Declaring your Major(s) (and Minors) with your Degree Advisor is an important step in your degree planning and progression and successful completion of a program. It helps to:
- Ensure that your student record accurately reflects your intended academic goal(s).
- Inform your Advisor about your specific interests so you can receive information tailored to your academic objectives, including further information regarding courses in the BBA Course Matrix for different Majors and Minors available, and assistance using the VIU Goal Planning System (GPS).
- Gain access to reserved seats that have been set aside for students with specific academic goals in some courses.
- Keep you informed (via email) about information relevant to your specific declared goals.
- Inform instructors of the goals of students in their classes.
You are encouraged to declare your intentions regarding your program options as early as possible, once you know which degree program options that you wish to declare. The new process allows you to self-declare your degree program options (DPO's) in your VIU student record. Your DPO's will not be automatically added, because the Business Programs Advisor first needs to review and approve the request. If you have any doubt, please self-book an appointment to discuss if your intentions correspond with your eligibility.
Your Student Advisor, Sharon Kelly, would welcome the opportunity to discuss your pathway choices. You may require guidance about your degree eligibility and self-declaring, what courses you made need to graduate or even if there are courses that you could take or additional credentials you could earn in the context of your degree to enhance your employment profile. If you have a question regarding educational issues, career planning or personal development, Sharon is here to help steer you through the process to meet your academic goals.
Goals for BBA Majors can be declared and they will be approved once you have completed, or are enrolled in (and soon to be completing) all the first and second-year requirements for that Major. In some circumstances if you are missing one required course, depending on which course it is, you could still be approved for your chosen Major. If you have two or more required courses left to complete after this current semester, you must wait until half-way through the next semester to declare your Major, assuming you are registered for those courses in that semester.
You can access the “Choose Degree Program Options” screen by:
- Logging onto your student record
- Clicking on Academics, then Choose Degree Program Option
- The Choose Degree Program Options screen will appear, showing the DPOs active for your degree
- Choose the ones that interest you and for which you are eligible.
Please note: Once you have updated a DPO, You will NOT be able to make a change to that DPO for seven days.
Available goals
Your BBA degree will include one or more of the available Majors and possibly a Minor in the degree. You can complete a single Major, a Double-Major, a Major-Minor, or some more elaborate combination.
Note: A Minor cannot be completed on its own. You can also indicate that you want to complete the Business Management Diploma or the Certificate in Business Management.
Program goals (majors, minor, certificate in business, business diploma)
Goals for BBA Majors can be declared or changed once you have completed or are enrolled in (and soon to be completing) all the first and second-year requirements for that Major.
If you are interested in completing the Business Certificate or Business diploma, you can connect with the BBA Advisor even before you start your degree or right after you have started taking courses towards that credential.
You are encouraged to declare your intentions as early as possible once you know your intended degree or program plan. You can be goal coded officially once you have completed all requirements.
Students can pursue two BBA Majors. Students are responsible for meeting all requirements for both Majors.
Students can pursue a BBA Major and add a Minor.
Minors: The BBA has four Minors: Marketing, International Business, HR Management and Management.
Note: Students cannot goal a Major in Marketing and add a Minor in Marketing, but they can goal code for any other BBA Minor. Students are responsible for meeting all requirements for both the Major and the Minor.
Non BBA-Minors can also be added to a BBA Major (ie. Arts and Social Science Minors or Bachelor of Science Minors). You would need talk to the correct Degree Advisor to add a Minor from another degree to your BBA.
When to officially declare
If you have two or more required courses left to complete after this current semester, you must wait until after the next semester to declare your Major assuming you are registered for those courses in that semester. You are welcome to sign up for a BBA Business Programs Appointment to discuss your status. If you have completed and are currently enrolled in the last few first and second year requirements for your chosen Major(s) and possibly a Minor, then you are set to declare your goals. You can declare one goal at a time too.
Completing the requirements of your declared goals
Declaring your Major requires the BBA Advisor to code a goal representing your Major into VIU's administration systems. It is not enough to create a goal in the Goal Planning System (GPS) because although using the GPS is certainly helpful for your degree planning, it's not an official declaration of your Major. You can tell if you are "goal coded" for a Major already by looking in your Online Student Record/Academics/Educational Goals.
What you have declared shows up as your In order to graduate with the Bachelor of Business Degree with your chosen Major(s) and possibly a Minor too, you need to complete all the requirements of your chosen and declared goals. If you have declared two goals, and you change your mind and decide you want to complete your degree with one Major instead of two or just a Major and not a Minor as well, you can always make an appointment to have two additional goals removed from your official declaration.
Who is eligible to declare a BBA Major
- Students must be registered as a BBA student. Students who are registered in other programs, such as the Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science or EXPO, cannot be declared for a BBA Major, no matter how many business courses they have taken.
- Students must have completed all required first- and second-year courses for the BBA.
- If students have only one required first or second-year course to complete after this semester, declaring their Major now will depend on which remaining course it is.
- If students have two or more required first or second-year courses left to complete after the current semester, they must wait until the next goal coding period to declare their Major.
BBA student can add a BBA Minor when they have successfully completed (or are currently enrolled that semester) in all first and second year required courses for that Minor.
Keep in mind that BBA students, who are not yet eligible to be goal coded for a Major, can still take third and fourth-year business courses, assuming they have met the prerequisites for those courses. However, such students will not have access to the reserved seats for a Major and they are more likely to end up on waitlists.
1. Once you know the Major(s) you would like to earn, contact or meet your Undergraduate Business Programs Advisor. If you are unsure about which goal(s) might be best for you, your Advisor can help guide you through the various available options.
- For all Business Certificate program students, contact Sharon Kelly.
- For all Business Diploma program students, contact Sharon Kelly.
See the Main Page for contact and appointment booking information.
2. Your Degree Advisor will update your student record with your declared goals and set up the Goal Planning System (GPS) with your declared goals.
- Your Degree Advisor can help answer questions about course equivalencies, transfer credits, Letters of Permission, and much more.
- Your Degree Advisor will track waivers or exceptions that may be applicable to you in GPS and/or your student record.
3. You can contact your Degree Advisor at any time to discuss your degree progression or if you have questions about degree requirements.
Note: Your academic goals are only officially declared if you contact your Degree Advisor.
Who is eligible to declare a BBA Minor
Students who wish to add a BBA Minor to their Degree from another decanal area are eligible to do so once they have successfully completed all first and second-year business courses required for that BBA Minor. For example, a Bachelor of Arts student who wishes to add a Minor in Marketing to their BA Degree must have successfully completed MARK 160 and MARK 260 (or be enrolled in MARK 260 in the current semester) to be eligible to declare that Minor.
Students who wish to add a BBA Minor to another degree meet with Sharon or email Sharon.Kelly@viu.ca
Instructions on how to book an appointment with Sharon can be found here.