About SFU NOW courses
SFU NOW courses are regular undergraduate courses from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences and the Faculty of Communication, Art and Technology, offered on evenings and weekends at our Vancouver and Surrey campuses.
As an SFU NOW student, you can enrol in as many or as few courses as you like. Take at least one SFU NOW course every three semesters and you will maintain your student status and all the benefits that go with it.
If you are pursuing another degree program at SFU, you may take one or more SFU NOW courses to complete your studies.
Course listing
Enrolment
Once you are admitted to SFU, you will be given an enrolment date and time by email. Enrolment dates and times are assigned over a three-week period. As an SFU NOW student, you will have priority enrolment in SFU NOW courses for the first three (3) weeks of the enrolment period. At the end of this period, SFU NOW courses will be opened to all SFU students. Show more
SFU Curriculum Requirements
All students completing an undergraduate degree at SFU must take a minimum number of courses designated to meet writing (W), quantitative (Q) and breadth (B) requirements. Students must achieve a grade of C- (GPA of 1.67) or better to meet the W, Q and B requirements. Show more
Students may not enrol in W and Q courses without first meeting SFU’s English-language competency and literacy entrance requirements, and SFU’s quantitative and analytical skills entrance requirements. You can meet these requirements in a variety of ways before or after enrolling at SFU. See Literacy Requirements and Quantitative Requirements for more information.
SFU NOW courses are scheduled to allow for completion of all W, Q and B requirements by students wishing to complete a bachelor’s degree. We label these courses with the letters W, Q and B on the SFU NOW courses list.
Students completing a Bachelor of Arts (BA) at SFU must meet the following W, Q and B requirements:
Writing Requirements (W)
Courses with a W designation are designed to help you learn course content through intensive writing assignments. These courses will improve your writing abilities and overall communication skills.
Writing-designated courses have the letter W next to the title and after the course description.
To graduate from SFU, you must complete:
- One lower-division* W course (at least 3 credit hours)
- One upper-division* W course (at least 3 credit hours)
*Lower-division courses are first- and second-year courses (levels 100 and 200). Upper-division courses are third- and fourth-year courses (levels 300 and 400).
If you are starting a degree at SFU, you must complete your first W course within the first 60 credits of your degree program.
If you are admitted to SFU with transfer credits and have completed a transferable W course, you may enrol in an upper-division W course right away. If not, you should register in a lower-division W course as soon as possible after admission.
Quantitative Requirements (Q)
Courses with a Q designation will help you to develop quantitative (numerical, geometric) and formal (deductive, probabilistic) reasoning. They also improve your skills in practical problem solving, critical evaluation and analysis.
Q courses are identified by the word “Quantitative” just after the course description.
To graduate from SFU, you must complete:
- Two Q courses, lower- or upper-division* (at least 6 credit hours)
*Lower-division courses are first- and second-year courses (levels 100 and 200). Upper-division courses are third- and fourth-year courses (levels 300 and 400).
If you are starting a degree at SFU, you must complete your first Q course within the first 60 credits of your degree program.
If you are admitted to SFU with transfer credits and have completed a transferable Q course, you may enrol in a Q course at SFU right away. If not, you should register in a lower-division Q course as soon as possible after admission.
Breadth Requirements (B)
Courses with a B designation will expose you to concepts and ideas from a range of disciplines and perspectives, and give you an opportunity to examine and assess your values, beliefs and commitments.
B courses are identified by the label B-Hum (Breadth-Humanities), B-Soc (Breadth–Social Sciences) or B-Sci (Breadth-Science) just after the course description.
To graduate from SFU, you must complete at least 24 credits of B courses:
- Two courses labelled as B-Hum (6 credit hours)
- Two courses labelled as B-Sci (6 credit hours)
- Two courses labelled as B-Soc (6 credit hours)
- Two additional courses outside of your major program (6 credit hours). These additional courses may or may not be designated as breadth, and in most cases will fulfill the particular Faculty or Program breadth requirements.
Please note that Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Fine Arts students must complete 12 additional breadth credit hours rather than the normal University regulation of six additional breadth credit hours.
Prerequisites
Many SFU courses have prerequisites: courses you must complete before enrolling, or a minimum number of credit hours (e.g. 30 credit hours). Some courses are restricted to specific groups of students, such as those who have already declared their major or minor in a particular discipline. Show more
If you try to enrol in a course but do not have the necessary prerequisites, the enrolment system will block your request.
As an adult, however, you may feel that your work or life experience has prepared you for a course. Sometimes students are permitted to enrol in courses without meeting the formal prerequisites. If you are interested in an SFU NOW course or any other SFU course but lack the prerequisites, please contact us.
While the SFU NOW office cannot decide who is eligible to enrol in courses, we can liaise with or direct you to the departmental faculty and staff who make these decisions. SFU departments are keen to ensure that students enrol in courses appropriate for their interests and backgrounds.
Enrolling in Classes Step by Step
1. Consult the schedule of classes to confirm dates and times. Show more
Click here for a current list of SFU NOW courses offered this semester. SFU NOW students are also eligible to enrol in any SFU course—for example, online or distance education courses. Visit SFU’s schedule of classes for the most up-to-date information.
2. Start the enrolment process. Show more
3. Check your enrolment appointment time. Show more
Your enrolment appointment time will appear in the Enrolment Dates box on the right side of the screen, or under Enrolment in the Self Service menu on the left side of the screen.
SFU webmail is SFU’s primary method of communication with students about admissions, enrolment and other matters. Forwarding your SFU email to another server can result in lost or failed transmissions of important information.
4. Enrol in classes on or after your enrolment appointment date. Show more
To enrol (Add a Class) using SIS, click on “Academics” in your Student Center or “Enrollment” in the Self Service menu on the left side of the screen.
You may add or delete classes until the end of the first week. After you’ve added or deleted classes, always check My Class Schedule to confirm the changes you’ve made.
You may drop classes after enrolling in them, but you should be aware of the potential academic and/or financial penalties. See SFU’s deadlines for information about penalties.
Before making selections in the enrolment system, you may wish to view SFU’s helpful video tutorials on the Student Tutorials page. Look for “Add Classes”, “Drop Classes” and “Swap Classes”.
5. Ask for help if you need it. Show more
If you run into any difficulties, feel free to contact the SFU NOW office for assistance. Help and resources for enrolment are also on SFU’s Enrolling Help page, which includes a link to live help on enrolment through instant messaging.
