Fourth-year Technical Electives

All students in the Civil Engineering program are required to complete 15 credits of technical electives in order to meet graduation requirements.

Technical electives are broken up into List A (engineering courses) and List B (business, economics, or professional development courses).

Departmental approval is not required when choosing from courses in List A or List B. Otherwise, you may seek approval for up to two alternative elective courses from the Fourth-year Advisor.

If a course is full, please complete and submit a Course Registration Form. You should check courses regularly to see if space opens up over the summer registration period.

Standard Package of Elective Courses

Students may select their 15 credits of technical electives as follows:

List A – Engineering Courses

Students must choose four or five 3 credit courses from the following list. Students may opt to take one 3-credit technical elective from list B below.

CIVL 406Water Treatment and Waste Management
CIVL 408Geo-Environmental Engineering
CIVL 410Foundation Engineering I
CIVL 411Foundation Engineering II
CIVL 413Design of Earth Dams and Containment Structures
CIVL 415Water Resource Engineering
CIVL 416Environmental Hydraulics
CIVL 417Coastal Engineering
CIVL 418Engineering Hydrology
CIVL 420Concrete Technology
CIVL 425Case Studies of Construction Methods
CIVL 426Virtual Design and Construction
CIVL 432Advanced Structural Steel Design
CIVL 433Advanced Concrete Design
CIVL 435Advanced Structural Analysis
CIVL 436Matrix Structural Analysis and Dynamics
CIVL 437Introduction to Ship Structures
CIVL 439Design of Timber Structures
CIVL 440Transportation Engineering II
CIVL 441Transportation Planning and Analysis
CIVL 475Environmental Stewardship in Civil Engineering
CIVL 478Building Science
CIVL 498Topics in Civil Engineering
CHBE 485Air Pollution Prevention and Control
IGEN 450Pipeline Engineering
IGEN 451Pipeline Systems and Infrastructure
IGEN 452Pipeline Design
EOSC 329Quantitative Groundwater Hydrology
EOSC 429Groundwater Contamination
EOSC 433Geological Engineering Practice I – Rock Engineering

List A courses sorted by subdiscipline:

Environmental Fluid MechanicsCIVL 416, CIVL 417
Environmental Systems EngineeringCIVL 406, CIVL 407, CHBE 485
Geo-Environmental EngineeringCIVL 408, EOSC 329, EOSC 429
Geotechnical EngineeringCIVL 410, CIVL 411, CIVL 413, IGEN 450, EOSC 433
Hydrotechnical EngineeringCIVL 415, CIVL 416, CIVL 417, CIVL 418
Materials EngineeringCIVL 420
Project & Construction ManagementCIVL 425, CIVL 426, CIVL 478
Structural EngineeringCIVL 432, CIVL 433, CIVL 435, CIVL 436, CIVL 437, CIVL 439
Transportation EngineeringCIVL 440, CIVL 441

Notes:

  • For information on IGEN 450, 451, 452, please see www.igen.ubc.ca/pipelineeng
  • Please ensure that you have met the prerequisite requirements before registering in the above courses

List B – Business, Economics, or Professional Discipline

Students may choose one 3 credit course from the list below or any 300- or 400-level non-engineering course in science, business or a related professional discipline with the approval of the Fourth-year Advisor.

This list represents pre-approved courses:

APSC 440Management Fundamentals for Technology-Based Product Marketing and Development
APSC 461Global Engineering Leadership
APSC 462Global Engineering Leadership Practicum
COMR 329Principles of Organizational Behaviour
COMR 434Land Law
COMR 457Fundamentals of Financial Accounting
COMR 458Fundamentals of Managerial Accounting
COMR 465Marketing Management
COMR 473Business Finance
BUSI 400Residential Property Analysis
BUSI 401Commercial Property Analysis
BUSI 445Real Estate Development I
PLAN 321Indigeneity and the City
PLAN 331The Just City in a Divided World
PLAN 351Green Cities
PLAN 425Urban Planning Issues and Concepts

Notes:

  • Please ensure that you have met the prerequisite requirements before registering in the above courses

Alternative Elective Courses

Students may seek approval for up to two alternative elective courses from the Fourth Year Advisor. To obtain approval, please email the Fourth Year Advisor the course number(s), title(s), description(s), and provide a short rationale for your request. Be sure to include the relevant forms (CIVL 492 or a Graduate Course). Once approved, you will be registered directly by the Department.

Courses not listed in the Standard Package of Courses

  • Standard elective courses in List A above may only be replaced by alternative 400-level engineering courses (i.e. those that are predominantly engineering science or engineering design).
  • Standard elective courses in List B above may be replaced by either a 400-level engineering course or a 300- or 400-level non-engineering course that is related to science, business, or a professional development.
  • Any courses selected may not overlap with core courses or other elective courses that are taken.

Graduate Courses

If you would like to take a graduate course as a technical elective course you must meet the following requirements:

  • Must have completed at least 57 credits (i.e. 75%) of 300 / 400 level courses requirements, and must have a minimum overall average of 76% in completed 300 / 400 level courses.
  • Must have completed all prerequisites for the course taken.
  • Must secure the approval of the instructor, the Department Graduate Advisor and EAS using the form available here.
  • Must secure the approval of the 4th Year Advisor, conveyed by e-mail to undergradsupport@civil.ubc.ca and copied to the student, in order for the replacement course to be entered into Degree Navigator.

Using a graduate course as a technical elective prevents you from using the same course as a subsequent transfer credit to a graduate program.

Directed Studies Course

If you would like to take CIVL 492, Directed Studies, as a technical elective you must secure the agreement of an instructor to establish and deliver such a custom course. You should then request the instructor to complete the corresponding form, available here, seek the approval of the 4th Year Advisor, and submit the form to undergradsupport@civil.ubc.ca. No more than 6 credits of technical electives may be taken through CIVL 492.

More than 15 credits of Elective Courses

A student who wishes to take more than the 15 credits of technical elective courses should contact undergradsupport@civil.ubc.ca. Without prior approval, you will be de-registered from any extra electives above 15 credits of technical electives.

In case of any discrepancies between this page and the UBC Academic Calendar, the Calendar is to be considered correct.