Choosing your courses is a good place to start.

But before moving on to select your courses, there are some general things about the entire course selection process that you should know, like:

• how many credits a course is worth;
• the U of M's Written English (W) and Math (M) requirements for graduation in all degree programs;
• what "electives" are and how to choose them;
• what "course equivalencies" are and why they matter;
• how to read Faculty entries in the Undergraduate Calendar;
• how to decipher course numbers; and
• where to find the School of Agriculture diploma and university degree course listings.

Let's look at each of these in more detail.

How many credits is a course worth?

University degree and diploma courses are assigned a value expressed in credit hours. Every degree course is normally assigned a numeric value of 3 or 6 credits hours. Diploma courses are assigned a numeric value of 2, 3, 4, or 5 credit hours.

• a 3 credit hour course runs during either the Fall Term (September to December), or the Winter Term (January to April). You may even select a 3 credit hour course as a summer course.
• a 6 credit hour course is called a spanned course and runs over two terms - Fall and Winter (from September to April).

Diploma credit hours are assigned in the following manner:

• a 2, 3 or 4 credit hour course runs during either the Fall Term (September to December), or the Spring Term (January to April).
• a 5 credit hour course is called a spanned course and runs over two terms - Fall and Spring (from September to April).

Students are required to complete the following number of credit hours in their program to graduate:

• A 4 year degree usually requires 120 credit hours of study.
• A 2 year diploma usually requires a minimum of 93 credit hours of study.

For Degree Summer Sessions, both 3 and 6 credit hour courses are offered at different times and dates throughout the May - August period.

Generally, within your first 60 credit hours (two years) of degree study at the U of M you need to complete:

• a 3 credit hour course with significant content in written English (W); and
• depending on which faculty degree program you registered in, you will be required to complete either one or two mathematics courses with 3 credit hours each to meet the Mathematics (M) requirements of the faculty.

Some faculties have specific W and/or M courses that you need to take; others will allow you to choose any W or M courses. The Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences requires that each degree student complete AGRI 2030 - Technical Communications as the Faculty’s written English (W) requirement.

Courses that meet the W or M requirement for the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences degree students are listed like this in the Undergraduate Calendar:

If you are following the sampling approach and don't have a target faculty in mind, it's a good idea to take your W and M courses in your U1 year.

Courses that meet the W or M requirement are listed like this in the Undergraduate Calendar:

AGRI 2030 - Technical Communications (W)

MATH 1310 – Matrices for Management and Social Sciences (M)

and

MATH 1520 – Introductory Calculus for Management and Social Sciences (M)
or
MATH 1300 – Vector Geometry and Linear Algebra (M)

and

MATH 1500 – Introduction to Calculus (M)

Electives are any course of personal interest that you want to take which are listed in the Undergraduate Calendar.

You may find that your degree program requires you to take "Restricted Electives." Restricted Electives are a special group of elective courses that you must choose from within your academic program to fulfill your diploma or degree requirements.

You can choose from almost 200 elective courses from 13 different faculties and schools for your degree program.

What are "course equivalencies" and why do they matter?

When looking at a faculty course list, you may see courses identified as "equivalent” or ‘not to be held with." Courses are seen as equivalent when the course material in one course overlaps considerably with another. Course equivalencies give you several options for achieving the credits you need for graduation.

For example, this is the list of equivalences for calculus:

Every faculty has an entry in the Undergraduate Calendar.

One of the best and most convenient ways to find both required degree and diploma courses and general courses of interest is by learning to read and follow the Undergraduate Calendar.

Important Notice

The University of Manitoba reserves the right to make changes in the information contained in the Undergraduate Calendar, the Graduate Calendar, and the Registration Guide without prior notice to students. The University of Manitoba Web site is a source for updated information.

Not every course listed in the Undergraduate Calendar or the Graduate Calendar will be offered in this academic year.

Courses which are offered this year are listed in the Aurora Class Schedule.

It is the responsibility of all students:

• To familiarize themselves each year with the university's academic regulations and policy in general;
• To familiarize themselves with the regulations and policies applying specifically to their faculty, school, or program;
• To familiarize themselves with the specific graduation requirements of the degree, diploma, or certificate they are seeking; and
• To ensure that the courses they have selected are appropriate to their programs.

In the event of an inconsistency between the general academic regulations and policies published in the Undergraduate Calendar and the Graduate Calendar, and such regulations and policies established by Senate and the councils of the faculties and schools, the version established by Senate and the councils of the faculties and schools shall prevail.

The regulations and policies contained in this year's editions of the Undergraduate Calendar, the Graduate Calendar, and the Registration Guide apply, subject to change, only for the academic year indicated on published document.

Deciphering course numbers.

Course numbers have a few different parts in the print version of the Undergraduate Calendar.

In the printed Calendar, course numbers are listed as:

1. MATH 1500: the department name and course number
2. Introduction to Calculus: the course name
3. Cr. Hrs. 3: the number of credit hours; and
4. (Lab Required): whether or not a lab is required. It is very important to note if a course needs a lab, because in most cases it is necessary to timetable and register for your labs separately than your lecture.

Where is the list of Faculty Program Courses I can take?

• General information about the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences and the School of Agriculture begins in SECTION 1: Programs Offered of the Online Undergraduate Calendar.
• Faculty degree program descriptions begin in SECTION 4: Program and Graduation Requirements of the Online Undergraduate Calendar.
• Faculty degree course descriptions begin in SECTION 5: Course Descriptions of the Online Undergraduate Calendar.
• Faculty diploma program descriptions begin in SECTION 4.4: Diploma in Diploma of the Online Undergraduate Calendar.
• Faculty diploma course descriptions begin in SECTION 5: Course Descriptions of the Online Undergraduate Calendar.

Let's look at course selection ...

Once you have decided on your degree program course selection or your diploma program selection and understand the concepts of:

• credit hours;
• the W and M requirements (please note: the W and M requirements ARE NOT required for students registered in the diploma program)
• electives; and
• equivalencies

It's time to start selecting courses! This next section of the Ag Tutorial will show you how to select courses.

Once you have a list of courses you are interested in, you can find out more about them by looking at the course descriptions in the Online Undergraduate Calendar.

Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences course descriptions can be found in the Online Undergraduate Calendar in SECTION 5: Course Descriptions for both degree programs and the diploma program. Courses are listed alphabetically, then by subject code.

Undergraduate calendar course descriptions can give you a better idea of what these courses are about - and can help you choose which course will be best for you.

A new Online Undergraduate Calendar is available for review at the end of every April for the upcoming Regular School Session

The Online Calendar is another quick and easy way to find course descriptions.

Go to www.umanitoba.ca and click on the "Course Calendar" link and then the "Course Catalog" link.

Many courses have prerequisites or concurrent requirements. What are they?

Prerequisite: a course that must be satisfactorily completed before a more advanced course may be taken. Most courses require a minimum grade of 'C' in the prerequisite course.

For example, you cannot take ABIZ 3520 Food Distribution and International Merchandising until you have successfully completed ABIZ 1000 Introduction to Agribusiness Management.

Concurrent requirement: a course that must be completed before or at the same time as a second course.

The Online Undergraduate Calendar includes information on course prerequisites and concurrent requirements.

Once you read the calendar description of a course, you may find you're missing a prerequisite and need to upgrade some of your academic skills before you take a desired course. There are a variety of non-credit courses available that can help you meet the requirements for taking a course.

The U of M offers 3 non-credit courses that allow you to upgrade to Senior 4 Chemistry, Physics and Pre-calculus:

• CHEM 0900 Preparatory Chemistry
• PHYS 0900 Preparing for University Physics
• Mathematical Skills (offered by Extended Education)

If you don’t have the pre-requisites from High School, taking these courses and passing them will fulfill the high school pre-requisite. You will find the preparatory Chemistry and Physics courses in the calendar, in the appropriate departments, and you can register for them the same way as you would a regular course.

Math Skills is not listed in the calendar. It is offered on campus through the Extended Education Division. You can find out more about this course and register for it on the Extended Education Division website.

AGRI 2030- Technical Communications meets the Written (W) requirements of the university and is a required course for all Agricultural and Food Sciences degree students. The course includes Lectures and workshops to develop written and oral communication skills for preparing and presenting scientific and technical reports. Basic composition skills, communication graphics and job interview techniques are included. Degree students are required to have completed 24 credit hours of University study before registering in this course.

DAGR 0410- Communication and Learning Skills fulfills the written component of the diploma program. It is a course that has been designed to improve a diploma student's learning skills and abilities in written and oral communication.

Full-time VS Part-time Degree Students

Now that you know which courses you should take, it's time to think about how many courses you should take.

A full course load is considered to be 15 credit hours per term (5 3-credit hour courses), whereas, you are considered a Full Time student if you are registered in at least 9 credit hours per term (3 3-credit hour courses). For degree students:

A full courseload - 15 credit hours per term is the normal maximum (5 courses).

Full-time study - 9 credit hours per term or more (3 courses or more).

Part-time study - less than 9 credit hours per term.

How much is too much?

On average, you should be spending 2 – 3 hours outside of class studying/preparing for every hour you are in class. This is a general rule as some classes will require more time and some less, and some students will need more study time, and others will need less. Study time will need to increase around tests/and exams. Some classes may also have frequent quizzes or assignments, so you may find that you will need to spend more time on them.

When calculating how many hours you should be studying based on the number of hours you spend in class, include in your calculation the number of hours you will be spending in labs as well.

Because of the amount of time spent in labs, and the work required outside of the labs, students taking courses with labs are going to have a heavier work load than students taking courses without labs.

At the beginning of each class you’ll receive a course outline called a syllabus that will outline the details of the class. Are there papers? How many assignments are there going to be? How many tests? What is the specific course content? What is the percentage each portion of the class is worth? The course syllabus should be able to answer all of these questions. Make sure to read this over and take all of your responsibilities into consideration when planning your workload.

For those who are planning on working while going to school, or with significant family commitments, time management is going to be very important.