Learn more about the active collaboration between a student, an academic institution, and a host organization (partner), which aims to integrate in-class learning within a work setting.
This page provides all the details about curricular WIL options available to CapU instructors.
An applied project is often called a capstone or consulting project, where students solve organizational challenges proposed by the client with the guidance of an instructor.
Since the project is embedded into the course and presented as a class assignment, there is no payment attached to employers and they could benefit from receiving deliverables within a promised timeframe (usually within 4-8 weeks).
If you are a community-based organization, you can recruit students to solve community challenges.
For example, in GEOG 330 - Water Changes Everything, students worked on promoting public awareness of the water systems in the City of North Vancouver and the importance of making sustainable choices when disposing of wastewater.
A field placement allows students to explore career interests in kinesiology, rehabilitation, health sciences, coaching, health promotion, fitness and health in special populations, etc., while identifying and cultivating skills associated with the tasks presented in their placements.
Courses and programs with field placement options include ECCE, Music Therapy, Health Care Assistant (HCA), Kinesiology (KINE 397) and Rehabilitation Assistant (RADP 190).
This type of curricular WIL consists of a full-term paid work experience, where students work towards gaining skills related to their program. It is similar to a co-op work term.
Examples of work experience courses at CapU:
A co-op consists of alternating academic terms and work terms in a temporary full-time workplace related to a student’s field of study (CEWIL).
Through co-op, students translate classroom theory into a professional work setting while gaining on-the-job experience, building a professional network and clarifying career goals.
As per B.C. labour laws, students who participate in a Co-op as their form of Work-Integrated Learning are paid at least the provincial minimum wage (gov.bc.ca, 2022).
Co-op terms at CapU include Tourism Management and Outdoor Recreation programs.
A curricular internship typically involves a single, discipline-specific, supervised, structured work experience placement that matches one or two academic terms and is connected to specific courses.
Internships may occur in the middle of an academic program and/or after all academic coursework has been completed, but they must be completed before graduation.
The Business Internship experiences (BADM 340, BADM 440) are designed to provide a period (120 hours) of part-time, productive employment within for-profit, non-profit or governmental organizations.
This type of WIL involves the supervision of an experienced registered, certified, or licensed professional (e.g. a preceptor) in a discipline that requires students to complete a certain number of hours of practice-based experience.
Completing a practicum further supports graduands in obtaining professional licensure or certification in that field.
A few CapU programs that have a mandatory practicum (or a clinical practicum) option include:
- Applied Behaviour Analysis (Autism)
- Advanced Arts and Entertainment Management
- Bachelor of Design in Visual Communication
- Early Childhood Education
- Education Assistant
- Global Hospitality & Tourism Management
- Health Care Assistant
- Legal Studies
- Bachelor of Motion Picture Arts
- Bachelor of Music Therapy
- Rehabilitation Assistant