Student engagement
We believe it is important that students be given every opportunity to interact with those with special needs and to learn about disability issues. After all, as they take their positions as society's leaders, former students who have had such experiences are more likely to be passionate supporters of increased inclusion and accessibility.
To date, thousands of students have taken part in
CanAssist's activities. There are four main ways in which students - from UVic or
elsewhere - can participate:
1. As co-op students - CanAssist regularly hires 10 to 15 co-op
students each year to support the development of our assistive technologies and
our R&D activities. Co-op positions are posted on the CanAssist website and in the
co-op offices of various UVic departments, usually around June, October and
February of each year. For more information on our co-op opportunities, please
contact Cynthia Andrew.
(To see a list of the co-op students currently working for us, please see check our staff pages.)
2. As graduate students - CanAssist is delighted to sponsor and
support graduate students who are working on their master's or doctoral
degrees. In most cases, students work full-time with CanAssist; however, some
work with programs at other academic institutions. CanAssist will consider
providing financial support to graduate students, depending on the relevance of
their research to CanAssist's goals and objectives. For more information on
graduate student opportunities with CanAssist, please contact Dr. Nigel Livingston.
3. As volunteers - CanAssist welcomes student volunteers from all disciplines and offers roles for them in a variety of activities. For more information on volunteer opportunities with CanAssist, please see our Volunteers section or contact Elsa Yan.
4. As part of academic courses or student practica - Each year,
CanAssist provides opportunities for students to work on disability-related
technologies or issues as part of their academic program or course
requirements. For example, we have engaged engineering students to design
assistive technologies and systems, business students to produce market analyses
and business plans, and social sciences students to look at policy and
community issues. In some cases, we work with faculty to present specific
projects to student classes or groups. We are also very open to having students
approach us directly. If you have ideas as to how you could involve CanAssist
in your academic experience, please email info@canassist.ca.