Student report
University of Victoria
Spring semester 2012
General information
University of Victoria (UVic) is located in beautiful Victoria, the capital of British Colombia.
Victoria is a fairly small city in North American standards. Compared to Norwegian cities, it
is about the same size of Bergen. Larger cities like Vancouver and Seattle can easily be
reached with a two-hour ferry ride. The University it self is located in natural surroundings,
with big lawns and forest areas, half an hour bus ride from down town. The campus includes
large facilities like housing, bookstore, hairdresser, movie theatre, sport facilities and arenas,
computer/IT store and much more. Approximately 20 000 students attend the university,
whereas 1000 are international.
The exchange programme is divided into two parts, Business exchange and not-business
exchange. The course structure is different from what Norwegian students usually are familiar
with. The classes are shorter and smaller, attendance is noted, homework is assigned to class
and class participation counts toward your grad (usually around 10 %). Most of the classes
have one midterm and one final exam, where multiple choice is usually half or the entire test.
Group work and papers are commonly used. The large amount of group work is an excellent
opportunity to get in touch with Canadians and other exchange students. It is worth noting
that the spring semester ends in April (depending on course choices).
Practical information
The information package is received earlier then most of the exchange students, and
application deadlines likewise. Concerning both course registration and housing application.
You will receive most of the information in April and need to reply within a month. The
housing application can be put off until November, but it is recommended to apply before
August to be sure to receive housing. You will be added to a Facebook group, which allows
you to get in touch we upcoming exchange students and ask questions to university staff. You
can also send e-mail to the university if that feels more comfortable. The process is fairly easy
and did not pose any problems. You will retrieve the information you need from both BI and
UVic.
Visa procedures and travel experiences
Students staying no longer then 6 months, do not need to apply for visa. On entrance to
Canada you will need to show your letter of acceptance. Flight tickets can be quite expensive.
It is therefore recommended to order them as soon as possible.
Academic Calendar
First day of school was on January 3rd, and first day of classes was the next day. The first
week you are allowed to change your courses, but be quick, most courses fill up within the
first two days. The last day of classes was at the end of March, and last day of exams depends
on which courses one takes. I personally finished on the 12th of April. You can finish sooner
or later then this, but you will finish at some time in April either way.
Housing
The University offers two different accommodations, dorm room and cluster. In dorm rooms
you get a room (single or shared) with common bathroom facilities and TV/activity room. All
meals are served in the residence cantina. You do have the ability to heat simple food in a
microwave at the dorms, but most of the food is cooked for you. The people living in dorms
are exchange students or first year students (most 17/18 years old). There is a lot of loud
music and one can feel a bit over age, considering most people are 17/18 years of age.
The other alternative is to live in cluster. Here you get your own room in an apartment
sheared by 3 others. You got to cook your own food, but this is something I missed doing
when living in dorm, considering much of the cantina diet consist of cheeseburgers and fries.
On can also get an apartment outside of campus. This is something you got to arrange your
self and is not assisted by the university.
Costs
Most of your living expenses are food related. If you live in dorm you pay the meal plan fee
and rent in advance at around Kr 24 000. In cluster you need to buy your own food at the
supermarket, spending about Kr 500 a week. Alcohol can be bought at half the price of what
you can in Norway. Bus is free in almost all of British Colombia when using your student ID.
A cab fare from the university to down town cost approximately Kr 160 (20 minutes drive).
The international office
The international office contact person is Allen Wen Sun. You can stop by is office or talk to
him on Facebook. He will help you with all your questions and matters concerning courses
and course changes.
Exchange promotion
All the exchange students where asked to attend a promotion stand some weeks into the
exchange program. This is a voluntary promotion and you do not need to attend if it does not
match your timetable. Generally you also get the opportunity to promote BI in every day
conversation in class and other situations. Do promote early, as the students will make their
exchange choices in February.
Social activities
UVic offer a wide range of social activities. The buddy program offers some social activities
such as hockey games, curling and celebration of Lunar New Year. The Canadian buddies and
others are kind-hearted and will probably invite you to house parties and pre drinks. You can
also join all sorts of clubs and student organizations. I will recommend joining the surfing
club, which arranges surf-trips to Torfino. Falicitas (the campus student bar) and down town
clubs arranges different theme nights and is a lot of fun.
Culture and language
You quickly get used to talking English in every situation. The Canadian dialect if almost the
same as northern US and is easy to understand. All the textbooks I had were US English and
similar to English textbooks we use at BI. Be aware that Canadian English differ from both
US and UK in some of its spelling (you will be graded after Canadian English). The culture is
very North American, but more Scandinavian then what you will find in US. Canadians are in
general very polite, and you will notice that everyone says, “thank you” when leaving the bus.
Culture and social effects from the exchange experience
The social effects and the cultural understanding you get from the exchange period are
beneficial. Not only do you get to learn Canadian culture first hand, but also cultures all over
the world. The exchange group offer a wide diversity, with people from Asia, all over Europe,
South America and Oceania.
The teaching situation
The teaching situation differs from BI. The classes consist of 20-40 students and all English
speaking. Most of the classes are taught between 8.30 and 16.00, but some are late classes
from 18.30 to 21.30. Most courses have a midterm in February and one final in April. In
addition to that you get papers to hand in and group projects. Every class have an assigned
reading and exercises, which you can be asked about during class. It is important to be able to
answer such questions, and be active during lecture considering 10 % of your course grade is
class participation. Oral presentations are greatly used and you probably need to do several
presentations in class, both individually and in groups. In terms of academic difficulty I will
consider the syllabus as easier and smaller then at BI. Still, you are required to do a lot more
hand-ins and reading throughout the semester. As a result the exam period gets easier in
comparison with BI.
Required literature
Some of the courses use only in class lecture material and Internet resources, but most do
have an assigned textbook, all in English and mostly from US. All the exam material can be
found in the textbook or on the university Internet base, B-link (equivalent to it´s learning).
Other
The library is easy accessible and open from 07.00 - 23.00. Here you will find PCs and Macs
you can use for free. Scanning is free, but printing cost 20 cents per printed page. All
computers and university IT information boards is somewhat similar to BI’s equivalent; it’s
learning. The exchange office at UVic will have a walk through of all Internet required
resources at the beginning of the exchange program.
Description of courses
COM206c – Business English and Communication
This course is a very active and oral focused. There are no exams, but still a larger workload
then the rest of the courses. The grade is based on class participation (25%), paper hand-ins
and one final group presentation.
COM316 – Management Accounting
Here you get an insight of the internal decision-making in a business. Subjects like standard
costing, break-even analyse and full and flexible costing is covered. The course has one group
case assignment and presentation, plus one midterm and final exam.
COM341 – Operation Management
This is the only course BI requires you to take. The course covers all logistic subjects from
BI, plus some from project management. There are two group homework assignments, one
midterm and one final exam.
IB301 – International business
IB301 is a very self-managing course. The grade is based on three large papers and class
participation. There are no assigned readings, and attendance is not noted. Still, you should
attend the classes, as participation is 10% of your grad. The three papers have all different
deadlines, spread over the semester. You will on the other hand receive all paper guidelines
and assignments at the begging of the semester, and can therefor decide your self when to do
them.
ENT402 – Entrepreneurship
Entrepreneurship can be very time-consuming, depending on what you make of it. The course
has two large projects and two papers. The first project is to start and run a small venture
/business over one month, with a $10 start-up capital from the professor. In the second and
final project you and your team members got to write a business plan. Beside that there are no
midterms or final exams.