite has been met. You can still submit the course outline prior to a future deadline, but it will not be processed in time to make decisions for the fall semester.
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Students are encouraged to contact the Transfer Credit office at transfercredit@mtroyal.ca if they have questions about their equivalencies or the articulation process.
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When you receive confirmation from the Transfer Credit office that the equivalencies for all of your submitted requests have been finalized, please contact Advising to confirm your remaining degree requirements.
- You may declare your intended program (major/concentration/minor) as early as October 1. In the meantime, please use the ‘what if’ feature on mruGradU8 to see your course requirements for your intended program (be sure to choose ‘2023-2024’ as your Calendar Year).
- For an overview of a four-year pattern for different majors/concentrations, please see the program planning pages and be sure to use the correct years’ pages (2023/2024); for program and graduation requirements, please see the Academic Calendar.
- Note the prerequisite sequencing of whatever major you plan to specialize in outlined on page 2 of the program planning pages. Even if you have most of your core/GNED and electives completed, it may still take you more than 2 years to complete a major due to prerequisite sequencing and course offerings.
- Your advisor can review your program plan and make suggestions about course sequencing. If you would like to discuss your core and other equivalencies and how they apply to your degree with an Advisor, please email businessadvising@mtroyal.ca from your @mtroyal.ca account.
- There are 10 General Education requirements within the BBA. If you think your previous coursework provides the depth and breadth comparable to MRU’s Gen Ed requirements and would like to have a conversation about this, please email the GNED Advisor at gnedadvising@mtroyal.ca to see if any of your unused courses can be used to meet GNED requirements.
- Interested in Cooperative Education? Newly admitted students who have completed about a year’s worth of courses are encouraged to apply for the coop program, even if the published application deadline has passed.
General Education courses
What are your General Education requirements?
A great education doesn’t just make you an expert in one area - it gives you a well-rounded knowledge base in a variety of areas. That is why all of Mount Royal’s baccalaureate degree and diploma programs will include General Education, a collection of courses in a range of subjects that will complement studies in your chosen field.
Foundation
As you start your studies, you take a total of four GNED foundation courses. Choose one from each cluster.
Cluster 1: Numeracy and Scientific Literacy
Cluster 2: Values, Beliefs and Identity
Cluster 3: Community and Society
Cluster 4: Communication
Tier 2
As you progress through your degree you will choose from a wider variety of courses. In Tier 2 you will take a total of three courses:
- one Tier 2 course from cluster 1, and
- two Tier 2 courses from two different clusters (2, 3, or 4)
Tier 3
You must take three Tier 3 courses. These three courses must be from at least two different clusters.
You could take:
- three Tier 3 courses, each from a different cluster (Total 3); or
- two Tier 3 courses from one cluster, plus one more from a different cluster (Total 3).
The General Education section of the Academic Calendar includes a complete list of courses that fulfill all of the cluster, foundation, and tier requirements.
Registering for courses
It is your responsibility to register in your courses and ensure that the courses you select meet the program and graduation requirements as outlined in the information above.
Use the ‘courses’ link in the Academic Calendar to explore possible courses of interest and to check that you meet prerequisites. You will register for courses using the registration system found in mymru.ca, Register & Pay tab.
Visit our Tutorials page for useful videos to guide you on using mymru.ca, our degree audit system (mruGradU8), and how to register for your courses.
We also have an online tool to help you plan your courses for the year: My Schedule Builder. View schedule options and create a timetable that works best for you. Access My Schedule Builder through your mymru.ca account under the ‘Register&Pay’ tab, in the ‘My Schedule Builder’ section.
Tracking your degree progress
mruGradU8 is a program audit system and advising tool designed to assist you in reviewing your academic history, identifying requirements you completed and those that are still needed for graduation. As you move through your degree, mruGradU8 will become a great planning tool for you to measure your progress.
You will log in to mruGradU8 through your mymru.ca account, under the ‘My Program’ tab. When you click on the icon or follow the link, your audit will open.
In order to ensure that your curriculum is current, please click the ‘Process New’ tab at the top of the audit every time that you login to mruGradU8.
The information in your audit is separated into three sections:
- Core and/or Major Requirements
- General Education (GNED) Requirements
- Electives
- If you declare a minor, which is optional, this will be added to the bottom of your audit.
Each semester, information about your course registration will be added to your audit so you can see which courses you register in and which ones you complete. This will be a great tool for you and your advisor to use to ensure that the courses you are taking will meet graduation requirements for your program.
Please visit this page for more information about mruGradU8, including frequently asked questions.
Your advisor
New Student Registration
Please read our FAQ’s, where you will find the answers to many of our commonly asked questions, and bookmark these important resources.
Bissett Business Advising
My Degree (considerations for how to get the most out of your degree and experience at Mount Royal University)
Program Planning Guides (course planning for second-, third-, and fourth-year courses for specific majors)
General Education list of approved courses
If you have more questions after attending one of these sessions, or can’t attend a session, contact your advisors Heather Ansari or Carmen O’Callaghan, via email at businessadvising@mtroyal.ca using your @mtroyal.ca email address.
You can also read through your Welcome Guide which contains great information about transitioning to MRU and the support services that are available.
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