May 19, 2009
Dear Accepted and Prospective MFS students,
Greeting! Welcome to the Master of Food Science (MFS) Program at the University of British Columbia. My name is Judy Chan and I am your Academic Advisor for the MFS program. Now that you have been accepted (Congratulations!), I will be your main contact regarding your academic concerns. Feel free to contact me at <mfs.degree@ubc.ca>.
In this e-mail, I would like to remind you that you are eligible to register for courses at UBC soon. It is important that all MFS students get on the UBC system by registering in at least one course.
You can do this online at the Student Service Centre (SSC): https://ssc.adm.ubc.ca/sscportal/servlets/SRVSSCFramework
By mid-June, you should register for the following: (1) FOOD 528 section 001 (2009 Winter session, Term 1); and (2) Any undergraduate courses that you are interested in taking in either Term 1 or Term 2.
Here are more details:
***Elective Undergraduate courses***
You are allowed to count two undergraduate courses (number 300 level or above) in your MFS program. Some of you who are not from a food science background will want to take food science undergraduate courses to fill any gaps.
For example, if you have a gap in biochemistry, you should register for BIOC 300 in Term 1 and BIOC 302 in Term 2.
If you have a gap in Microbiology, you should register for MICB 202. Because it is only a 200 level course you will not be able to count it for credit in your MFS degree.
If you want some exposure to business, you can consider one of the Food and Resource Economics (FRE) courses. FRE 302 is an introduction to small business management, FRE 306 is a global food marketing course, FRE 340 is an international agriculture development course, and FRE 385 focuses on using spreadsheets to solve problems. You can do FRE 302 and 385 without minimal economics background (first year economic background needed), but you should have had more academic experience in economics for FRE 306 and 340.
Many of you may experience a ‘block’ when registering for undergraduate courses. This is very normal. If you have difficulties registering for undergraduate courses, please let me know the course that you want to take and the reason provided by the registration system. I will then investigate the situation and would probably be able to ‘remove the block’ for you.
*** MFS Graduate courses***
You are guaranteed a place in most FOOD 500-level graduate courses, so you don’t have to worry about them filling up.
A schedule of all MFS is available here:
https://courses.students.ubc.ca/cs/main?pname=subjarea&tname=subjareas&req=0
You should definitely register for FOOD 528 as it is a required course for the MFS program. You can register for other MFS graduate courses. You can also register now, discuss with me later, and change your registration accordingly.
During Terms 1 and 2, you should take at least 4 courses and at most 5 courses each term. During Term 3, most students will take only the Practicum course, FOOD 531.
*** A bit about UBC’s registration system – for those new to UBC***
Tip #1 – Undergraduate courses (100-, 200-, 300-, 400-level courses) filled up very fast after mid-June. If you want to take some undergraduate level courses, register early.
Tip #2 – When you register, you register for courses you will be taking in Term 1 (Sept to Dec 2009) and Term 2 (Jan to April 2010). At this point, you don’t need to register for Term 3 (May to August 2010) as most students will only take the Practicum in Term 3. Furthermore, the timetable for Term 3 courses is not yet available.
Tip #3 – If you register for a course and decide later that you don’t want to take it, it is very easy to drop it (i.e. de-register).
Tip #4 – It is also possible to add (i.e. register) a course in July and August, provided that the course is not full (i.e. reached its maximum number of students).
Tip #5 – Registration and de-registration and de can be done up until about two weeks after classes have begun in September.
Again, please be reminded that you should register in FOOD 528 and undergraduate courses that you need. You are guaranteed a space in most MFS required courses; don’t worry if you cannot register them now. You can register later. If you experienced difficulties in registering in any undergraduate courses, please let me know.
Glad to *meet* you now through e-mail and I look forward to meeting you in person later this summer.
Regards,
Judy