Diploma in Criminal and Social Justice

at Okanagan College - Kelowna Campus Canada

This two-year diploma program is designed for students who wish to obtain employment in the automotive industry as an Automotive Service Technician, or seek a management role in service, sales or operations. The program begins by providing the student with the first year of apprenticeship training followed by second-year courses in advanced level automotive service and repair with a focus on industry required skills in technical writing, business practices, office skills and management. This unique program provides training in technical areas that include automotive service and repair, technical writing and communication and business practices. Upon successful completion of the technical training, students will be eligible to write the provincial Industry Training Authority standardized examinations for AST HL1 and receive 450 hours of practical work based hours towards the AST HL1 certification.

Okanagan College offers a four-year Applied Bachelor of Arts degree, located at the Kelowna campus with limited course offerings at Salmon Arm, Vernon and Penticton campuses. This baccalaureate degree provides graduates with employable skills in applied research and an understanding of how the social sciences and liberal arts actively contribute to a culturally diverse sustainable society. Developed for the context of the southern interior of B.C., this program includes studies of regional indigenous cultures and prepares graduates for direct contributions to local and regional issues. Through contextualized learning, the goal of the degree is to provide applied research skills within a context of liberal arts studies and applied social science, emphasizing an empirical orientation to understanding, to application of knowledge, and to intervention. Characterized by the strengths of a terminal degree that produces employable skills, this degree can also prepare students for admission to selective graduate studies programs. All graduates of this applied degree program will be ready for today's job market through mastery of higher-order analytical skills and techniques for applied research. Practical related field experience is a central component of the applied degree education.

This degree enables students to develop competencies in academic and professional writing, qualitative and quantitative analysis, critical thinking skills, ethics, applied research, program evaluation, multi-disciplinary world views, and languages other than English (including regional First Nations' languages). Students will complete field experience (a practicum, field placement or co-operative education program in the fourth year) as well as a capstone project that will tie academic studies to relevant local and regional issues. The degree program develops and maintains scholastic strengths in students, requiring a minimum of 55% in each course counting toward the degree and a minimum cumulative grade average of 60% for all courses taken while in the program. For students seeking direct entry into the Master of Social Work Foundational Two-Year Track graduate studies program at UBC Okanagan, in addition to these degree requirements a minimum grade average of 76% in the upper level courses counting toward the degree is required.

Community Research and Evaluation
A community research focus of the Applied Bachelor of Arts degree provides students with pathways to applied social service work or potential for transition to graduate studies at UBC Okanagan. Students will be granted an Applied Bachelor of Arts: Community Research and Evaluation (ABA-CRE) degree upon completion of the following:

The Business Studies Certificate allows students to focus on a specific discipline. This program may be of interest to those who are already employed. Some courses are also available by distance education. All Business Studies Certificates require the use of Microsoft Office software. Computer experience is recommended.

This Program is a unique blend of traditional chemical and civil engineering technology combined with innovative water-focused environmental studies. The goals of the program are to educate, train and equip students so they are able to play a leading role in the water industry - both in Canada and internationally - to monitor, assess and protect both public health and water in the environment.

All students complete a common first year curriculum during which they receive a strong foundation of hydrology, hydraulics, water quality, water and wastewater treatment, along with water-focused biology and chemistry. During the second year students can choose between two options: Environmental Monitoring (EM) and Water and Wastewater Technology (WWT).

• The EM option focuses on natural waters with training provided in surface and groundwater hydrology, limnology, statistics and freshwater biology.
• The WWT option focuses on domestic water treatment, municipal and industrial wastewater treatment, hydraulics, and industrial computer control.

Both options also provide further training in water microbiology along with environmental and analytical chemistry. All students are expected to complete a capstone technology project where emphasis will be on application of theoretical and practical experience gained in the program.

The Bachelor of Computer Information Systems degree is a four-year program which includes a broad selection of computing, mathematics, business, and communications courses so graduates can function successfully in a variety of roles in the Information Technology field.

The courses are grouped into required courses (which all students take), courses from one or more options (an option is a collection of courses dealing with a specific area of computing), and elective courses. This structure allows students to concentrate on areas of computing (Software Design and Development, Database Systems and General Studies) which interest them, while ensuring all graduates have a broad knowledge of computing. With further independent study, graduates may earn industrial certification from companies such as Oracle, IBM, Cisco or Microsoft.

The BCIS degree is available as a co-op program. Taking co-op work terms may lengthen the program by one year or more.

Students who have completed Okanagan College's Computer Information Systems diploma or the Network and Telecommunications Engineering Technology diploma, or a similar program of studies may enter at year three. Other students enter at year one.

The Business Studies Certificate allows students to focus on a specific discipline. This program may be of interest to those who are already employed. Some courses are also available by distance education. All Business Studies Certificates require the use of Microsoft Office software. Computer experience is recommended.

The Diploma in Environmental Studies offers an interdisciplinary opportunity to understand the physical principles governing the environment and the social and cultural aspects that influence human behaviour towards the environment. Students will gain a holistic knowledge of the environment through courses from the sciences, social sciences and humanities. The interdisciplinary model will equip students with the critical and analytical skills to think through the many complex factors that influence our understanding of the environment.

The diploma has four options: interdisciplinary environmental arts, environmental management, environmental science and geographic information science. Courses have university transfer credit providing students with the option of further study in either environmental studies or other disciplines. Students can also move directly into the workplace for there is a growing demand for labour in the environmental sector.

The Culinary Management Diploma examines the developing Okanagan region trend toward the combination of wineries and restaurants. Unique features of the program include the analysis of food and wine pairing and the combination of food, wine and business training that reflects regional industry training demands.

The total length of the program is two years, beginning with the Culinary Arts program, which includes a ten week co-op, followed by two semesters of Business Administration and Wine courses. Students graduating with this diploma will receive technical training credits towards their cook apprenticeship, hours credited towards their apprenticeship and academic credit for the Business Administration courses completed.

An apprenticeship technical training credit for Professional Cook Level 1 and Level 2 and 600 work-based hours for Level 1 and 240 work-based hours for Level 2 will be granted by the Industry Training Authority (ITA) upon successful completion of this program. Students will also receive credit for FOODSAFE Level 1 and WHMIS (Workplace Hazardous Material Information System). Apprenticeship practical Training credit may also be granted as a result of prior practical experience. The students must provide proof of completion of an additional 400 work-based hours* and successfully complete all program components prior to advancing to the Level 2 components of the program. The ITA required 400 hours may be obtained with the paid work-based Co-op (week 31 start), depending on the successful completion of the PC1 component. Upon successful completion of the Level 1 and Level 2 requirements students are eligible to challenge the respective Provincial Cook Certificate of Qualification examinations. Students wishing to pursue the Professional Cook Red Seal endorsement must provide proof of a total of 5,000 work-based hours and complete Level 3 technical training.

The Business Studies Certificate allows students to focus on specific disciplines. These programs will be of interest to mature students who are already employed. The series will be available in the evening on a two- or three-year rotation depending on the discipline. Some courses are also available by distance education.

The Criminal and Social Justice program, based at Okanagan College's Penticton campus, will provide students with an Arts-based criminal and social justice education. It is a two-year, four-semester program in which students will take a variety of criminal and social justice related courses in Sociology, Psychology, Political Science and Criminology, as well as elective Arts courses of personal interest. Some fields of inquiry may include indigenous studies, gender studies, race and ethnicity, globalization and poverty.

Students will graduate from this two-year program with a Diploma in Criminal and Social Justice and transfer into degree opportunities at other institutions in British Columbia and elsewhere, or they can move directly into the workforce, as there is growing labour demand in the field of criminal and social justice.Students exit the program with a solid, practical understanding of criminal and social justice issues in Canada and the world, as well as the academic skills of analytical reasoning, critical thinking, communication, and information retrieval that will be applied to their future profession and academic pursuits.