Diploma in Dental Hygiene

at Vancouver Island University - Nanaimo Campus Canada

VIU’s Science degrees build on a strong record of undergraduate education, dating back to 1969. Graduates of VIU have gone on to graduate schools and professional schools at major universities, while others have used their degree to enter successful careers.

A degree in the sciences is both valuable in itself and as a foundation for a wide variety of careers. The science degrees at VIU provide a sound preparation for both employment and further education. Students who may be interested in graduate studies may need to write a Graduate Record Exam (GRE) and may need to complete courses that are considered options for their B.Sc. Students are advised to consult graduate school calendars for specific entrance requirements and to discuss their plans for graduate study with their degree advisor.

Do you want to make a difference and pursue a career that values diversity, empathy, collaboration and inclusiveness? Social Services professionals dedicate themselves to helping people live better lives and build stronger communities.

The Social Services diploma program at VIU gives you a strong foundation in developmental psychology, adolescent and child development, trauma resiliency and conflict resolution. With a social services diploma you become an advocate for human rights and social justice, helping to protect vulnerable people.

A diploma of social work can lead to a satisfying career as a human service assistant, probation officer, rehabilitation counsellor, school counselor, or marriage and family therapist to name just a few of the occupations in this growing field of work.

The Social Services Program
The program provides advanced-level training for working in the social services field and is available on a full-time or a part-time basis. The program includes the following components:

• Courses in addictions and addiction treatment, conflict resolution, leadership and supervision, community development, interpersonal skills, and special topics;
• Elective courses drawn from a wide-ranging selection of elective options in many different disciplines relevant to the human services field.

The program uses workplace-based projects and assignments to help students integrate and apply classroom learning in practice.

Students who successfully complete the program will receive a Vancouver Island University diploma. Completion of the program also earns credit towards VIU's Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts in Child and Youth Care degrees.

Students may also complete courses towards the diploma at the Cowichan campus.

The Bachelor of Tourism Management program is a continuation of the knowledge developed through the hospitality, tourism, and outdoor recreation diploma programs. With community-based projects and two paid co-op semesters, students gain opportunities to forge valuable industry connections and experience.

Upon graduation students find exciting career opportunities in commercial recreation and tourism, adventure tourism, tour operations, not-for-profit agencies, and inclusive leisure. VIU’s Tourism degree gives students the leading edge in this high-demand and growing industry.

The Bachelor of Tourism Management Program
The Bachelor of Tourism Management (BTM) program builds on existing diploma programs in Recreation and Sport Management, Tourism Studies and Hospitality Management that stress career-entry skills. Students may apply to the third year of the degree program after completing a diploma in various fields including Recreation, Travel and Tourism, or Hospitality, Physical Education, and Outdoor Recreation.

The degree program will provide applied skills and concepts related to the design of tourism products and management of tourism services. The degree will focus on the development of management and entrepreneurial skills needed for people wishing to assume greater responsibilities within an organization, or for those wishing to start new enterprises.

Co-operative Education

• Co-op Fees for co-operative education and internships are due during the second month of each work term.

VIU’s Bachelor of Arts degree, with selected Honours, Majors, and Minors, builds on VIU’s strong record of arts undergraduate education, dating back to 1969. Graduates of VIU have gone on to graduate schools and professional schools at major universities, while others have used their degree to enter successful careers.

At the lower-level, Vancouver Island University offers courses in some 50 disciplines and interdisciplinary studies. At the upper-level, the B.A. program offers selected Honours, Majors, and Minors, and new ones are being planned.

A liberal arts education is both valuable in itself and as a foundation for a wide variety of careers. Given its range and flexibility, the B.A. degree provides a sound preparation for both employment and further education. Students who may be interested in graduate studies should arrange to write a Graduate Record Exam (GRE) after their third year for some graduate school programs. Students are advised to consult graduate school calendars for specific entrance requirements.

Bachelor of Arts (BA), Honours, Majors, and Minors:-

• Anthropology Major, Minor
• BA Biology Minor
• BA Chemistry Minor
• BA Computing Science Minor
• BA English Honours, Major, Minor
• BA Geography Major, Minor
• BA Mathematics Major, Minor
• BA Psychology Honours, Major, Minor
• Business Minor
• Creative Writing and Journalism Major, Minor
• Criminology Major, Minor
• Digital Media Minor
• Digital Media Studies Major
• Earth Science Minor
• Economics Major, Minor
• First Nations Studies Major, Minor
• Global Studies Major, Minor
• History Honours, Major, Minor
• Languages and Culture (Romance Languages) Minor
• Liberal Studies Major, Minor
• Media Studies Minor
• Philosophy Honours, Major, Minor
• Physical Education Major, Minor
• Political Studies Major, Minor
• Sociology Honours, Major, Minor
• Studies in Women and Gender Major, Minor

This program provides the technical training required for starting a career in most fields of forest technology. The program emphasizes the recognition and appreciation of all the major values of the forest including timber, recreation, wildlife, range, fish, water, and visual landscapes. The program is accredited by the Canadian Technology Accreditation Board. Graduates of this program meet the required standard for membership in the Association of B.C. Forest Professionals (ABCFP) as Registered Forest Technologists (RFT).

Twelve courses in the program are currently recognized by the ABCFP and may be credited toward gaining the status of Registered Professional Forester (RPF) in accordance with the Foresters Act of BC. Credit may be granted towards VIU’s Bachelor of Natural Resource Protection, Bachelor of Science, Major in Biology, and Bachelor of Science in Fisheries & Aquaculture programs, as well as forestry degree programs at UBC, UNBC, and University of Alberta.

In the summer, between the first and second year of the program, all students are expected to obtain a forestry-related job to broaden their knowledge of practical forestry. VIU assists students in obtaining forestry employment, both during the summer months and following graduation.

Students may transfer into the second year of VIU’s Forestry program either from community colleges in BC, or from a recognized forest technology school in Canada or the United States. The qualifications of each student requesting such transfer are adjudicated individually. VIU Students also have the opportunity of transferring to other institutions.

Second year students may participate in international field schools and receive VIU credit while studying at designated forestry schools abroad.
Students are required to complete two one-day First Aid courses (O.F.A. Level 1 & Transportation Endorsement) by the end of September of the first year.

Help brighten people’s smiles every day with a career as a dental assistant. Vancouver Island University’s Dental Assistant Certificate program offers students hands-on training with knowledgeable instruction to prepare them for this fast-paced, growing industry.

After completion of the nine-month Dental Assistant program, students must write a national board exam to be eligible to become a Certified Dental Assistant.

The Dental Assistant Certificate Program
This program, recognized by the College of Dental Surgeons of British Columbia (CDSBC), and accredited by the Commission on Dental Accreditation of Canada (CDAC), is designed to provide students with opportunities to develop the knowledge, skills and values necessary to be a member of the dental team; providing care, support and services for individuals of all ages.

Upon successful completion of the Dental Assistant program, students will be granted a certificate. Students must then write a National Board exam which, upon successful completion and combined with the certificate, makes them eligible to apply for registration and licensure with the College of Dental Surgeons of B.C. as a Certified Dental Assistant (CDA – Level II).

The digital world continues to evolve at an accelerated rate, the result of this is a strong demand for highly skilled web and mobile developers who help design, build and secure applications for a multitude of industries.

The ITAS Web and Mobile Development Diploma program prepares students for careers in the design, coding and implementation of web and mobile software applications. The program will teach students to systematically analyze business, organization or societal needs, and then design, implement and test software and relevant information technologies to address these needs. The course includes an entrepreneurial component, and students will be able to develop customized software solutions that are tailored to a specific domain problem.

The program combines rigorous theoretical and technical education with hands-on, project-based learning. Using the most up-to-date curriculum, the program will develop student's programming skills, as well as teamwork, communication, and project management skills to satisfy industry demands for well-rounded, highly employable technology graduates.

The program consists of two 4-month terms per year, plus a 4-week practicum work experience session or 12-14 week co-op placement at the end of the first academic year.

The first year of the program provides students with a solid foundation in general programming skills and introduces them to the basics of web and mobile application design (using Android). Students are introduced to Project Management and Agile development methodologies, various client and server operating systems and fundamentals of relational database design and implementation.

In the second year of the program, students hone their programming skills by developing full-stack database-driven web applications using such technologies as HTML/CSS, JavaScript/JSON, Node.js, PHP as well as NoSQL databases. Students learn about cross-platform mobile development, user interface design (UI/UX), platforms and technologies to deploy, hosts and secure applications (DevOps), relevant Cybersecurity topics and the use of cloud computing technologies.

Second year graduates will receive a diploma in Information Technology and Applied Systems - Web and Mobile Development.

Computer Science is a rapidly-growing field, generating a great number of employment opportunities. Government agencies are predicting shortages of qualified computing people that will number in the tens of thousands in Canada alone. The Bachelor of Science, Major in Computer Science, is designed to meet the training and educational requirements outlined by CIPS (Canadian Information Processing Society), ACM (Association for Computing Machinery), and IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). These requirements reflect the needs of the computing industry, both nationally and internationally.

The program is composed of courses drawn from the systems, theoretical and business application domains. It is designed to train students in applied computer science and educate them in the social, ethical and legal implications of computer science.

The program has an optional co-operative education component. To be eligible, students must maintain a grade point average of 3.0 (“B”) or better in their Computer Science courses.

The Computer Science Major will be of interest to students wishing to enter the Information Technology industry and/or graduate studies. The Minor will primarily be of interest to students wishing to combine an additional field of study with a strong computing background.

Calling all domestic and international foodies! Shape your passion and creativity into a rewarding, fast-paced, hands-on career close to home or around the world with Vancouver Island University’s Culinary Arts program.

Our internationally recognized chef training programs at the Culinary Institute of Vancouver Island provides students with hands-on, real-world experiences running service programs in state-of-the-art kitchens and labs.This Culinary Arts program also has a paid co-operative education component that allows students to network and build industry contacts.

Students learn the culinary skills needed to enter careers in world-class hotels, resorts, restaurants, bakeries and more. Educational grants are available to students wanting to train in this high-demand industry.

The Culinary Arts Certificate Program
The Culinary Arts Certificate consists of the 28-week Professional Cook 1 (PC1), and the 14-week Professional Cook 2 (PC2).The Culinary Institute of Vancouver Island (CIVI) at VIU provides students with the options of the Professional Cook 1 (PC1) Certificate (offered through the Nanaimo, Cowichan & Powell River campuses), the one-year Culinary Arts Certificate (PC1 & PC2 offered at the Nanaimo campus), and the two-year Culinary Management Diploma (offered at the Nanaimo campus). The Certificate and Diploma programs provide students with culinary training and management skills, giving them the leading edge to advancement in the culinary profession. Upon entering the Certificate program, culinary students are registered as Professional Cook 1 apprentices, gaining technical training while accruing apprentice hours. As a part of both the Culinary Arts Certificate and the Culinary Diploma programs, students participate in a paid co-op work placement, gaining industry work experience and additional apprentice hours.

Upon entering the program, culinary students:

• Are registered as Professional Cook apprentices. The Culinary Arts Certificate consists of 28-week Professional Cook 1 (PC1), and the 14-week Professional Cook 2 (PC2), and a paid Co-op work practicum.
• Gaining industry work experience and PC1 apprentice hours. This often becomes full time employment toward their career paths.
• At the beginning of the first year of the Nanaimo campus Certificate program, students spend three weeks in our state of the art food lab, focusing on learning basic cooking skills and good culinary habits without production pressure. Students then move to the main kitchen, rotating through five separate sections. Students will prepare breakfast, vegetables, starches, and proteins, as well as study cold kitchen, pastry, and meat cutting. Food produced by the students is served in the VIU cafeterias and Discovery Room dining room.

Co-operative Education
Under the co-operative education format, the paid co-operative education experiences are integrated into the total curriculum. Culinary Institute of Vancouver Island students are employed and supervised in a Red Seal-trained kitchen. Hours worked in their co-op are counted towards their apprenticeship. Culinary students will benefit from the co-operative education experience by:

• Relating academic study more effectively to the field of practice;
• Developing a clearer career focus;
• Gaining valuable practical experience and apprentice hours;
• Being able to finance a larger portion of their education

Co-operative placements are typically from May to October. Access to co-operative education placements is based on student's GPA and their willingness to work as a team member with faculty and co-operative education staff to find an appropriate placement. Students in co-operative placement are assessed tuition and Students' Union fees - see program fees for correct fee information.

Join VIU’s Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts Studies and regularly interact creatively and exchange ideas with fellow artists while immersing yourself in a unique experiential and interdisciplinary program led by instructors who are practicing artists themselves. Part of a Bachelor of Arts degree, this program gives you the opportunity to choose Visual Arts as a Major or Minor, supplementing your visual arts courses with various electives or majors of interest.

The Visual Arts Program: Vancouver Island University offers an opportunity for undergraduates to study Visual Art as a Major or Minor in a four-year Bachelor of Arts degree. Both options provide an opportunity for students to complement their degree in Visual Art with courses in other disciplines, including Business, Marketing, Theatre, Biology, History, Psychology, Anthropology, Education, Sciences, Media Studies and Creative Writing.

The BA Major offers a professional focus on all aspects of studio art, as well as academic classroom experience. Students may take this degree with a wide variety of electives or they may combine this Major with a Minor in another discipline. The latter may be appropriate to an individual student's academic and/or career goals, enhancing their preparation for a competitive job market. Both options strengthen employment or postgraduate study opportunities and equip students with technical, critical thinking, visual literacy and career adaptability skills.