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Business and Geography Joint Major
Students must qualify for, and receive admission to the program, must remain qualified for continuance in the Beedie School of Business, and must be accepted as a joint major in the Department of Geography.
Students may opt for a bachelor of arts degree from either the Faculty of Environment, or a bachelor of business administration from the Beedie School of Business. Faculty requirements will be governed by the faculty from which the student chooses to complete a degree.
Grade Requirements
In addition to normal university grade point average requirements, the Beedie School of Business requires a minimum 2.40 cumulative grade point average (CGPA) for entry into all 300 and 400 division business courses.
For a course to be accepted as fulfilling a prerequisite, or for a lower division requirement, or for a core course to be accepted in a student’s program in business, a student must have obtained a minimum grade of C- (C minus).
Course Limit
Students with fewer than 60 units may enrol in a maximum of 16 units per term. Those with 60 or more may enrol in a maximum of 18 units.
Letters of Permission
The Beedie School of Business does not normally approve letters of permission for students already enrolled at ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV.
Program Requirements
Students complete 120 units, as specified below.
Lower Division Requirements
Business Lower Division Requirements
Students complete all of
Introduces students to the knowledge and skills necessary to make full use of business information systems. Demonstrates how information systems are used by organizations to improve productivity and create competitive advantage. Provides hands on training in productivity tools including Excel, Visio, Access and Web design tools. Prerequisite: REQ-12 units. Students with credit for BUS 337 and COMM 337 may not repeat this course for further credit.
An introduction to financial accounting, including accounting terminology, understanding financial statements, analysis of a business entity using financial statements. Includes also time value of money and a critical review of the conventional accounting system. Prerequisite: 12 units. Students with credit for BUS 221 may not take this course for further credit. Quantitative.
Theory and methods of cost compilation for managerial planning, control and decision making; the use of budgets and analysis in planning and controlling operations, establishing supervisory and departmental responsibility, and various techniques of measuring results. Prerequisite: BUS 251; 15 units. Students with credit for BUS 324, BUS 328, or COMM 324 may not take BUS 254 for further credit. Quantitative.
Theories, concepts and issues in the field of organizational behavior with an emphasis on individual and team processes. Core topics include employee motivation and performance, stress management, communication, work perceptions and attitudes, decision-making, team dynamics, employee involvement and conflict management. Prerequisite: 12 units.
The principal elements of theory concerning utility and value, price and costs, factor analysis, productivity, labor organization, competition and monopoly, and the theory of the firm. Students with credit for ECON 200 cannot take ECON 103 for further credit. Quantitative/Breadth-Soc.
The principal elements of theory concerning money and income, distribution, social accounts, public finance, international trade, comparative systems, and development and growth. Students with credit for ECON 205 cannot take ECON 105 for further credit. Quantitative/Breadth-Soc.
and one of
An introduction to business statistics with a heavy emphasis on applications and the use of EXCEL. Students will be required to use statistical applications to solve business problems. STAT 270, Introduction to Probability and Statistics, will be accepted in lieu of BUEC 232. Prerequisite: MATH 157 and 15 units. MATH 157 may be taken concurrently with BUEC 232. Students with credit for STAT 270 may not take this course for further credit. Quantitative.
Basic laws of probability, sample distributions. Introduction to statistical inference and applications. Corequisite: MATH 152 or 155 or 158. Students wishing an intuitive appreciation of a broad range of statistical strategies may wish to take STAT 100 first. Quantitative. Prerequisite: COREQ-MATH 152 or 155 or 158. Students wishing an intuitive appreciation of a broad range of statistical strategies may wish to take STAT 100 first. Equivalent Courses: STAT102 STAT103 STAT201 STAT203 STAT301. Quantitative.
and one of
Emphasis is upon the relevance of economic models to business decision-making and, in particular, upon the rational analysis of choice alternatives within the firm. Course will include consideration of optimizing techniques and analysis of risk, demand, production and profit in addition to examination of long-term investment decisions and business forecasting. Prerequisite: Econ 103, 105, MATH 157 and 15 units. Students with credit for ECON 301, ECON 201, or BUS 307 may not take BUS 207 for further credit. Quantitative.
Aspects of microeconomic theory involving competitive markets. Topics include the behavior of households and firms, partial equilibrium analysis of product and factor markets, and general equilibrium. Prerequisite: ECON 103 and 105; MATH 157. Students with credit for ECON 301 may not complete this course for further credit.
Aspects of microeconomic theory involving competitive markets. Topics include the behavior of households and firms, partial equilibrium analysis of product and factor markets, and general equilibrium. Prerequisite: ECON 103 or 200 and ECON 105 or 205; MATH 157; two 200 division ECON or BUEC courses (excluding BUEC 232), admission to an economics program prior to Fall 2012; 60 units. Students with credit for ECON 201 may not complete this course for further credit. Quantitative.
and one of
Designed for students specializing in mathematics, physics, chemistry, computing science and engineering. Topics as for Math 151 with a more extensive review of functions, their properties and their graphs. Recommended for students with no previous knowledge of Calculus. In addition to regularly scheduled lectures, students enrolled in this course are encouraged to come for assistance to the Calculus Workshop (Burnaby), or Math Open Lab (Surrey). Prerequisite: Pre-Calculus 12 (or equivalent) with a grade of at least B+, or MATH 100 with a grade of at least B-, or achieving a satisfactory grade on the ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV Calculus Readiness Test. Students with credit for either MATH 151, 154 or 157 may not take MATH 150 for further credit. Quantitative.
Designed for students specializing in mathematics, physics, chemistry, computing science and engineering. Logarithmic and exponential functions, trigonometric functions, inverse functions. Limits, continuity, and derivatives. Techniques of differentiation, including logarithmic and implicit differentiation. The Mean Value Theorem. Applications of Differentiation including extrema, curve sketching, related rates, Newton's method. Antiderivatives and applications. Conic sections, polar coordinates, parametric curves. Prerequisite: Pre-Calculus 12 (or equivalent) with a grade of at least A, or MATH 100 with a grade of at least B, or achieving a satisfactory grade on the ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV Calculus Readiness Test. Students with credit for either MATH 150, 154 or 157 may not take MATH 151 for further credit. Quantitative.
Designed for students specializing in the biological and medical sciences. Topics include: limits, growth rate and the derivative; elementary functions, optimization and approximation methods, and their applications; mathematical models of biological processes. Prerequisite: Pre-Calculus 12 (or equivalent) with a grade of at least B, or MATH 100 with a grade of at least C, or achieving a satisfactory grade on the ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV Calculus Readiness Test. Students with credit for either MATH 150, 151 or 157 may not take MATH 154 for further credit. Quantitative.
Designed for students specializing in business or the social sciences. Topics include: limits, growth rate and the derivative; logarithmic exponential and trigonometric functions and their application to business, economics, optimization and approximation methods; functions of several variables. Prerequisite: Pre-Calculus 12 (or equivalent) with a grade of at least B, or MATH 100 with a grade of at least C, or achieving a satisfactory grade on the ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV Calculus Readiness Test. Students with credit for either MATH 150, 151 or 154 may not take MATH 157 for further credit. Quantitative.
and two of
Examines selected works of literature in order to develop a critical awareness of literary techniques and contexts in the representation of experience. May include the comparative study of works in related literary and artistic genres, and will pay some attention to literature of the Twentieth century. Includes attention to writing skills. Writing/Breadth-Humanities. Prerequisite: . Equivalent Courses: ENGL101. Writing/Breadth-Humanities.
Examines selected works of literature in order to develop a critical awareness of literary techniques and contexts in the representation of experience. May include the comparative study of works in related literary and artistic genres, and will pay some attention to literature of the Twentieth century. Includes attention to writing skills. Writing/Breadth-Humanities. Prerequisite: . Equivalent Courses: ENGL102. Writing/Breadth-Humanities.
Examines selected works of literature in order to develop a critical awareness of literary techniques and contexts in the representation of experience. May include the comparative study of works in related literary and artistic genres, and will pay some attention to literature of the Twentieth century. Includes attention to writing skills. Writing/Breadth-Humanities. Prerequisite: . Equivalent Courses: ENGL103. Writing/Breadth-Humanities.
The literary study of a variety of prose genres, such as the essay, biography, autobiography, travel narrative, and journalistic writing. May include works which challenge the boundary between fiction and non-fiction. The course is intended to develop a critical awareness of literary techniques and contexts in the representation of experience. Includes attention to writing skills. Writing/Breadth-Humanities. Prerequisite: . Equivalent Courses: ENGL104. Writing/Breadth-Humanities.
An introduction to the study of literature within the wider cultural field, with a focus on contemporary issues across genres and media. Writing/Breadth-Humanities. Prerequisite: . Equivalent Courses: ENGL105. Writing/Breadth-Humanities.
An introduction to reading and writing in the academic disciplines. Prerequisite: 12 units. Students with credit for ENGL 199 may not take this course for further credit. Writing.
An introduction to the evaluation of arguments as they are encountered in everyday life. The central aim will be to sharpen skills of reasoning and argumentation by understanding how arguments work and learning to distinguish those which actually prove what they set out to show from those which do not. Open to all students. Quantitative.
An introduction to some of the central problems of philosophy. Topics to be discussed include the different theories of reality; the nature and sources of knowledge, truth, evidence, and reason; the justification of belief and knowledge about the universe. These topics and problems will be considered as they arise in the context of issues such as: relativism versus absolutism; the existence of God; personal identity; the nature of the mind and its relation to the body; free will and determinism; the possibility of moral knowledge. Open to all students. Students with credit for PHIL 100 may not take this course for further credit. Writing/Breadth-Humanities.
An introduction to the central problems of ethics: for example, the nature of right and wrong, the objectivity or subjectivity of moral judgments, the relativity or absolutism of values, the nature of human freedom and responsibility. The course will also consider general moral views such as utilitarianism, theories of rights and specific obligations, and the ethics of virtue. These theories will be applied to particular moral problems such as abortion, punishment, distributive justice, freedom of speech, and racial and sexual equality. Sometimes the course will also focus on important historical figures such as Plato, Aristotle, Kant and Mill. Open to all students. Students with credit for PHIL 120 may not take this course for further credit. Writing/Breadth-Humanities.
Examines international migrancy, cultural identities, or cross-cultural influence in world literatures, while introducing the fundamentals of literary analysis and expository writing. Writing/Breadth-Humanities.
Surveys pre-modern texts of world literature. Writing/Breadth-Humanities.
Surveys poetry and prose from the seventeenth century to the present, with a focus on the literary exploration of issues of humanity. Writing/Breadth-Humanities.
Geography Lower Division Requirements
Students are required to successfully complete a minimum of 15 lower division geography units including
A survey of how humans shape their world, considered from spatial and environmental perspectives. Themes include population, culture, resources, livelihood, cities. Breadth-Social Sciences.
An introduction to landforms, climates, soils and vegetation; their origins, distributions, interrelationships and roles in the ecosystem. Laboratory work and field trips are included. Breadth-Science.
The basic concepts of economic geography, involving consideration of the spatial organization and development of economic and resource based systems. Prerequisite: GEOG 100.
and six units from any lower division GEOG courses.
Upper Division Requirements
Business Core Courses
The Beedie School of Business core courses must be completed, except as specifically modified below. Students complete all of
This course examines and reviews contemporary thinking on the changing role of business and business persons in the operations of society, particularly Canadian society. The course explores the changing legal, ethical and regulatory environments of business focusing on the critical alignments -- values, policies, technology and legal approaches -- between the modern organization and its broader public. Prerequisite: 60 units. Students with credit for BUS 103, COMM 103, or COMM 303 may not take this course for further credit.
Role and function of financial managers, financial analysis, compound interest valuation and capital budgeting, management of current assets, introduction to financial instruments and institutions. Prerequisite: BUS 254 (or 324); 60 units. Recommended: BUS 207, ECON 201, or ECON 301. Quantitative.
This course is an extension of BUEC 232. It develops and applies the quantitative models that are most directly relevant to business decisions. Beginning with material on multiple regression and forecasting modeling, the course moves on to decision analysis, business simulation, quality control, and an introduction to optimization. Prerequisite: MATH 157 and BUEC 232, 60 units. Quantitative.
The environment of marketing; relation of social sciences to marketing; evaluation of marketing theory and research; assessment of demand, consumer behavior analysis; market institutions; method and mechanics of distribution in domestic, foreign and overseas markets; sales organization; advertising; new product development, publicity and promotion; marketing programs. Prerequisite: 60 units. Students with credit for COMM 343 may not take this course for further credit.
Common law, equity, and statute law; contracts, agency, and negotiable instruments; partnership and corporation law; international commercial law. Prerequisite: 60 units. BUEC 391 is not to be taken concurrently with BUS 393. Students with credit for COMM 393 may not take this course for further credit.
Integration of the various areas of business for the purpose of analysing and recommending strategies for planning and decision-making within the firm and a defined environment. Prerequisite: BUS 207 (or ECON 201 or ECON 301), BUS 312, 343, 360W and either BUS 374 or 381; 90 units.
and one of
This course will examine theories of organization which use the organization as a basic unit of analysis. It will show how the structure and internal processes of an organization are linked to and partially determined by forces in the external environment of the organization. Contextual factors such as the technology and corporate strategy of the organization will also be examined. Prerequisite: 60 units; BUS 272 (or 372).
Subjects include human resource planning, job analysis and design, recruitment, employment equity, selection and placement, performance appraisal, compensation and benefits, training and development, occupational health and safety, and industrial relations. For each subject an overview of current Canadian issues and practices is presented. Prerequisite: BUS 272 (or 372); 60 units.
and one additional 400 division BUS course.
BUS 360W is recommended but not required. BUS 360W will be waived as a prerequisite for 400 division BUS courses for those in approved BUS joint programs. BUS 360W must be completed at ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV in accordance with the WQB requirements.
Geography Upper Division Requirements
Students are required to successfully complete a minimum of 24 units of upper division geography courses including
- 12 units at the 300 division courses
- 12 units at the 400 division courses
Writing, Quantitative, and Breadth Requirements
Students admitted to ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV beginning in the fall 2006 term must meet writing, quantitative and breadth requirements as part of any degree program they may undertake. See for university-wide information.
WQB Graduation Requirements
A grade of C- or better is required to earn W, Q or B credit
Requirement |
Units |
Notes | |
W - Writing |
6 |
Must include at least one upper division course, taken at ¶¡ÏãÔ°AV within the student’s major subject | |
Q - Quantitative |
6 |
Q courses may be lower or upper division | |
B - Breadth |
18 |
Designated Breadth | Must be outside the student’s major subject, and may be lower or upper division 6 units Social Sciences: B-Soc 6 units Humanities: B-Hum 6 units Sciences: B-Sci |
6 |
Additional Breadth | 6 units outside the student’s major subject (may or may not be B-designated courses, and will likely help fulfil individual degree program requirements) |
Business Career Passport Requirements
Students who are admitted to the Beedie School of Business beginning in the fall 2012 term will complete the Business Career Passport.
During the BBA program, students register in and complete six mandatory Business Career Passport workshops. The workshops may be completed in any order. However, it is recommended that students complete the self-assessment workshop sometime within their first 60 units of study.
Enrolment and participation in workshops must be recorded with the Career Management Centre. For more information about the workshops, or to register, visit on the .
Residency Requirements and Transfer Credit
The University’s residency requirement stipulates that, in most cases, total transfer and course challenge credit may not exceed 60 units, and may not include more than 15 as upper division work.
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