Open Studies and Special Students

Student work for a wire figure project in Art Fundamentals

Open Studies and Special Student are two types of status that allow students to take University of Alberta courses for credit without being admitted to a degree program. It is very important that Open Studies and Special students understand the registration procedures for courses in our Department.

Open Studies Students taking ART, DES, or HADVC classes

Open studies students are limited to 2 classes/term. In our Department, students most often enroll in Open Studies in order to:

• begin working on degree program requirements after missing the degree application deadline, and then applying to their choice of degree at the following deadline
• begin working on degree program requirements after being academically inadmissible to their degree program of choice
• take a course that is not offered at their own institution
• take courses as a visiting student

If you are interested in Open Studies, please research this possibility, full regulations, and application deadlines, using the search bar on the main University of Alberta home page. You can contact the Undergraduate Advisor for advice about the likelihood that the course(s) you want will have space prior to applying, but please research all course requests using our website and Bear Tracks first.

Special Students taking ART, DES or HADVC classes

Special Students have already completed at least one degree and wish to pursue further studies. Special students can take up to 5 classes/term.

Special students in our Department are typically taking courses to prepare to apply to start a new degree program, or to take extra courses of interest, provided that we have space.

Please research this possibility using the search function on the main University of Alberta homepage. You can contact the Undergraduate Advisor for advice about the likelihood that the course(s) you want will have space prior to applying, but please research all course requests using our website and Bear Tracks first.

Auditor

It is not possible to audit (attend a class for no credit) our studio classes. Auditing 100-level and 200-level HADVC classes may be possible if there is space and the instructor consents.