Policies & Guides

These policies are provided to ensure your visit to BMSC is productive and safe.


Information for Faculty & TA’s

Forms for this & that

Resource Guide to BMSC

This is your information manual for living, teaching, and conducting research at BMSC. Please take a few moments to read it as most questions you might have about living and working at our facility will be answered here.

Resource Guide for Faculty & TA's

A comprehensive guide to living and teaching at BMSC for Faculty and TA’s.

Sample First Week Schedule

The first couple of days of summer courses are busy with orientation activities; below is an sample schedule of first week activities.

Sample Course Schedule

BMSC is a multi-use facility, particularly busy during the summer months. A detailed course schedule allows BMSC staff, faculty and other departments to efficiently coordinate activities and resources. See attached for a suggested course schedule layout.

Grading Schedule

In May 2013, the Academic Committee of the Western Canadian Universities Marine Sciences Society (WCUMSS) approved the grading schedule.
The Academic Committee is made up of Department Chairs from each of the five member universities: UVIC, UBC, SFU, UA, and UC.

Please submit grades to the University Programs Office one week after the course end date.

Terrestrial Trip Plan

The Terrestrial Trip Plan form must be completed prior to conducting off campus terrestrial field work.

Discuss your trip plan with the DSO, University Programs Coordinator or Research Coordinator as appropriate, and post this form outside of the main Administration Office.

Meal Request Form

Does your class need an early breakfast, a bag lunch, or food prepared for a camping trip? Fill out the form below and submit to the Chef.

Please ensure you give Food Services plenty of notice (at least 1 week for camping trips) so they can best meet your needs.

Sample Camping Food List

Is your class camping out overnight? Food Services will pack up food. Here’s a list of things that have worked well in the past.

Class T-shirt Order Form

Use this form to place an order for your custom class t-shirts.

Safety in the laboratory

Safety at sea

Social conduct

Safety Manual for University Courses

As an Instructor or TA hired by BMSC, you, along with the University Programs Coordinator, are responsible for the safety of your students.

This document contains emergency procedures, general lab safety policies, how to deal with chemical waste and spills, and general field safety.

Laser Safety

Our Fluid Dynamics Laboratory houses one of Canada’s largest flumes.

The flume is equipped with a 2-D Particle Imaging Velocimetry (PIV) system for flow visualization featuring a large view-field (0.6 m2) and vector capture rates of 10 x/s. The PIV system features La Vision software and has the ability to build serial sections of flow profiles.

Please read the attached safety policy and manual before using the PIV system.

Boating Policy

The purpose of this document is to establish basic policy governing the use of boats operated from and by users and staff of the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre (BMSC) under WCUMSS’s auspices. The intent of this policy is to optimize safety and efficient use of BMSC facilities in all boat operations.

Scientific Diving Policy

Scientific divers using the BMSC facilities are required to observe BMSC regulations. It is the intent of this guide to maximize diver safety.

Dive Tender Guide

The purpose of this document is to provide guidelines for being a dive tender at BMSC.

Snorkeling Policy

The purpose of this policy is to ensure snorkelling safety.

Student Code of Conduct

The BMSC is committed to developing in students the knowledge, skills and values necessary to become leaders and good ocean citizens, both locally and globally.

The BMSC is committed to providing a respectful and productive learning environment and works closely with instructors, staff and students to promote professionalism, including personal responsibility, respect, honesty and integrity.

These values are expected from everyone while at the BMSC.

All members of our community have both the right to experience and the responsibility to help create such an environment.

As BMSC is a shared campus, codes of conduct from your home institution (or institution where you registerd) also apply (UBCUVicSFUUofA, and UCalgary) at the BMSC, especially in the event that disciplinary measures are required.

It is the responsibility of students to read and be aware of these codes of conduct policies as they were put in place to ensure we can all thrive at the BMSC.

Sean Rogers, PhD.

Director, Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre

Alcoholic Beverages Policy

The BMSC Alcohol Policy reflects an increasing awareness of the risks associated with consumption of alcoholic beverages and the obligation to promote responsible alcohol use. It has been created out of respect for the general well being of the entire BMSC community, and recognizing that many visitors to BMSC are not of the legal age to consume alcohol.

Workplace Violence Policy

The purpose of the Bamfield Marine Sciences Centre’s Workplace Violence Policy is to prevent and protect its employees from workplace violence. This document outlines the policy, roles and responsibilities of all BMSC employees and the related procedures.

Any questions?

Contact the University Programs Office.
Phone: 250-728-3301 ext. 216