Why hire our Master of Information practicum students?  

The Faculty of Information’s talented Master of Information (MI) students come from a wide range of backgrounds and have diverse skill sets. With their experience and expertise in the information professions, they are ready to hit the ground running.

Students who participate in practicum come from all the Master of Information concentrations:

Students who participate in practicum come from all the Master of Information concentrations:

ARM: Archives and Records Management

The Archives and Records Management (ARM) concentration explores the multiple perspectives that inform documentary practices in different environments and over time.

C&T: Culture and Technology

The Culture and Technology (C&T) concentration examines how society, culture, and understanding of the human condition influence, and are influenced by, technological development. It provides students with the resources needed to understand, integrate, assess, and deploy multi-methodological arguments, in order to develop powerful, balanced, and integrated positions.

CIPS: Critical Information Policy Studies

The Critical Information Policy Studies concentration educates a new type of professional specifically trained in critical approaches to the study of information in all its manifestations.

HCDS: Human Centered Data Science

The Human Centred Data Science (HCDS) concentration provides students with the skills and knowledge to deal with complex, large-scale data sets and information systems while integrating a human-centred and societal focus throughout.

ISD: Information Systems & Design

The Information Systems and Design (ISD) concentration examines how to analyze, design and implement the diverse array of systems used to manage all kinds of information in businesses and complex organizations, including “Big Data” applications. It also emphasizes critical thinking, creative problem solving and collaborative decision making.

KMIM: Knowledge Management & Information Management

The Knowledge Management and Information Mangement (KMIM) concentration explores the access, organization, processing, utilization, and monitoring of information shared within a corporation or community.

LIS: Library & Information Science

The Library and Information Sciences (LIS) concentration educates students in accessing, analyzing, organizing, evaluating, preserving, researching and presenting information found in all types of formats. Today’s librarians are no longer solely concerned with books, but rather with managing digital data and various new modes of information.

UXD: User Experience Design

The User Experience Design (UXD) concentration provides students with the necessary core knowledge and skills to become marketable UX designers. It recognizes the demand for professionals who can envision, design and evaluate outstanding user experiences for digital products.

Employers can partner with the Faculty of Information to offer students the opportunity to work on focused projects where they can apply their information skills and gain experience. Practicum partners can hire one or more students depending on the needs of the project.

Sample roles MI Co-op students have successfully completed:

  • Development of a records management system within an emergency shelter
  • UX design for a generative AI web app (product image generation)
  • UI/UX design of website
  • Improving the end-to-end experience of conducting machine learning analysis
  • Mobile app design
  • Researching the accessibility and preservation of municipal government documents in Canada: best practices
  • Film files cataloguing

Time and duration

Each student is required to complete a 105-hour practicum project. Students are available for practicum placements during all three terms of the academic year:

Winter (January to April), applications open in November

MI Practicum employer expectations

The supervisor of the student must be a professional in their field

The supervisor must have the capacity to onboard, supervise, give feedback and mentorship to the student during the practicum

The student and supervisor will create a work plan to outline the scope and schedule of work We recommend setting standing meeting times with the students to ensure ongoing communication and touch points

See the full overview of practicum host expectations

MI Practicum process

Practicum partners will be informed by the course instructor if their project has been selected by a student (usually by week three of the term)

Student writes and submits a work plan to the instructor and host

Student attends classes and works on the project at the host’s office

Student submits a final report by the end of the course

Host submits the student evaluation form by the end of the course

Compensation

MI students are available for both paid and unpaid practicum placement

Ready to get started?

The Faculty of Information encourages all its employer partners to create an account on Symplicity, our career services management platform. Developed especially for students and their employers, Symplicity allows you to post your opportunities directly and facilitates an efficient and engaging recruitment cycle.

Log In
Create an Account

Tips for creating an account

  1. Click on Create an Account (above) and then click on the “Sign Up” button. (You may want to bookmark this page)
  2. Find your organization and enter your contact information
  3. If your organization is NOT listed, fill in the full name of your organization and complete your account information
  4. Once your account has been approved, you will be notified within three business days. You will then be able to access your account, post your position and view applications

Tips for posting your opportunities

  1. Sign in and click “Create Job Posting” from the Shortcuts menu of the home page
  2. On the posting page, under Work Term, select the appropriate work term and then select ‘BI PRACTICUM” for the Position Type
  3. Complete the form and click “Submit”

Required documents for paid practicum

Students on placements who are receiving wages from their placement employers are considered to be on paid placements and should be treated as any other worker employed by the placement employer. Students should have employee contracts with their employers and the responsibilities of the employer and the student should be clearly defined.

Required documents for unpaid practicum

If the position is unpaid, the Faculty of Information will provide a letter to the practicum partner, which informs the partner how students are covered by workplace insurance and asks that they confirm their responsibilities to create a safe working environment and inform the University of Toronto of any workplace accident or injury.

A Student Placement Agreement must also be completed (email careers.ischool@utoronto.ca to be sent a copy). Placement agreements between the University and placement partners/employers are necessary in order to provide both the University and its students, as well as the placement partner, with clear expectations of rights and responsibilities while a student is engaged in unpaid work with a placement partner as a condition of an academic program in order to obtain a degree from the University of Toronto.