Visiting Students

Students who are not currently enrolled in one of the School of Population and Public Health (SPPH) graduate programs may still be able to register to take one of our graduate courses. Eligible persons may be:

UBC undergraduate or graduate students wishing to take an SPPH course as an elective
Graduate students enrolled in another Western Canadian university, looking to take a course not offered by their own institution, to go towards their degree.
Professionals looking to further their knowledge in their current field
People planning to apply for an SPPH program that want to gain an introduction to this field

*SPHA courses for the Master of Health Administration (MHA) are not open to students outside of the MHA program.

Interested in auditing SPPH courses?

Students auditing our courses go through the same process. Please ensure you read the audit policy here before requesting an audit.

Registration request process depends on your student status:

Please select the option below that you wish to submit a request for, and follow the instructions to apply. Undergraduate students register themselves and do not require permission.

UBC NON-SPPH GRADUATE STUDENT REQUESTS

Non-SPPH UBC Students wishing to enrol in SPPH courses must ensure that they have completed any required pre-requisite classes.

UBC Vancouver Graduate Students:

1) Obtain permission from the SPPH course instructor to take their course

2) Forward the instructor’s permission email and your request to spph.graduate-programs@ubc.ca

UBC Okanagan Graduate Students:

Almost all of our courses are held in-person at UBC Point Grey Campus in Vancouver. If you will be able to attend classes in Vancouver, then please consider taking any of our courses. The process requires at least one month, preferably two months, before the course start date in order to obtain approvals (your home program, the UBCO College of Graduate Studies, our School and the UBCV Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies) including approval the course instructor.

UBCO grad students must complete these steps:

1) Obtain permission from the SPPH course instructor to take their course

2) Forward the instructor’s permission email and your request to spph.graduate-programs@ubc.ca .

3) You will need to then complete this form: http://gradstudies.cms.ok.ubc.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/84/2018/07/Registration_in_Vancouver_Courses.pdf

4) On that form, you will need to obtain approvals in the “Home Campus” portion of the form, including submitting the form to the UBCO College of Graduate Studies. They will send the form to UBCV Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (G+PS)

SPPH will be notified of the registration request by G+PS as they will send us your form and we will obtain the remaining Host Campus approvals. We will then send you an acknowledgement email once we receive that form. Then, in mid-August we will register you in the course pending any available seats (i.e. if there’s room in the course at that time, then you will be registered). Given the demand by SPPH students, we must prioritize their registration before any non-SPPH student requests.

Notification of approval:

Your request will be held and processed once confirmation of class space is available.

Please note we have to give priority to SPPH students first.

For Winter Session (Sept. – Apr. ; Term 1 and/or Term 2) courses, for those who have completed the above-referenced process, we begin sending notifications in mid-August to inform regarding registration in the course.

For Summer Session (May – Aug.; Term 1 and/or Term 2) courses, we will begin sending notifications in late-March. Please also note because of class size restrictions we may not be able to honour your request.

WESTERN DEANS' AGREEMENT (WDA) STUDENT REQUESTS

If you are a current graduate student at another Western Canadian university, you can take any UBC graduate course via the Western Deans’ Agreement.

1) Download and fill out the WDA form

2) Contact your home university’s Graduate Studies department. This request must first be approved by the home university (Home Institution), who will then send the form to the UBC Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies office (UBC is the host institution) ***This process takes a few weeks and requests should be received as early as possible to meet the below deadlines***

3) Obtain permission from the SPPH course instructor to take their course. Email approval will be used in lieu of the signature on the WDA form. You do not need to obtain Graduate Advisor approval; we will obtain the appropriate signatures on the form

4) Forward the instructor’s permission email and your request to spph.graduate-programs@ubc.ca

Notification of approval:

Your request will be held and processed once confirmation of class space is available. After SPPH approval, applications are then sent to the UBC Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (G+PS) for approval, processing and registration. This department will send a letter to the student and home university confirming registration. SPPH cannot register students directly into courses; this is done through UBC Graduate Studies and Enrolment Services.

Please note we have to give priority to SPPH students first.

For Winter Session (Sept. – Apr. ; Term 1 and/or Term 2) courses, for those who have completed the above-referenced process, we begin sending notifications in mid-August to inform regarding registration in the course.

For Summer Session (May – Aug.; Term 1 and/or Term 2) courses, we will begin sending notifications in late-March. Please also note because of class size restrictions we may not be able to honour your request.

GRADUATE EXCHANGE AGREEMENT (GEA) STUDENT REQUESTS

The Graduate Exchange Agreement allows graduate students in good standing at UBC, McGill University, the University of Toronto, and the University of Montreal to take courses at each other’s universities without having to pay tuition fees to the host institution.

1) Download and fill out the GEA form

2) Contact your home university’s Graduate Studies department. This request must first be approved by the home university (Home Institution), who will then send the form to the UBC Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies office (UBC is the host institution) ***This process takes a few weeks and requests should be received as early as possible to meet the below deadlines***

3) Obtain permission from the SPPH course instructor to take their course. Email approval will be used in lieu of the signature on the GEA form. You do not need to obtain Graduate Advisor approval; we will obtain the appropriate signatures on the form

4) Forward the instructor’s permission email and your request to spph.graduate-programs@ubc.ca

Notification of approval:

After SPPH approval, applications are then sent to the UBC Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for approval, processing and registration. This department will send a letter to the student and home university confirming registration. SPPH cannot register students directly into courses; this is done through UBC Graduate Studies and Enrolment Services.

Please note we have to give priority to SPPH students first.

For Winter Session (Sept. – Apr. ; Term 1 and/or Term 2) courses, for those who have completed the above-referenced process, we begin sending notifications in mid-August to inform regarding registration in the course.

For Summer Session (May – Aug.; Term 1 and/or Term 2) courses, we will begin sending notifications in late-March. Please also note because of class size restrictions we may not be able to honour your request.

UBC NON-SPPH UNDERGRADUATE STUDENT REQUESTS

UBC Students wishing to enrol in SPPH Undergraduate courses do not require any permission and are able to register themselves in these courses. This does not include SPPH 400 which is considered a Graduate course.

Undergraduate UBC Students wishing to enrol in SPPH Graduate courses must ensure that they have completed any required pre-requisite classes. Please follow the instructions below to request to enrol in SPPH Graduate courses.

UBC Undergraduate Students in SPPH Graduate Courses:

1) Download and fill out this form (Enrolment of Undergraduate Students in a Graduate Course). Please read the information on the form carefully.

2) Obtain permission from the SPPH course instructor to take their course. Email approval will be used in lieu of the signature on the enrolment form.

Forward the instructor’s permission email, the Enrolment of Undergraduate Students in a Graduate Course form and your request to spph.graduate-programs@ubc.ca

Notification of approval:

Your request will be held and processed once confirmation of class space is available. For undergraduate requests, SPPH will obtain the required internal approval, and then email the form back to the student for processing by their Home Faculty Advising Office. The student’s Advising Office will then approve the form and send it on to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for their approval and registration. G+PS will send a letter to the student confirming registration.

Please note we have to give priority to SPPH students first.

For Winter Session (Sept. – Apr. ; Term 1 and/or Term 2) courses, for those who have completed the above-referenced process, we begin sending notifications in mid-August to inform regarding registration in the course.

For Summer Session (May – Aug.; Term 1 and/or Term 2) courses, we will begin sending notifications in late-March . Please also note because of class size restrictions we may not be able to honour your request.

UNCLASSIFIED STUDENT REQUESTS

If you are not a current university student, you need to apply to UBC as an Unclassified Student and follow the appropriate process. Before beginning this process please read the Unclassified Student Policy and check the unclassified student Tuition Fees.

1) Register with UBC as an Unclassified Student through Enrolment Services: http://students.ubc.ca/enrolment/courses/non-degree/unclassified

2) Once you have received your Unclassified status and student number, download and fill out the Non-Degree Students form

3) Obtain permission from the SPPH course instructor to take their course (Email approval will be used in lieu of the signature on the enrolment form. You do not need to obtain Graduate Advisor approval; we will obtain the appropriate signatures on the form)

4) Forward the instructor’s permission email, the Non-Degree Students form, and your request to spph.graduate-programs@ubc.ca

Notification of approval:

Your request will be held and processed once confirmation of class space is available. After SPPH approval, applications are then sent to the UBC Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (G+PS) for approval and processing. SPPH cannot register students directly into courses; this is done by Enrolment Services following approval by G+PS.

Once registered in a UBC course, all students must sign up for a Campus-Wide Login (CWL) account. Students will need a CWL in order to access the student Canvas webpage for the course.

Please note we have to give priority to SPPH students first.

For Winter Session (Sept. – Apr. ; Term 1 and/or Term 2) courses, for those who have completed the above-referenced process, we begin sending notifications in mid-August to inform regarding registration in the course.

For Summer Session (May – Aug.; Term 1 and/or Term 2) courses, we will begin sending notifications in late-March . Please also note because of class size restrictions we may not be able to honour your request.

IMPORTANT DATES

– In August, prior to the start of Winter Session, Term 1, the School will process all visiting student requests for both Term 1 and Term 2 and advise those students whether or not they will be registered in the course **Please note we have to give priority to SPPH students first, also note because of class size restrictions we may not be able to honour your request**

– All Visiting Student Requests are processed in the order in which they are received

– Taking one or more courses as an Unclassified Student does not guarantee acceptance into any UBC graduate program, neither at SPPH nor any other UBC program

– SPHA courses are only open to students in the MHA program

DEADLINES

All forms and the instructor approval for Visiting Student requests should be received by our office by these deadlines:

September start date (Term 1): July 31

January start date (Term 2): November 30

May and July start date (Summer Session, Terms 1 and 2): March 30

NOTE: Since administrative processes for processing forms and requests require Faculty/Departmental approvals at SPPH and the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, any requests made after these deadlines may not be accepted.