University 101 is a program that offers FREE, non-credit, academic courses that will introduce students to a wide range of university topics. Non-credit means that you will get a completion certificate for attending the course, but the course cannot be applied to a degree or diploma program.

We aim to remove barriers to learning, so we provide meals and all course supplies, as well as bus tickets and childcare when needed.

What is the goal of University 101?

To provide introductory academic courses to people whose economic and social circumstances normally pose obstacles to university education.

Why do a course like University 101?

Because critical thinking and a passion for learning are elements of citizenship that can and should be shared amongst everyone. Humanities and Social Sciences give us ways to understand our own society and our selves.

Program Values

• Respecting different ways of learning, thinking, sharing.
• Regarding all forms of knowledge and knowing as equally important in the classroom.
• Prioritizing access and spaces for the most marginalized voices to be heard.
• Meeting students where they’re at and honouring that (while at the at same time challenging them to grow/develop).
• Meeting students with compassion, care and a supportive environment.
• Supporting and empowering students on their learning journey, to meet their needs required to attend class, and to access services in order to get their various other needs met.
• Deeply committing to creating spaces committed to safety, justice, equity, access, respect, trust.
• Promoting diversity in the classroom (students, instructors, board, staff, readings, teaching styles, classroom activities).
• Committing to do our best to guide students on a learning and unlearning journey grounded in social justice, critical thinking, writing, humanities and social sciences.
• Dealing with conflict in ways grounded in transformative and restorative justice frameworks
• Fostering a thoughtful, intentional community that theorizes around belonging and molds and shifts itself to make all feel welcome, safe and seen.

Acknowledgement of the territories

We acknowledge with respect the Lkwungen-speaking peoples on whose traditional territory the university stands and the Songhees, Esquimalt and WSÁNEĆ peoples whose historical relationships with the land continue to this day. The University 101 program and staff are deeply committed to our roles as educators that work to decolonize and Indigenize the colonial spaces in which we inhabit and strive to guide our students to understand the importance of this work.