This double degree academic plan is administered jointly by the Faculty of Mathematics at the University of Waterloo and the Lazaridis School of Business and Economics at Wilfrid Laurier University. It is a restricted-enrolment plan with admission normally limited to Year One in fall term.
Students who successfully complete this plan will be eligible to attend both universities' convocation ceremonies and be awarded a Honours Bachelor of Mathematics (BMath) degree from Waterloo and a Honours Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) degree from Laurier at the respective convocations. Students may register for this plan at either university. The academic component is the same, regardless of where students are formally registered, but students participate in the co-op process at their home institution. Thus, the degree attached to each student's registered university is a co-op degree, with the other university's degree being a regular one.
This academic plan cannot be combined with any other major, minor, or option designation except as described in the notes below. It requires a minimum of nine full-time academic study terms and successful completion of a minimum of 52 one-term courses (26 units). These 52 courses (26 units) must include 24 (12 units) specified mathematics and computer science courses taken at Waterloo and 24 (12 units) specified business-related courses at Laurier. The remaining four (two units) elective courses may be taken at either university.
For Waterloo-registered students, the co-op process involves four (or five at a student's discretion) co-op work terms intermixed with study terms. The first of these work terms occurs during the spring (May to August period) between the second and third study terms. The complete sequencing of terms for Waterloo-registered students is listed in the Study/Work Sequence section. Students in this plan will be required to pay six co-op fees, which are usually assessed in the first three years of study.
For Laurier-registered students, the co-op process involves three (or four at a student's discretion) co-op work terms intermixed with the 10 study terms. The first of these work terms occurs during the January to April period between the third and fourth study terms. The earlier spring (May to August period) between the second and third study terms is an "off" term (where students are on their own for the term, similar to regular students). With the exception of this first May to August term being an "off" term rather than a co-op work term, the term sequencing for Laurier-registered students is identical to the one for Waterloo-registered students.
With the sequencing of study terms and work terms indicated above, the normal duration for this plan is four and two-thirds calendar years (or five calendar years at a student's discretion). Only under especially mitigating circumstances, and with the approval of both universities, can the term sequencing attached to the double degree plan be altered, and such instances will usually result in a delay (possibly as much as one calendar year) of graduation date.
All double degree plan students, regardless of their home university affiliation, are required to satisfy all term-by-term progression requirements of both Waterloo's Faculty of Mathematics and Laurier to remain eligible to continue in the plan, and to meet all graduation requirements of both institutions to be eligible for the two degrees. More specifically, students must ensure that their course selection each term, their academic performance level, and their academic conduct in general, comply with all the policies, procedures, regulations, and requirements of both universities. Failure to do so will normally result in students being required to withdraw from the double degree plan. These students may be able to enrol in a (single degree) plan at Waterloo (Bachelor of Mathematics (BMath) or BCS) or Laurier (BBA) depending upon their individual circumstances. Such students may not be eligible to continue in co-op in their new plan.