Welcome from Dr. Harry Janzen, Dean of the Faculty of Education, Vancouver Island University

Welcome! If you are already a student in our faculty, let me say that I'm proud to be your dean: if you want to be an excellent teacher, our Faculty of Education is a great place to learn. For those of you thinking about enrolling with us, I couldn't think of a better place for you to further your educational and professional goals. It is an exciting time for us as we are expanding the variety of our Teacher Education Programs. Fall 2008 will be the first time we offer our Post Baccalaureate Bachelor of Education Program with a secondary school focus. It will also be the inaugural semester for our Master of Education Program in Leadership. By expanding our offerings for you, we can better meet our collective goal of serving prospective teachers in their quest for personal and professional excellence.

Vancouver Island University's Teacher Education Program has an annual intake of 170 students. Successful graduates of our bachelor's programs can be recommended by the Faculty of Education for certification by the BC College of Teachers. In fact, hundreds of teachers have graduated from our Teacher Education Program since its beginnings in 1989 under the university's previous name, Malaspina University-College.

Due to the large number of teacher retirements in the province, the outlook for teacher employment in British Columbia is promising. Many school districts actively recruit Vancouver Island University graduates because of the high quality of our Teacher Education programs. (To see where our graduates are being hired take a look at our Recent Hirings in AlumniED News.) We are proud of our graduates and the success they are achieving.

Teaching is a highly creative and rewarding profession. Find out about our program options. Look through our site and then contact our advisors to plan your admission to one of our exciting programs! I look forward to seeing you here soon.

Dr. Harry Janzen
Dean, Faculty of Education