The end of May saw the successful completion of a pilot coding program, offered together by UFV Continuing Education and the Ministry of Advanced Education. Nine senior-level and post-graduate computer information systems (CIS) and computer science (CS) students participated in this advanced coding training, aimed at helping them transition into employment.
The Coding Bridging program ran for four weeks in May, and was developed and taught by Gabriel Murray at UFV Five Corners in Chilliwack. Each week included a combination of lab instruction and time spent onsite with an employer, where they worked on a real-time coding project. Students refreshed their programming skills, and practised writing code to solve a range of problems that could be encountered in an interview or workplace. They learned relevant workplace topics, such as professional standards and ethics, and had a chance to meet with employers through classroom guest talks and an employer-student mixer at the end of the program.
The success of the program is credited not only to the talented students and quality instruction, but also to the participation of employers from Abbotsford, Chilliwack, and Mission. These included Kerkhoff Technologies, Prospera Credit Union, Next Level Media, Myriad Technologies, Cnawlece Incorporated, Greenhill Equity Solutions, RPS Studios, Multapplied Networks, and UFV’s Information Technology department. Employers benefited by filling a need for a project and potential recruitment; students benefited by gaining experience they wouldn’t have otherwise received in the classroom. Continuing Education Coding student Sam Wolfe reported: “This experience has been invaluable, helping me understand operations in a typical day for my chosen career, as well as finding out that this is definitely what I want to do. I enjoyed working as part of a team to create something great!”
Thanks also to the combined efforts of the UFV Continuing Education and the program working committee, as they worked to get the program off the ground and running. The committee included Elizabeth Klassen (student), Wim Kerkhoff (alumni & employer), Gabriel Murray (CIS professor), Derek Harnett (Science professor), Susan Francis (Continuing Education), and Lisa Boldt (Continuing Education).
UFV has received funding to offer the Coding Bridging program again next year, so stay tuned as registration will re-open later this month: ufv.ca/cis/coding-bridging-program/. We look forward to reaching out to more CIS, CS, and Science students!
For more information, contact Lisa Boldt at lisa.boldt@ufv.ca
06/17/2017