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UQO at a glance

Teaching is at the very heart of UQO activities and the institution is proud of its widespread reputation as a "friendly university". A heightened availability, adapted training and supervision activities and a cordial environment facilitate interaction and allow professors to ensure close monitoring of students throughout the whole educational process. Furthermore, most of the programs include on-the-job training sessions to allow students to make use of the knowledge acquired and become involved in a professional experience.

A large part of UQO programs are rooted in the specific needs of the labour market and of society. Such is the case, for instance, with programs in education, health sciences, administrative sciences, computer science, social work and psychoeducation. Having made a breakthrough into the world of applied science with the computer engineering program, UQO is now seeking to move into the area of natural sciences through biology. The University also offers a series of masters and doctoral-level programs.

Continuing education is very important to us. That is why UQO offers regional professionals the tools to develop their specific expertise by means of certificates, short graduate programs and specialized postgraduate studies.

Research

Research is an integral part of program quality and facilitates the transfer of knowledge to the community, thus allowing us to participate in the development of the Outaouais.

Undertaken by professors in the forefront of their disciplines, research is developing rapidly at UQO. Professors have acquired recognition and renown and this underscores by the diversity of their funding sources and the establishment of cooperative exchanges with researchers in other universities, other organizations and private enterprise.

In the field of social studies, UQO has set as an objective to become a full participant in the search for solutions to the new social problems brought on by social changes and to become an important partner in the creation of social capital. The University is participating actively in initiatives involving the development of social innovations. For instance, various research projects have been undertaken in the areas of social economy and local communities, the psychosocial health of children and youth, cyberpsychology, success in school and changes in the workplace.

In the science sector, UQO is very active in the areas of photonics and computer telecommunications.

UQO has a number of research units:

• Canada Research Chair in Clinical Cyberpsychology
• Canada Research Chair in Community Development
• Canada Research Chair in Photonics
• Language Technologies Research Centre
• Research Chair in Distributed Computing
• Study and Research Centre on Social Intervention

Furthermore, the University houses the centre for the co-ordination and production of the scientific journal Économie et Solidarités.

Our graduates: The pride of the University!

The University is proud of its 24,800 graduates! Today most are working in the main activity centres of the region, but we also have graduates all over Quebec, Canada and the world. This important network contributes to the University’s influence in Canada and abroad.

Because the links between the University and its graduates are important, UQO stays in touch through its alumni association and its magazine Savoir Outaouais.

For a stimulating and enriching student life

At UQO, the students are the prime builders of a stimulating environment and one open to the world. By their involvement on campus, the students contribute to the establishment of an environment which includes their values and their interests for the future.

To support them, Student Services offer quality, personalized services and a program of activities promoting both their personal and social development and their success as scholars.

Workshops, seminars, conferences, commencement activities, Trade Games, Industrial Relations Games, Psychoed-fest, Intercultural Week, Ciné Campus are only a few of the many activities to which students are invited.

To keep in shape, students have access to the Physical and Sports Activities Services which include a multi-system room, a dance hall, a swimming pool and a gymnasium. A sports medecine and physiotherapy clinic is also at their disposal.

Student life also includes two coffee shops and the activities of the various student groups and associations on campus. To give students a voice, the General Students' Association represents the interests of all students and is mandated to promote and defend their rights and their interests.

In the forefront of technology

Today, UQO is among the most advanced Canadian universities as regards the use of communication and computer technologies in the field of education. And the University fully intends to remain a leader in the area of technology!

Technology has profoundly changed professions in a great number of areas such as teaching, translating, the arts and nursing sciences. UQO uses the most up-to-date technologies to help the learning process and prepare students for the reality of the labour market in the third millennium:

• computer laboratories and multimedia classrooms with state-of-the-art equipment
• videoconference facility
• e-mail
• discussion forums and real time chat sessions
• courses with documents and tools available on the Internet and on the WEB
• student intranet Symbiose

At the international level

We have to go with the times! As we enter the 21st Century, graduates are increasingly called upon to work in an international environment. UQO is therefore striving to offer them an international outlook as part of their educational programs along with the opportunity to gain experience abroad.

To meet the new challenges associated with globalization, UQO is increasing the international character of its various programs.  It accepts over 250 foreign students from 32 different countries.  UQO also allows its students to study or do an internship outside Canada.

A special relationship with the community

UQO is on the same wavelength as the Outaouais. Both are developing rapidly and are destined to a very promising future.

A close partner of the Outaouais at the economic, social and cultural levels, UQO through its professional learning center, the University-Milieu Liaison Bureau, devotes considerable time and energy to the establishment and maintenance of close links with its community, both to meet and to anticipate the needs of the population

The Liaison Bureau, in partnership with community organizations and businesses, has established various continuous and tailor-made training activities along with many intervention projects aimed at meeting the needs expressed by the community.

A dynamic Foundation

Since the inception of the UQO Foundation in 1986, its aim has been to promote the development of the University while stressing progress in the areas of teaching and research.

March 2006 saw the launching of the Foundation Financing Major Campaign, "Imaginez l'UQO" (Imagin UQO). By this campaign we hope to collect 10 million dollars in order to support the growth of the University in the areas of equipment, the library, the establishment of research chairs or the creation of scholarships. Thanks to generous donors (corporations, private enterprise, individuals, the university community and the alumni), the Foundation can continue to support UQO.

To honour the particular efforts of superior students and to help provide access to advanced studies, the Foundation has so far distributed 2 milion dollars in academic and merit scholarships. The Foundation is proud to encourage students to give the full measure of their talents.