General Information

Many of your questions regarding UNB Online's open-entry courses are answered below. To help you navigate this page, follow these links:

Permission to Take an Online Course (for full-time UNB students)

Full-time students enrolled in a UNB degree program must be granted permission in order to register in these online courses. A Permission Form (PDF) is available online for this purpose. Students from other institutions will also need to submit this form indicating that they have received permission from their institution to enroll in a UNB course or program.

Admission and Registration

Eligibility
UNB Online courses are open to mature students, degree applicants, non-degree and graduate students. Full-time, on-campus students must obtain approval from the Dean of the faculty offering the course. In some faculties, full-time students must also obtain permission from their home faculty advisor to take an online course.

Admission
Students wishing to take courses for credit towards a degree or certificate at UNB must meet entrance requirements for the degree or certificate sought (see UNB regulations). The online application for admission form must be completed and returned to the Registrar's Office. Credit towards a degree or certificate cannot be granted to students who have not been officially admitted to a program.

General No-Degree
Anyone wishing to take a course for general interest may do so by registering as a special 'no degree' student. To register please complete the online application for open-entry courses and contact the client services desk at the College of Extended Learning at 506 453-4646 or 1 866 599-4646.

Students from Other Universities
Students taking courses for credit at other universities should obtain permission in writing form their institution before registering with UNB.

Fees and Payment Options

Note that payment of all registration fees must be processed before access to online courses can be granted. (After you have submitted the application form, a message will be e-mailed to you with payment information.)

For more details regarding fees and payment options, follow these links:

Technical Requirements

We recommend the following (as a minimum):

  • Operating system: Windows XP or Vista, or Macintosh OS 10.4
  • 256 MB of RAM, 1GB of free hard disk space
  • Internet connection: for optimal performance, a broadband connection is recommended; dial-up connections may not be as reliable when taking quizzes or exams online.
  • Software: Microsoft Word and Powerpoint, Adobe Acrobat Reader (for PDF docs); some courses may require other software.
  • Video (graphics) card and monitor supporting at least a 800x600 resolution and 256 colors.
  • Sound card and speakers, or headset.
  • Browser: internet Explorer 6 or higher for Windows; Firefox or Safari for Macintosh.

Time Limits re. Assignments and Exams

Unless otherwise stipulated, students are allotted six months to complete a 3-credit-hour open-entry course, and twelve months for a 6-credit-hour course. Students can complete courses in less time if they wish, but not less than three weeks.

Where applicable, students are strongly discouraged from submitting more than one assignment at a time. Spacing the assignments allows the instructor to provide useful feedback that students can incorporate in future assignments.

All assignments should be completed and arrangements made with UNB Online at least three weeks before the requested date for writing the final examination. (Requests to write the final exam must be made using the online Exam Request Form.)

Adding/Dropping Courses and Refunds

Full-time students wishing to take an open-entry course during the Fall term must register before October 1st; and during the Winter term, before February 1st.

Any student wishing to drop a course without academic penalty needs to fill out and submit the Course Withdrawal Form.

More details regarding withdrawals and refunds are given here.

Extensions

Extensions beyond the time allotted to complete an open-entry course are granted only in rare occasion and only in extenuating—and documented—circumstances. Students looking for an extension need to request it from their instructor, who can then either approve or refuse to grant it. Approval must be in writing with e-mail copy to UNB Online (online@unb.ca).  Extensions cannot be granted for more than one extra month.

Course Load

Part-time students—especially those employed full time—are strongly advised not to register in more than two courses concurrently. Full-time on-campus students are not usually eligible for enrollment in online courses, unless the appropriate Dean has granted approval. Online courses are equivalent to classroom-based courses; therefore, the same course load regulations apply. Four courses constitute full-time and the maximum course load depends on the faculty.

Release of Course Materials

All registration procedures, including payment, must be completed before course materials can be sent. Access requires that IT services be activated; relevant details are provided to students in a welcome letter e-mailed after payment has been processed.

Textbooks

Many online courses require a textbook. Details are generally provided in the course description provided through the UNB Online listing. It is the responsibility of the student to order course texts. Many textbooks can be ordered from the UNB Bookstore, or from online vendors like Amazon or Chapters.

Exams

Exams are an integral part of most courses. Information about the structure and weighting of exams is usually provided in the course syllabus. After all assignments have been completed and graded, a student may apply to sit for the final exam. Some courses also require invigilated mid-term exams; the process is the same for both mid-term and final exams.

Application must be done by submitting the online Exam Request Form at least two weeks prior to the date chosen to sit an exam.

Normally, final exams (and some mid-term exams) are invigilated on campus at no charge if the exam is written during regular scheduled exam sessions. Students unable to travel to the Fredericton or Saint John campus must make arrangements to write an invigilated exam at their workplace or at an institution of learning in their area. Exams written outside the regular scheduled sessions or off-campus may incur an invigilation fee of about $30 to $50. However, most high schools will invigilate at no charge.

Grades

Final grades at UNB are usually expressed as letter grades. Each grade, with its grade point average (GPA) is as follows.

Letter Grade    Grade Point Average (GPA)
A+
4.3
A
4.0
A-
3.7
B+
3.3
B
3.0
B-
2.7
C+
2.3
C
2.0
D
1.0
F
0.0

Course Evaluation

To provide our students with good service and quality courses, we need feedback from students. Students having taken an open-entry course are strongly encouraged to fill out and submit the online evaluation form (it's anonymous).

What You Can Expect from Your Instructor

To find out what is expected of your online instructor as far as online courses are concerned, you can read what we recommend to them as best practices.