BBA Internships, Senior Projects and Enhancement Courses

Note: Business Internships and the Senior Projects are optional in the BBA Program. Students may choose, instead, to take 6 upper-level business credits towards their degree completion.

Please read through the following course descriptions and process for applying to see if any of these courses are of interest to you.  Note that you do have to apply for these courses and be approved and it also involves finding a supervising teacher and filling in the directed studies form for signatures to register into these courses.  They are not found on the timetable.  Contact the BBA Degree Advisor for more details. 

Internships

In the Internship courses, a student will gain valuable practical skills by participating in a 200-hour paid or unpaid work experience component. This culminates with the student detailing, in a final paper, the outcome of the work performed, and the benefits achieved. Students normally participate in an internship in their final year of study. These activities provide critical learning opportunities and enable students to apply knowledge and skills gained throughout their course of study in an active business environment. While it is the responsibility of the student to secure their own sponsored position, the student will work closely with a Supervising Instructor to achieve their objectives. Students normally participate in this program in their final year of study. 

Learning Objectives

After you find a supervising instructor from the department in which your major lies (ACCT, FNCE, MARK), please work with that instructor to create a set of learning objectives and a proposed work schedule for your internship.  Then, ask them to sign off on your plan before submitting it to the applicable chair for signature.  If you would like to learn more about constructing learning outcomes, this information is used by teachers on how they create best practice learning outcomes to be precise, specific, and measurable tools that can be utilized for assessment and evaluation purposes.

Note: You can also find possible internships through Work Integrated Learning. Many internships set up by major companies will "hire" for internship positions a year in advance, so forward planning is necessary for some internship positions.

Senior Projects

Senior Projects allows the student to work in conjunction with a Supervising Instructor in performing research, collecting data, and preparing a paper on a topic of interest to the student and approved by the Supervising Instructor. The paper is expected to also include a literature review and identification of the benefits of the research and concludes with a presentation of the paper’s findings to faculty as well as other students.

BBA Enhancement Courses

These 1 credit courses are useful for academic, personal and career development, where students can come with proposals for volunteer activities, conference attendance or non-credit mini courses that reflect FOM standards.

BBAE 101 is tuition free; the upper level courses are useful for students needing the right sized credit experience.

Career Exploration and Job Finding Supports and Resources

This resources is designed to assist VIU students to be mindful of how they are conducting themselves, and also representing the university, in professional business environments especially when conducting informational interviews, going on field trips and conducting projects for Senior Projects and completing Internships:

Follow the Career Studio on LinkedIn or subscribe to our email newsletter to stay up-to-date on career-related events at VIU.

Experience Hub Appointments

Are you feeling stressed Career Exploration and Job Search strategies you could use to explore opportunities for Internships in your potential field of work? 

After meeting with your Degree Advisor regarding Internships, you can meet with a Peer Facilitator to learn more about the supports available at the Experience Hub to assist you in your career decision making, resume writing, job search, and interview preparation.

Book an appointment to discuss your career related needs with a Career Peer Facilitator who will help you navigate your action plan for finding and securing an Internship.

To book your appointment Log In to Experience Hub, go to Experience Hub then Appointments. 

Please email the Experience Hub if you have any questions.

How to apply for one of the above-noted courses

  1. Submit an Application Form to the BBA Academic Advisor (Sharon.Kelly@viu.ca), who will review your academic plan and eligibility.
  2. If approved, submit the Application Form and a Registration Form for Directed, Independent Studies or Senior Project to your Supervising Instructor for completion. (You need to find someone on Faculty to agree to be your Supervising Instructor). Work with your Supervising Instructor to develop either a Curriculum Plan (for Senior or Special Projects), or a Learning Objectives and Proposed Work Schedule (for Internships).
  3. Submit all signed documents to the Department Chair for signature.
  4. Finally, once approved by the Department Chair, submit the Application Form to the Dean’s Office, Room 417 or by email to Kathryn.Jepson@viu.ca, Administrative Assistant to the Dean, with all required supporting documents (see Attachments required below).

The following are attachments required to submit to the Dean, Faculty of Management:

Once the Chair signs off on your plan, please forward it along with the completed application form, and the “Directed Studies” Registration form with the applicable signatures (3 documents) to the Dean’s Office by emailing it to Kathryn Jepson with the subject: “documentation for MGMT xxx or ACCT xxx or ECON xxx”.