West Shore campus
May 1, 2023 (updated: April 26, 2024)
In partnership with Royal Roads University and Camosun College, UVic announced in 2022 that it will offer courses at a new post-secondary site currently referred to as the West Shore Campus.
The three institutions are collaborating to establish a dynamic community-based education hub, offering a rich array of learning opportunities and life experiences to fuel a thriving future for learning from the West Shore area and elsewhere. The campus will also include space for the Justice Institute of BC and School District 62.
Construction has begun on the new building located at 798 Goldstream Ave. in Langford, with an anticipated opening in 2025 for up to 500 students.
Academic offerings
The partnership between UVic, Royal Roads University, and Camosun College aims to improve transition rates from K-12 to post-secondary, with programs and courses designed to meet student demand and the economic and labour market needs of communities in the West Shore and the province.
This is a pan-institutional initiative for UVic, with the Vice-President Academic and Provost (VPAC) portfolio responsible for collaborating with partner institutions on academic programming, academic and student-related policies, student supports and services, and academic infrastructure. We are also working through labour relations considerations.
UVic's Computing Gateway program
UVic plans to offer a Computing Gateway program starting in the 2025/26 academic year. The proposal was approved by Senate on March 1, 2024.
The West Shore Computing Gateway is an entry program that provides up to the first two years of coursework for students in one of UVic's computing-centric degrees: Computer Science, Data Science or Software Engineering.
The Gateway program will be run in small, cohort-like classes with a dedicated instructional team and will incorporate collaborative, success-oriented strategies into learning materials. Students will be able to choose between full-time and part-time course loads, allowing the flexibility to balance their academics with other life activities.
This is the first time that entry into these three similar discipline programs is being offered together, giving students a unique opportunity to experience courses that lead to any of the three fields, and deferring for up to two years the need to make their specific discipline choice. Software specific design courses will be available to all students in the gateway.
Other academic offerings
Courses in additional areas and disciplines (e.g. humanities, fine arts) may be offered in future years, and we are also actively exploring micro-credential and continuing studies programming.
FAQs
We plan to offer primarily in-person courses.
When filling out their application, students will choose the program they wish to study. Students applying to the Computing Gateway program will study at the West Shore campus as part of their cohort.
Information about the program and location will be included in all promotional materials.
Staffing for the West Shore campus is still being determined.
Additional information
This new and innovative initiative would not be possible without the dedication of many leaders, faculty and staff across all portfolios of the university. If you are working on this project and have questions related to our academic offerings, please reach out to the VPAC Project Officer at vpacproj@uvic.ca.
Please note that, in addition to initiatives led in the VPAC portfolio, there are parallel processes involving other portfolios that are not covered on this project page, including with respect to infrastructure and marketing, among others.
We will add additional information and FAQs to this web page as the project progresses.