Academic plan requirements

Students in class, listening to professor teach.

Review the Undergraduate Calendar

The Undergraduate Calendar is your main source of contractual undergraduate information, including:

The ENV section of the Undergraduate Calendar describes:

Students are normally required to fulfil the degree requirements as stated in the calendar for their year of entry into the academic plan; however, exceptions may be made to allow a student to complete requirements from a subsequent year. If you are unsure, please connect with your academic advisor to determine which requirements you are obligated to fulfil.

Undergraduate communications requirement

The University requires that all students have basic competency in English language communications – oral, written, and other media. First-year required courses have been identified in each ENV academic plan that if completed with a 65%, the Undergraduate Communications Requirement Milestone will be earned. The milestone will become a part of the student's academic record and is required for graduation.

Co-op requirement information

Contact us, we're here to help! 

Your first point of contact should be your academic advisor, however you can also contact: 

Co-operative and Experiential Education
Kathryn Fedy
k4king@uwaterloo.ca 

Professional Development Courses
Joy Harris
j4harris@uwaterloo.ca

Faculty Undergraduate Operations Manager
Carol Knipe
cknipe@uwaterloo.ca

Changes due to COVID-19

For students who were unemployed during the Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021, or Spring 2021 work term, the University reduced the minimum number of required work terms in a co-op program by one. Upon confirmation from Co-operative Education (CEE), ENV students who were unable to obtain approved employment were considered for a reduction in the number of required work terms from four to three. The minimum number of work terms required for the Co-op designation on a Bachelor of Environmental Studies degree is three; therefore, students who were unable to obtain approved employment for more than one of the terms will need to meet with their academic advisor to discuss options for completing their co-op requirements.
 
If a student qualified for the reduction to their work term requirements, the Faculty of Environment will also allow the student to graduate with a reduced number of professional development (PD) courses from four to three. To be eligible to receive a co-op designation at the time of graduation, students in the Faculty of Environment who were unemployed during the Spring 2020, Fall 2020, Winter 2021 and/or Spring 2021 work term must successfully complete:

  • A minimum of three professional development (PD) courses: PD1, PD12, and one additional PD course of the student’s choice
  • A minimum of three work terms

If a student qualified for the reduction in co-op requirements, a milestone was added to their record indicating this reduction.