About Electives
General Electives
Students in certificate or diploma programs are required to include general electives as part of their program of study.
At Sheridan, there are two general types of General Education Courses:
- Open General Education Courses: General Education courses which are chosen by students outside of their field of study to meet their General Education requirements.
- Mandated General Education Courses: General Education courses which are identified and determined to be required by the Academic Faculty for students registered in a specific program(s).
Sheridan requires the following minimum number of General Education courses for each credential level in order to ensure compliance with the MTCU Binding Policy Directive: Framework for Programs of Instruction.
- Ontario College Certificate Programs: minium of one
- Ontario College Diploma Programs: minimum of one; maximum of one mandated
- Ontario Advanced Diploma Programs: minimum of four; maximum of two mandated
General Education Course Offerings & More Information
Please see the General Education page for complete details about General Education and to see current course offerings.
Breadth Electives
Students in degree programs are required to include Liberal Arts and Science breadth electives as part of their program of study. Such students must also include breadth electives from particular fields of study and levels in fulfillment of their program’s degree breadth requirements.
Types of Breadth Elective Courses & Offerings
Students have to complete at least eight breadth elective courses (at least 20% of the total program hours) drawn from five fields of study:
- Humanities
- Social Science
- Global Culture
- Mathematics
- Science
Students must complete:
- An Introductory 1000 level course in a minimum of two of the five fields of study as noted above.*
- At least two courses at a level higher than Introductory 1000
- In addition to the above, every degree program will include Composition and Rhetoric from the English/Literature discipline of Humanities; for some programs, Composition and Rhetoric may be considered part of the core curriculum and would not qualify as meeting breadth requirements
- Breadth courses(s) to meet the requirement for the specific degree and be consistent with PEQAB Program Content Standard requirements
* if a course is related to the degree program of study, students will not be able to select that course
Once the Level and Fields of Study criteria have been satisfied, students can select their remaining outstanding breadth electives from any Level and any Field of Study (provided they satisfy the necessary pre-requisite.)
Breadth Elective Course Offerings & More Information
See Sheridan's Degree Breadth Electives page for further information and a breakdown of breadth electives.
Program Electives
There are multiple options for students to fulfill their core course requirements. Students may select from a variety of available courses.
Elective Type Search
Depending on your program, you will either enrol in a General Education Elective, a Program Elective or a Breadth Elective. Use the Program Search table on the mySchedule page to determine if your program has Breadth or General electives.
Elective places are limited and assigned on a first come, first served basis - so it is strongly recommended that you enrol in your elective as soon as possible.
General Education Elective Status
The General Education Elective Status list provides a tentative selection of available electives, subject to daily updates. Please note that not all electives are accessible for every program. If you encounter difficulties while trying to add a specific elective through the "self-service" or "schedule builder" options, it is likely that the elective is currently unavailable.
Breadth Elective Status
The Breadth Elective Status list provides a tentative selection of available electives, subject to daily updates. Please note that not all electives are accessible for every program. If you encounter difficulties while trying to add a specific elective through the "self-service" or "schedule builder" options, it is likely that the elective is currently unavailable.
Choosing your Electives
Once your enrolment appointment opens, you can choose your elective for the term. The earlier you select your elective, the more options will be available to you.
You will choose your course electives using myStudent Centre.
Once cross-campus enrolment opens, more options may become available to you. However, it's recommended that you select an elective as soon as possible in case your preferred option is not available.
Dropped your elective?
If you have an assigned schedule and you have dropped your elective and/or placeholder, don't worry. Follow the steps below to add a new elective using the enrolment shopping cart.
If your Program is exempt from Add, you will need to email your home campus Records team.
1. Log in to myStudent Centre
2. Click on the Manage Classes tile in your dashboard
3. Add new elective
If you do not know the subject code and catalog number, it is recommended that you use Enroll by My Requirements
4. Click Enroll by My Requirements
- Your academic progress report will appear with a list of courses needed to satisfy your program requirements
- Select the semester where the elective appears
Generally, the entry in My Requirements will say the semester number and elective (E.g. Semester Two Elective) - A list of all existing elective courses will be displayed, including those that are not running in a given term
Visit the General Education page to see current elective course offerings - Click on your preferred elective course
- You will be brought to the Course Details page. To enroll, click View Classes in the top-right corner of the page
- Select the term for which you want to add the elective
- Review the results and select your preferred section
- Review the class selection and click Next to proceed
- Click Accept
Note: If you have been granted a permission number to enroll in the class, enter it in the Permission Number box before clicking Accept. - You can either enroll or add the course to your Shopping Cart. Select your option and click Next.
- Review the course information and click Submit to proceed
- Click Yes on the pop-up message to finish enrolling
- If enrollment was successful, a checkmark will be displayed next to the course and a banner will appear at the top of the page confirming the course has been added to your schedule
Note: If terms do not display on this page, it is likely because the selected elective is not running
Reminder: Visit the General Education page to see current elective course offerings
