THE AXCESS CERTIFICATE IN INTERDISCIPLINARY STUDIES

Axcess student poses with her certificate and is next to her parents and Doctor Lynn Alyward.

Over what is typically a four-year journey, Axcess Acadia students will earn 30 credit hours towards completing the Axcess Acadia Certificate. This roughly translates to about 2.5 courses each year, although most students start out by taking 1 or 2 courses per semester, Axcess students are encouraged to take as many fit comfortably into their schedules and lives. Credits are earned by doing participatory audits of classes (expanded on below) and working on employment through summer jobs and or yearlong jobs (See Employment and Student Life). The certificate will be an opportunity for the student to highlight the skills they have gained through their work and studies. Upon the completion of the Axcess Acadia Certificate, students will graduate at convocation with their peers and receive The Axcess Certificate in Interdisciplinary Studies in the Faculty of Professional Studies.

 

Auditing Courses

Students who are part of Axcess Acadia will work with the Axcess Coordinators to determine what courses they want to take based on their personal goals and interests. Once they have selected their courses, and the professor approves having an audit student in their class, the student will meet with the Axcess Acadia Coordinator and the professor to create a schedule, go over the syllabus and discuss what tests and assignments they would like to do during the course. 

In this process, students are engaged in a participatory audit of the classes. Unlike a regular audit, participatory audits mean that the auditing students attend the class while engaging in the material by answering in-class questions, participating in discussions, and completing some or alternate versions of course evaluations. The ways in which a student chooses to engage in their audit classes are individual and can be discussed with their coordinator, professor and tutors. Many students will opt to still work on assignments and tests but in modified forms or complete assignments and tests with few or no modifications.

Examples of modified assessments include: 

  • Doing a presentation instead of a paper 
  • Writing a shorter or modified exam 
  • Finding and reading relevant research instead of writing a paper 
  • Talking about the test answers with their tutor instead of writing it