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- FASS 200 Writing Right: Strategies for effective revision
- FASS 204 Communicating in Conflict and Negotiation
- FASS 205 Finding Voice: Public Speaking for Social Change
- FASS 206 Creating Effective Teams
- FASS 207 Cultural Humility: Understanding Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
- FASS 208 Introduction to Personal Financial Planning for Students
- FASS 210 Language Network Science
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- FASS 214 Exploring EDI: This Is My Story
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FASS Forward one credit courses
Succeed now and in the future with FASS Forward one credit courses. Learn the skills you need whether you're finishing your undergraduate degree, planning grad school or looking for work.
FAST
Courses are only one month* and are open to all students. The fastest way to finish your elective courses.
* See FAQ for exceptions
FORWARD
Look forward to your future. Take control of your path with these valuable, lifelong skills.
YOU'VE GOT THIS!
Get ahead in school and work with FASS Forward one credit courses.
New Courses for Summer 2023
FASS 212 - Introduction to Social Work Practice: Change Agency
Introduces the field of social work through a practitioner's lense. Explores the philosophical foundations and history of the social work profession. Codes of ethics and practice standards will be touched on. Students will have the opportunity to meet experts who must navigate the complex global issues of oppression and marginalization to impact positive change.
FASS 214 - Exploring EDI: This Is My Story
Using life narratives, students will explore the roots of the systems and structures that limit the opportunites for individuals and communities in Canada. With a focus on the memoirs of authors who are Black, Indigenous and People of Colour (BIPOC), students will learn what it means to negotiate life as a member of a minority group, marginalized community, and as an immigrant. In this way, students will be encouraged to reflect on the experiences of others and the ways in which others interact with issues of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). With this empathetic approach, students will be asked to consider their roles as change agents in making EDI in their disciplines, professions, and careers a matter of substance rather than performance.
Summer 2023 Courses
FASS 200 - Writing right: Strategies for effective revision
Provides an opportunity for students to undertake a close revision of a previously written paper in order to learn how to improve the clarity, economy, and flow of their writing. Activities are designed to teach students how to revise their work more effectively. The writing and revision strategies worked on in this course are applicable across all disciplines.
FASS 204 - Communicating in conflict and negotiation: An introduction to the essential skills
Introduces an overview of essential skills and strategies for dealing effectively with conflict and negotiating in a range of contexts, including business, work, home, and community. Students will be introduced to foundational readings on the methods and theories of effective, collaborative negotiation and conflict resolution.
FASS 205 - Finding Voice: Public Speaking for Social Change
Provides an opportunity for a skills-based immersion into the art of Public Speaking. In a workshop setting, learners will critically analyze contemporary speeches while developing their own skills in speech, rhetoric, non-verbal communication, and storytelling. This course is for students, in any discipline, who wish to learn to be effective public speakers in academia and beyond.
FASS 206 - Creating Effective Teams
Explores how teams require a self-awareness, awareness of others and the ability to communicate expectations and norms. This course will use a selection of articles, tools and current events to develop an awareness of individual strengths, weaknesses and the impact on the team environment. Classes will be discussion and activity based.
FASS 207 - Cultural humility: Understanding diversity, equity, and inclusion
Explores the broad topic of cultural humility in order to gain a greater understanding of how cultural beliefs and values impact behaviour. Students will learn to distinguish key terms in the area of diversity, inclusion and equity. Students will explore ways to improve inclusion within FASS and broadly at SFU.
FASS 208 - Introduction to personal financial planning for students
Introduces students to how to optimize their financial resources. Some of the topics which will be covered are debt avoidance and management, saving vs investing, creating and maintaining a budget, tax planning strategies, passive income and side hustles, and the importance to networking. The goal is to help students learn and develop the habits needed to reach their financial goals.
FASS 210 - Language network science
Our lives are richly intertwined with networks: from social networks, to the Internet, to the micro-structure of our brains. Though programming exercises, students will learn the science behind networks and apply them to problems in modern linguistics, including language networks of bilingual Canadians, language learning, and the network structure of the mental lexicon.
FASS 211 - Data literacy and the city
This course is a high-level overview for the development of data skills. However, the one skill to rule them all is not necessarily software proficiency or statistical technique, it is the ability to find and define a problem. Data is not valuable until one understands a dataset’s strengths, weaknesses, and its social, historic, and methodological context with a strategy to create a persuasive visual and written narrative.
Indg 305 - Treaties in Canada
Introduces students to the historical and contemporary contexts of treaty relations between settlers and the First Peoples of Turtle Island. Provides critical insight into the various treaties within Canada; treaty negotiations, including Indigenous oral histories; Indigenous resistance to treaty infringements; and other important legislation impacting treaty rights.
Questions?
How much do FASS Forward courses cost?
Tuition is based on a per credit basis, not by course. Regular student fees still apply, and potential course-specific expenses may apply.
For more information, visit https://www.sfu.ca/students/calendar/2023/spring/fees-and-regulations/tuition-fees/undergraduate.html
How long is a 1-credit course?
How do FASS Forward courses count towards my degree completion?
They count as elective credits for your degree completion.
When are FASS Forward courses offered?
Can I do more than one course?
Yes! The courses are structured so that you can take more than one in a day. They will also finish before the workload demands increase for regular summer session courses.
What are skills-based courses?
Rather than mastering academic content to be successful in the course, you will be practicing a skill. For example, in order to become a better writer, you need to practice writing. You will have lots of opportunities to practice, get feedback and practice some more. The readings will be chosen as a reference for the skill development rather than for their argument or academic contribution to the understanding of the content.
Why were these courses developed?
FASS Forward courses were designed in response to a national survey by The Conference Board of Canada in February 2018. This report argued that graduates from the social sciences and humanities needed more support to be able to articulate how their degree has value to potential employers.
FASS conducted two surveys of 16,186 students in order to understand current work lives and future career aspirations (FASSFutures by Monica Petek, July 2019).
Of the 2,848 responses,
58% of undergraduates taking FASS courses felt that “FASS students do not receive the same guidance on skill development and career planning as students in other faculties.”
and
89.6% of students felt that a 1 credit course option was a good or very good idea.
Who can take FASS Forward courses?
Anyone across the university who has finished 15 units. You do not need to be in FASS to enroll.
How is grading done?
A FASS Forward course is designed to improve your skills for future success and work in this class is expected to be of high quality. A competency-based grading system will be used to assess your academic performance and active participation in all learning activities. That means only a P (pass) or F (fail) will appear on your transcript.
- P (pass) means that you have demonstrated your competency in relation to the learning objectives, met all the criteria for the course, and demonstrated the skills you have acquired. The 1 credit/unit from this course will count towards your total SFU units.
- F (fail) means that you do not receive credit for the course.
How is my GPA affected?
There is no numerical equivalent for the final grade (Pass/Fail), therefore your (cumulative) GPA will not be affected.
How do I enroll?
Just like in any other course, through goSFU. We have increased the number of seats for this year. There is a reserve for FASS students, which comes off on March 27th, at open enrollment time.
For further questions, please contact the FASS Forward Coordinator at fass_forward@sfu.ca.
FASS Forward in the news
BC Business wrote a feature on one credit courses at B.C. colleges and universities. Read what they had to say about the incredible FASS Forward courses at SFU!