Developing an Excellent Beginning for International Students

Pre-Summit Workshop
Sunday, April 22, 2012

All sessions will be held in the Joseph and Rosalie Segal Centre (1400 - 1430) at the SFU Harbour Centre building

Conference Registration will be in the lobby of Harbour Centre building near the conference rooms with the following hours:

Sunday - Open at 8:30 and closing at 4:30
Monday - Open at 7:30am and closing at 4:30
Tuesday - Open 8am and closing at 1pm

Presenters:

Jody Gordon, Associate Vice-President, Students, Kwantlen Polytechnic University

Nancy Johnston, Executive Director, Student Affairs, Simon Fraser University

Clayton Smith, Vice-Provost, Students & International, University of Windsor

Description:

If we had an excellent beginning for our international students, what would that look like?  Cultural shock, language barriers, adjusting to new levels of academic rigor, and stress caused by loneliness and homesickness, these are just a few of the barriers faced by international students upon arriving in Canada to attend university or college.  In this interactive workshop, participants will explore the question of an excellent beginning for international students by first unpacking the barriers to student success.  Then participants will discuss how to incorporate services and programs tailored specifically to their assigned international student population that establishes an excellent beginning for these students.  Sub-populations of international students to be discussed include: new Canadians, international students who studied in Canadian high schools, undergraduate international (study permit) students, and graduate international (study permit) students.

In this workshop, participants will learn about the barriers to student success, the principles associated with improving student success, and various best practices from across Canada focused on improving the success of our international students.

Registration Fee: $75 (or $50 if you also register for the SEM Summit) plus 12% HST.