Course Selection and Registration

To meet the MA degree requirements of this program, both full-time and part-time students must successfully complete five (5) required courses, three (3) elective courses and the Major Research Paper (MRP). Students are strongly advised to review the program curriculum for the degree requirements published in the online Graduate Studies Calendar. The most up-to-date online calendar should be used. The online calendar also contains calendar course descriptions.

Full-time students will complete four (4) required and three (3) elective courses over the 1^st and 2^nd Terms (Fall and Winter terms), leaving both the IS8100 Field Placement and the Master’s Major Research Paper (MRP) to be completed in the third term (Spring/Summer term).

Full-time students are free to decide in which of the Fall or Winter terms they wish to take 1 or 2 electives in a term. In order to graduate in a timely fashion, however, full-time students must take all required courses when they are offered. Your choice is how to spread your 3 elective courses over the Fall and Winter terms.

The program’s advice is – DO NOT take all 3 electives in the same term (in addition to your required courses). Decide whether you want a heavier course load in the Fall or Winter term. For a heavier load in the Fall term, use the [a+b] pattern above (required courses + 2 electives in Fall). For a heavier load in the Winter term, use the [a+c] pattern (required courses + 2 electives in Winter). Clearly, the preference for particular elective courses will be a factor in a student’s selection.

Part-time students may enroll in up to a maximum of two (2) one-credit courses in a term. The only exception to this rule is described below (section [D]) about “IS 8100 A/B Seminar and Field Placement”.

There is no fixed sequencing for part-time students to follow in course selection. The program’s advice is to complete IS 8904 Research Methods in the first winter term. Part-time students should bear in mind that elective choices may vary from year to year, as will the course timetables of all classes.

Each graduate class is typically scheduled to a 3-hour slot and meets once a week for a total of 12 weeks of classes per term. Significant academic dates in each term are published on the Graduate Studies Significant Dates website. Use the “normal twelve-week term” version.

You are able to look up significant academic dates for each term, such as when classes start, when classes end, the last date to add a course, the last date to drop a course, when final grades are posted online for students’ access etc.

In the Course Selection document, DAY Schedule means that a course will be offered in any 3-hour block between 8 am to 6 pm on any one day between Monday and Friday. EVENING Schedule means that a course will be offered at 6-9 pm on any one day between Monday and Thursday. Course schedules will vary from year to year. The program reserves the right to change these scheduling parameters due to unforeseeable circumstances.

Required courses are offered once in each academic year. A different set of elective courses will be offered each academic year. Not all electives listed in the program’s curriculum are being offered in an academic year. The schedule of a course varies every time when it is offered.

Class schedule information provided in the Course Selection document is TENTATIVE information and is subject to change. Students will know the confirmed class schedules, including the classroom assignments online, AFTER they have enrolled in courses. The “weekly schedules” in a student’s Student Center in MyServiceHub show the courses a student is formally enrolled/registered in, and the schedules are the confirmed course schedules.

Course Choices in 2024-25 (F2024, W2025 and S/S2025)

The course options listed in the course selection form normally do not change.

The ISS program typically does not offer any program courses in the S/S term (May to August) except for the IS8100B Seminar and Field Placement. Part-time students who wish to enroll in a class in May-August may consider courses offered by other social science or arts graduate programs at Toronto Metropolitan University ³; however, formal enrollment in a non-ISS graduate course is subject to (i) space availability in the course, and (ii) the ISS program director’s approval to use the non-program course towards the ISS MA degree.

³ Refer to the ‘Course Substitution Guidelines’

In general, course enrollment is based on space availability and on a first come first served basis. Students are advised to enroll in courses as soon as possible after the online enrollment opens.

Required courses

Full-time students are strongly advised to voluntarily select and enroll in an evening section of one of the required courses in each term.

IS 8904 Research Methods: Full-time students must take this course in the Winter term.

Part-time students are strongly advised to complete this course in the 1st Winter term. This will give them ample time after the first Winter term to prepare/refine the MRP proposal and to look for a suitable MRP faculty supervisor.

IS 8100A/B Seminar and Field Placement ⁴ is a one-credit required course that needs two consecutive terms of course registration: IS 8100 A in the Winter term and IS 8100 B in the Spring/Summer term.

• Unlike other program courses, where students can self-enroll, the Program Administrator will enroll all students into IS8100A in the Winter term and IS8100B in the Spring/Summer term.
• Students who are not enrolled in IS8100 A in the Winter term are not permitted to enroll in IS8100 B in the Spring/Summer term.
  
• IS 8100A, in the Winter term, has periodic class meetings; generally every two or three weeks. A schedule of meetings will be provided by the Field Placement Coordinator towards the end of the Fall term. The workload in IS 8100 A in the Winter term will be minimal. The periodic IS8100 meetings in the Winter term aim at preparing students in selecting and applying for a suitable field placement. The actual field placement and a few periodic class meetings will take place in the Spring/Summer term (May-August).
• Part-time students may choose to complete the IS 8100A/B course in the first year or second year of the program. Those part-time students register in IS 8100 A in a Winter term may enroll in two additional courses in the same term – this is the only time when a part-time student is permitted to enroll in three courses.

Elective courses

The program aims to maintain an optimal class size in each of the elective classes.

Spaces in elective courses are available on a first-come, first-served basis. If one or more of the elective courses are full and not available at the time of registration, you will have to choose one or more of the other electives offered in a particular term.

Non-ISS elective courses have to be registered in via a course substitution process and are not open for self-enrollment for ISS students.

Other requirements

● Major Research Paper (MRP)
Generally, successful completion of IS8904 Research Methods is required before the MRP Milestone enrollment. A research proposal approved by an MRP faculty supervisor is also required for formal enrollment in the research milestone. Refer to the “MRP Guideline” available online for detailed information in the Forms & Guidelines link in the Students menu link on the program website.

● GD 1000
Graduate students, both full-time and part-time, are required to maintain a continuous active registration in the program. GD 1000 is a ‘place-holder course’ and is not a real course; there is no credit or grade attached to it. Graduate students are automatically enrolled in GD1000 by the Program Administrator every term for administrative purposes while they are actively registered in the program.

⁴ Please visit ‘ISS 8100 Field Placement Guide’ on our website

• The online course enrollment period for Fall 2024 starts on Tuesday, August 20, 2024, and ends on Friday, September 13, 2024.
• Students can enroll in the courses of their choice (one section of each required course and 1 or 2 electives) on a first-come, first-served basis and subject to space availability. Students are strongly encouraged to enroll in courses as soon as the self-enrollment period starts. Please read the information provided in Sections B and D above before selecting your courses. If you are planning to take only one elective course in the Fall 2024 term, please only enroll in that course and not both, so there is enough space for everyone to enroll, given the limited number of seats in each class.
  
• Students can enroll in Fall 2024 term courses only during the online self-enrolment period stated above. Winter 2025 term enrollment will be available later in the Fall 2024 term. The program will inform all students when the online enrollment will open for the Winter 2025 term, including the exact schedule of the Winter term courses.
  
• Students may change course registration AFTER they are enrolled in courses (as shown in the Student Centre in MyServiceHub) up to a specific date. Refer to the information in the chart below for the appropriate deadline for adding and/or dropping a course in a term.
  
• If the desired course or course section is full, students can place themselves on an automatic waitlist on a first-come, first-served basis. Placing yourself on the waitlist does not guarantee a seat in a particular course or course section, so please make sure to enroll in other available courses at the time of enrollment. For more information on the waitlist function, please visit Course Wait List - Current Students - Toronto Metropolitan University (torontomu.ca)
  
• If a student is enrolled in a course that s/he is not attending, a failing grade will be assigned at the end of the academic term. For the final date to drop a course in a term and how you may drop a course, refer to the section below.
• New students who have admission conditions stated in the formal admission letter should follow instructions and the deadline stated to submit the final official transcript(s) to Graduate Studies Admissions for re-assessment of the conditions. The MyServiceHub system does not allow course registration for new students who have outstanding admissions conditions. For self-enrollment navigation instructions, please visit the following pages: 

• How to Enroll (without validation)
• How to drop a class

Find more information on how to use Toronto Metropolitan University’s online MyServiceHub system

Students are strongly advised to familiarize themselves with the step-by-step procedure of online course enrollment prior to starting the process of self-enrollment.