The following FAQ is designed to answer some of the common questions Algonquin College staff may have regarding General Education electives. Simply click on the question you are interested in and you will be shown the answer.

1. Under what circumstance are students eligible for an exemption from their General Education elective?
   
2. Once students apply for an exemption from their general education elective(s), how is their application processed?
   
3. If students have successfully completed a general education elective in an Algonquin program, and then switched to a new Algonquin program do they need to apply for an exemption from the general education elective in their new program?
   
4. If a student is registered in a program requiring two general education electives, can both be taken from the same theme area?
   
5. Can students sign up for a course once it is started?
   
6. How late in a semester may students sign up for a General Education elective?
   
7. What if there is no space in the course in which the student wishes to register? Can additional spaces be added?
   
8. How do we handle an older "Goal Area" exemption against the new "Theme" requirements?
   
9. Will courses taken at private educational facilities, such as CDI, be considered as justification for exemption from a student’s General Education elective?
   

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• Under what circumstance are students eligible for an exemption from their General Education elective?
  
  

  Students can request an exemption ir apply for credit for prior learning if one of the following applies:

  • They can show that they have successfully completed a post-secondary college or university course that addresses one of the General Education themes required by their program. Read about the exemption process.
    
  • They believe that they have acquired knowledge and skills equivalent to a post-secondary course through work or life experiences. In this case, they will need to apply for a Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition (PLAR). - Read about the PLAR process.
    
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• Once students apply for an exemption from their general education elective(s), how is their application processed?
  
  
  • There are two types of exemption applications that we receive: those based on courses taken at Algonquin (Internal) and those based on course work or life experience from outside Algonquin (External).
    
    

    There is a dedicated “general education exemption” application form for both of these circumstances. Once the application is submitted to the Registrar’s Office (RO), the course being used to justify the exemption is compared to a database of eligible courses. If the course is listed on the database then the Client Service Officer (CSO) can proceed with confirming the exemption. If the course used to justify the exemption is not on the database, then the application for exemption is forwarded to Learning and Teaching Services (LTS) for further assessment. Once academic personnel evaluate the basis for the exemption, they will grant or deny the exemption on the form and return it to the RO where the application will be processed and the student informed of the decision made.
    
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• If students have successfully completed a general education elective in an Algonquin program, and then switched to a new Algonquin program do they need to apply for an exemption from the general education elective in their new program?
  
  
  • Yes. In order to have a record of their exemption, students need to apply for the exemption in their new program. One reason for this is that the theme areas eligible for exemption may differ in the new program and the elective they took in the previous program may not be eligible in the new program. An example of this would be if a student took a general education elective from the Science and Technology theme in the Social Services Worker program and then switched to the Massage Therapy program. Students in Massage Therapy may not take electives from the Science and Technology theme area because the programs core general education courses are all in that theme area.
    
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• If a student is registered in a program requiring two general education electives, can both be taken from the same theme area?
  
  
  • The answer is "it depends". If the theme area being considered is different than the one used by the program for its mandated courses, then both can be taken from the same theme area. If the theme area is the same as the mandated courses, then a different theme area must be chosen for one of the courses in order to meet Ministry requirements. This and other possible combinations are well outlined in the General Education Lifesaver.
    
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• Can students sign up for an elective once it is started?
  
  
  • Usually they can do so under three conditions:
    
    - It is not past the normal drop/add period.
    - There is a space available in the elective.
    - It is within the time period that the teacher is willing to accept late registrants.
    
    Further information regarding exceptions to these guidelines is outlined in questions/answers below.
    
    

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• How late in a semester may students sign up for a general Education elective?
  
  
  • As with all course drop/adds, students will have until the last day of the first week of the semester to add a general education elective to their course load. After this time, students may add an elective only if they have their departmental chairperson’s, or delegate's, permission to do so.
    
    In both cases, there must be room in the section for the student and the teacher must be willing to accept students after the start of term.
    
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• What if there is no space in the course in which the student wishes to register, can additional spaces be added?
  
  
  • In this case, the departmental chairperson who “owns” the course may be approached and asked to increase the number of available spaces in the course. The decision to increase the number of students in a course is normally done by the departmental chairperson in consultation with the teacher involved.
    
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• How do we handle an older "Goal Area" exemption against the new "Theme" requirements?
  
  
  • The “match” between the older goal areas and theme requirements is shown on the following page.
    
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• Will courses taken at private educational facilities, such as CDI, be considered as justification for exemption from a student’s General Education elective?
  
  
  • Yes, under the following circumstance. The course must meet the criteria outlined by the Ministry for all eligible General Education electives. These are outlined in the General Education Lifesaver.
    
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  Do you have a question that does not appear here but should? If so please email the question to gened@algonquincollege.com so it  and the answer can be added to the list.