Co-op & Career Services

Students are at the heart of our work in Career Services. We strive to support your success academically, professionally and personally. Our mission is to prepare you for the future of work by connecting you with dynamic learning experiences. 

In Career Services, our team serves students and alumni through:

• one-on-one meetings
• online career programs
• in-person workshops
• a variety of events throughout the year

Co-op Program

Our team integrates with UVic Co-op, a paid hands-on learning program that includes all UVic faculties, with students participating in 13 main co-op program areas that support more than 50 academic departments and schools.

Co-op exists for almost every program, except for those that already offer practica, internships or other work-integrated education.

Community-Engaged Learning

Our Community-Engaged Learning team facilitates reciprocal, mutually beneficial partnerships between community, faculty and students. Students gain meaningful hands-on experience that supports the community and strengthens their academic experience.

Accreditations & memberships

Co-op & Career connects with many professional associations that promote co-operative education and career development at the post-secondary level.

• we're a member of the Canadian Association of Career Educators and Employers (CACEE) CACEE’s mission is to provide authoritative information, advice, professional development opportunities and other services to employers, career services professionals and students
• all of UVic's co-op degree programs are accredited by Co-operative Education and Work Integrated Learning Canada (CEWIL). CEWIL's mission is to foster and advance post-secondary work-integrated learning in Canada
• many of our staff are active with the Association for Co-operative Education and Work Integrated Learning (BC and Yukon
• we’re a member of the World Association for Co-operative Education (WACE), an organization that advances work-integrated learning through a global network

Publications and research

UVic Co-op and Career staff regularly contribute to academic papers and give presentations on the team's unique contributions to work-integrated learning.

See a list of research publications, presentations and more.

History

Career Services

In the late 1960s, UVic housed a federal program called the Canada Employment Centre on campus, but when this program lost funding, the university created the Student Employment Centre (SEC). SEC, which opened in 1991, was the first iteration of Career Services.

SEC offered students:

• job search support
• summer and career job postings
• employer information files
• a job search library
• on-campus recruitment by school districts, government, companies and other organizations

In 1993–94, SEC moved to its current location beside the Bookstore in the Campus Services Building and developed a targeted program for recent graduates. The unit changed its name to Career Services in 2002 to better reflect its focus on career development.

Co-op

In 1975, Dr. Howard Petch left the University of Waterloo to become UVic President and Vice-Chancellor. Dr. Petch brought with him an experimental new program that Waterloo had practiced since 1957: co-operative education.

UVic Co-op opened its doors in 1976, pioneering the first co-operative education program in western Canada with 58 placements in its first year. It was initially offered in the departments of chemistry and physics with the support of key players Dr. Alex McAuley, Dr. Harry Dosso and Dr. Graham Branton. Dr. Branton became co-op director in 1979 and dedicated the next 17 years to advancing the program.

• by 1980, the program expanded to include computer science/mathematics, creative writing, geography, physical education and public administration
• between 1980 and 1985, co-op began to place 30 per cent of students outside BC and established international exchange programs in the U.K. and Australia
• by 1987–88, annual placements neared 1,000 for students in 13 program areas, and UVic had established itself as one of Canada’s forerunners in co-operative education
• since its inception in 1976, our co-op students have completed 100,000+ work term placements

Annual report

Each year, we put together a report that covers everything from student engagement with career support to students' career outcomes. View the annual report.