Minor Programs

Faculty of Science

Biology

A student must successfully complete 18 credits of third- or fourth-year Biology courses. See Incompatible Majors, Honours and Minors. 

Chemistry

A student must successfully complete the core second-year Chemistry courses: CHEM 201 or 210 and all of CHEM 203, 204, 211, 220. The student must also complete at least 18 credits in 300- or 400-level Chemistry courses. See Incompatible Majors, Honours and Minors. 

Computer Science

A Minor in Computer Science allows a student to combine extensive knowledge of one field (the major) with the necessary supporting computer science knowledge. A Minor in Computer Science taken with a Science major requires 18 credits of upper-level Computer Science courses (along with their prerequisites). A Minor in Computer Science taken with an Arts major requires 12 credits of upper-level Computer Science courses (along with their prerequisites).

Data Science

The Minor in Data Science provides advanced numeracy skills to majors in disciplines where new discoveries rely increasingly on the creation, management, and understanding of large data sets such as biology, chemistry, economics, and psychology. Due to the similarity of the content areas, students majoring in Statistics are not permitted to pursue a Minor in Data Science.  See Incompatible Majors, Honours and Minors. 

Students may earn a minor in data science by completing 30 credits^1,2 as follows:

• 3 credits of DATA 101
• 3 credits of STAT 230
• Up to 6 credits from: MATH 100, 101, 200, 221; COSC 111, 121, 221, 222; ECON 102; APSC 177; BIOL 202; PSYO 373; APSC 254
• 3 credits of DATA 301
• 3 credits of DATA 311
• 12 upper-level credits from the following¹:
  • upper-level DATA courses;
  • a maximum of 3 credits from²: COSC 304, 322, 329, 344, 421;
  • a maximum of 6 credits from: STAT 303, 401.

¹ Students in a major/minor are permitted to double count a limited number of credits between the two fields of study (see Double Counting of Credits in Honours, Majors, and Minors).

² The 18 upper-level credits must be in a discipline different from the student’s major.

Any query related to the data science minor should be addressed to the data science minor program coordinator at datascience.advisor@ubc.ca

Earth and Environmental Sciences

A student must successfully complete 30 credits in Earth and Environmental Sciences with at least 18 of these credits at the 300 and 400 level. All 300- or 400-level Earth and Environmental Sciences courses are acceptable, with the exception of EESC 449. Up to 6 credits of GISC courses may be substituted¹.

¹Students with a strong interest in Geospatial Information Science may wish to speak to an Earth, Environmental and Geographic Sciences department program advisor about the Minor in Geospatial Information Science.

Geospatial Information Science

The Minor in Geospatial Information Science provides a formal introduction to foundational concepts, principles, and tools for gathering, storing, processing, analyzing, viewing, and portraying geospatial data. Practical applications and problem solving are stressed.

The minor is open to all majors in a Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science program. The choice of electives enables students to specialize in an area of academic interest that complements their disciplinary major.

Students may earn a Minor in Geospatial Information Science by completing 30 credits, with at least 18 at the 300 or 400 level, as follows:

• 9 credits of core courses: GISC 380, GISC 381, and GISC 480;
• 21 credits of elective courses, with no more than 6 credits at the 100-level¹ and with no more than 12 elective credits from a single discipline² that is the same as the major, from the following list:
  • APSC 169³;
  • COSC 101, 111, 121, 222, 304, 341, 360, 404, 435, 448⁴;
  • DATA 101, 301;
  • EESC 111, 413, 437, 444, 448⁴;
  • ENGR 332³;
  • GEOG 109, 129³, 271⁵, 272, 427³, 437, 498⁴

¹First-year electives can only be counted toward the GIS Minor by students not majoring in the discipline of the subject code (e.g., an EESC major may not count EESC 111 for the GIS Minor, but a COSC or GEOG major may do so).

²For the purposes of the GIS Minor, a discipline is identified by the subject code (e.g., GEOG, EESC) with COSC and DATA combined as one discipline and ASPC and ENGR combined as another discipline.

³For the purposes of the GIS Minor only, these courses will be counted as science credits.

⁴Directed studies courses (3 credits only) can be counted toward the GIS Minor only if pre-approved by the program coordinator based on sufficient GIS content and learning potential.

⁵Any equivalent course dealing with introductory statistical methods can be substituted (e.g. APSC 254, BIOL 202, PSYO 270, SOCI 271, STAT 230).

Double Counting of Credits restrictions apply. See Program Requirements.

Queries related to the GIS Minor should be addressed to the program coordinator.

Mathematics

A student must successfully complete MATH 220 and 18 credits of MATH courses numbered 300 or above (excluding MATH 448).

Mathematics and Statistics

A student must successfully complete MATH 220 and 18 credits of MATH and STAT courses numbered 300 or above (excluding MATH 448 and STAT 448) of which at least 6 credits must be MATH courses and at least 6 credits must be STAT courses.

Physics

A student must successfully complete 18 credits in Physics courses selected from PHYS 301, 304, 305, 310, 314, 320, 321, 324, 328, 331, 360, 400, 401, 402, 403, 407, 408, 418, 420, 425, 431, 441, 474.

Statistics

A student must successfully complete STAT 203, 205, and 18 credits in courses selected from STAT or DATA courses numbered 300 and above of which at least 9 credits must be from STAT courses. Due to the similarity of the content areas, students majoring in Data Science are not permitted to pursue a Minor in Statistics. See Incompatible Majors, Honours and Minors. 

Faculty of Arts

Minor in Arts

B.Sc. students may earn a minor in the following Arts disciplines: Anthropology, Art History and Visual Culture, Creative Writing, Cultural Studies, Economics, English, French, Gender, Women and Sexuality Studies, Geography, History, Indigenous Studies, Philosophy, Political Science, Psychology, Spanish, Sociology, and Theatre. To complete an Arts minor, students must complete at least 30 credits in an Arts discipline. At least 12 of these 30 credits must be in courses numbered 300 or above.

Faculty of Creative and Critical Studies

Minor in Communications and Rhetoric

Minor in Fine Arts

Faculty of Management

Minor in Management

The Minor in Management is open to all students completing a Bachelor of Science.

Students may earn a Minor in Management by completing 30 credits as follows:

• 6 credits of core courses: MGMT 100, MGMT 110
• 6 credits from: MGMT 201, MGMT 202, MGMT 220, MGMT 230, MGMT 250, MGMT 290
• 18 credits of MGMT courses at the 300- and 400-level¹

Students may encounter difficulty fitting the courses for the Minor into their timetable; careful planning is essential, and completion of the Minor program may necessitate an additional term beyond that required to complete the B.Sc. degree alone.

¹Some upper-level MGMT courses may have prerequisites beyond the required lower-level courses for the minor. Non-MGMT prerequisite courses do not count towards the required upper-level credits