College of Arts
What is a College?
A college is an Academic unit that houses related faculties. The Faculty of Humanities, and the Faculty of Social Sciences are located within the College of Arts.
What is a Faculty?
Faculties categorize academic departments.
Departments within the Faculty of Humanities are, Communications, English, Graphic Design, History, Modern Languages, Peace and Conflict Studies, Philosophy, Theatre, and the Visual Arts.
Departments within the Faculty of Social Sciences are Criminology and Criminal Justice, Economics, Geography and the Environment, Political Science, Psychology, and Social, Cultural and Media Studies.
What is a Department?
Departments can encompass either singular or combined areas of study. For example the History Department houses solely History programs, whereas the Social, Cultural, and Media Studies department houses Anthropology, Latin American Studies, Media and Communications, Sociology, South Asian Studies, and Women’s Studies. Each department has a department head who is in charge of managing the department.
What about programs that don’t have a department?
Sometimes programs sit in a department, but also have a program coordinator, especially if they are multi-disciplinary. These programs include Global Development Studies, General Studies, Indigenous Studies, and Peace and Conflict Studies. For these programs, it’s best to contact the program coordinator rather than a department head.
What is humanities?
Humanities disciplines focus on the human experience and human culture.
What areas of study are considered humanities?
Areas of study under humanities include:
Communications, English, Graphic Design, History, Modern Languages, Peace and Conflict Studies, Philosophy, Theatre, and the Visual Arts.
What is social science?
Social Science explores human experiences, through scientific approaches.
What areas of study are considered social science?
Areas of study under social science include:
Anthropology, Criminology and Criminal Justice, Economics, Geography and the Environment, Latin American Studies, Media and Communications Studies, Political Science, Psychology, Sociology, South Asian Studies, and Women’s Studies.
What does the Dean do?
The Dean of the College of Arts is responsible for the Faculty of Social Sciences and the Faculty of Humanities, overseeing the professors, students, staff, programs, courses, finances, strategic plans, and community outreach activities. Deans are also responsible for co-creating, upholding, and furthering the mission, values, and plans of the university as a whole. Further, Deans play an important role in academic governance, policy revision and creation, and institutional accountability. The Dean of Arts also oversees the Associate Deans and takes primary responsibility for budgeting, program development and review, prioritizing, strategic planning, governance, and external partnerships.
What is an Associate Dean?
Due to the size of the College of Arts there are two Associate Deans: the Associate Dean of Students and the Associate Dean of Faculty.
The Associate Dean of Students is responsible for all student-related matters, including curriculum and programs, internships and practicums, field trips and study tours, academic integrity, grade appeals, transfer and articulation, and student academic issues.
The Associate Dean of Faculty handles faculty-related matters, including review and evaluation, promotion and tenure, hiring, professional development, workload planning, and instructional complaints.
When should students contact a Dean?
For many issues, students will first speak with faculty, department heads, program coordinators, advisors or others to manage issues which arise. There are times, however, when reaching out to a Dean is a good idea. Examples include:
Beyond this, Deans are also eager to hear your ideas for projects and initiatives which go beyond your academic program or classes. For example, students have brought suggestions for academic conferences and publications to the Deans’ office and we’ve been able to support these ideas.
When should community members contact a Dean?
There are a few instances when community members might want to connect with the Dean. These include:
How do I know if I’m an “Arts” student?
If you registered in one of these programs, you’re an Arts student:
Where can I get program information?
UFV Academic Advising Centre is your best source of information about program requirements. They can also help you compare requirements across programs in order to help you find the best program for you. If you want to know more about a specific discipline, please connect with the discipline’s Department Head, attend department-hosted events, or connect with discipline-specific student associations.
I want to transfer into UFV Arts. What do I need to do?
All instructions on how to transfer are available via the UFV Office of the Registrar.
Does Arts offer Co-op opportunities?
Yes. Arts offers Co-op opportunities in multiple programs allowing students to earn academic credits, while getting paid to do valuable work experience. To learn more about co-op visit the Co-operative Education page in the UFV Calendar.
Do you offer practicums?
Many College of Arts disciplines offer practicums. In some cases, disciplines offer specific practicum courses. You can find these by looking for the area study you are interested in on the Course Descriptions page, clicking on it, and then browsing through the course descriptions for a practicum studies course. In other cases, disciplines offer practicum opportunities through their Directed Studies shells. Please speak with department heads and faculty about opportunities for practicum in your field.
Do you offer internships?
UFV internships are simply practicums completed outside of Canada. Some programs, such as Geography and Global Development Studies, offer regular opportunities for students to undertake international internships. Students can also find internships by searching the internet. If you are interested in international practicum/internship experience, please speak with your department head.
What’s the difference between a practicum and an internship?
Fundamentally… nothing! At UFV, the same rules regulations apply to both practicums and internships. Students receive academic credit for engaging in an unpaid learning experience that is supervised by a business, NGO, organization, charity, or community group. The academic work that they do associated with the practicum or internship is supervised and assessed by a UFV instructor. Both types of experiences require students to submit applications, sign waivers, get contracts signed, etc.
Such experiences are usually called practicums in Canada, but internationally, and even here at home in some cases, these types of experiences are called internships. We use both, therefore, to recognize the global context, but we follow the rules for practicums in setting up all of the experiences.
Can I study abroad as part of an Arts program?