START STRONG: NEW STUDENT ORIENTATION (NSO) SCHEDULE

SPRING 2021 TERM

TUESDAY April 6 WEDNESDAY April 7 THURSDAY April 8 FRIDAY April 9

8 am – 9 am 8 am – 8 : 5 0 am 8 am – 8:50 am
8 am – 8 : 5 0 am
Welcome Ceremony Plan Your Degree Path: Your Academic Let’s Celebrate: We Did It!
Meet the Librarians Advising Questions Answered Student Career Success Stories
Join online Join online Join online
Join online

9:05 am – 9:50 am 9 am – 9 : 5 0 am 9 am – 9:50 am

9 am – 9 : 5 0 am
President Talk (with Q&A) Donuts with the Chairs: What Do Employers Want?
Get it Write: How to write Meet our Chairs Developing Skills & Leadership
Join online effective papers? for the Workplace
Join online
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1 0 : 0 5 a m – 1 0 : 5 0 am 1 0 am – 1 0 : 5 0 am
10 am – 10:50 am
Our Inter-Cultural Campus 1 0 am – 1 0 : 5 0 am What would Your Professors
Tell You? How to get involved at UCW:
Join online How can I ensure my Wellbeing? First Year Fridays
Keep me Safe Join online
Join online
11 am – 11 : 5 0 a m Join online
11 am – 11 : 5 0 am 11 a m – 11 : 5 0 a m
How Can I Develop a
Growth Mindset? 11 am – 11 : 5 0 am Are You Ready? Your Financial & Immigration
Student Success Stories Questions Answered
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What will class be like? Join online Join online
Expectations for University
12 p m – 12 : 5 0 p m Join online 12 p m – 12 : 5 0 p m
12 p m – 12 : 5 0 p m
Balancing Studies and Life Student Roles & Responsibilities Connect with your Peer Leader
Join online 12 p m – 12 : 5 0 p m Join online Join online

Learning for Success: 1 pm – 1:50 pm

1 pm – 2 pm Effective online learning 1 pm – 1:50 pm
Join online Next Steps: Begin your
Meet Your Peer Leaders Your Questions Answered: Academic Life
Registrar’s Office
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Join online
11 am – 11 : 5 0 am 1:50 pm – 2 pm
2:05 pm – 2:20 pm 2:05 pm – 2:20 pm
Be Tech Savvy: Tech Tools & Support Closing Quiz: What did you learn
Closing Trivia Quiz Closing Trivia Quiz from NSO
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 START STRONG: NEW STUDENT ORIENTATION (NSO) SCHEDULE
SPRING 2021 TERM
TUESDAY - WELCOME & TRANSITIONS

Welcome Ceremony
UCW will be hosting a welcome ceremony to welcome the new students of our Spring 2021 term. There will be an Indigenous welcome, speech
by the President, UCW campus tours, and videos to welcome you into the UCW community.
President Talk (with Q&A)
Enjoy a virtual meet & greet with the President of University Canada West, Mr. Brock Dykeman. We will hear about his academic journey from a
farming community to being President of the fastest-growing private university in Canada. Join us and listen to this inspirational talk and get a
glimpse of what to expect at University Canada West.
Our Inter-Cultural Campus
This integral session will introduce Canadian culture and provide awareness, describe a deep understanding and respect for all cultures and
social identities. As we come from different backgrounds and will be living in Vancouver, which is a multi-cultural city we want to create a safe
and inclusive campus community including learning about the meaning behind consent culture for our students, staff and faculty members.
How Can I Develop a Growth Mindset?
In this session, we will discuss how the students can change and prepare their mindset toward the new student life. As most of the students are
international, they are joining UCW from different backgrounds and academic standards, so through this session we can help you get ready to
be open to the changes and learn how to learn to overcome learning challenges or obstacles through effort and practice and try to motivate you
by developing their learning skills.
Balancing Studies and Life
Life often means juggling multiple aspects of our lives simultaneously. When deciding to study at university, we also need to figure out our
work, family, and personal schedules and commitments. We promote a healthy work life balance at UCW and want to share some tips and
strategies that can help you find that balance while you study with us. To find out more, join the NSO session on “Balancing Study and Life”!
Meet your Peer Leaders
Come and meet the Peer Leaders for the Spring 2021 term! Our Peer Leaders are current students who are trained to help new students settle
into the University and Vancouver. If you have a question and are not too sure who to ask, your Peer Leader is one of the supports that is
available to new students. This session is to give you a brief overview of what the Peer2Peer program is about and meet the Spring 2021 Peer
Leaders – one of them can be your Peer Leader.
 START STRONG: NEW STUDENT ORIENTATION (NSO) SCHEDULE
SPRING 2021 TERM
WEDNESDAY - GETTING STARTED

Meet the Librarians

You will meet our Librarians who will become a key resource and important support for you in your academic journey. You will be introduced
to research resources available at UCW to help you with assignments and you will learn about your role in upholding our culture of academic
integrity at UCW. At your mandatory Learning for Success workshop in Week 2, called Academic Integrity Matters and Research Strategies for
your Success, you will learn more about how to effectively conduct research, how to follow academic integrity rules, and how use our resources.
At NSO we’d like to get to know you and support you throughout your academic journey. Come meet us!
Get it Write: How to write effective papers
Writing will be an important skill that you will need in your academic studies and our University Academic Program instructors can guide you on
why it is important to write critically and how to do it. In the Learning for Success workshops, you will gain in depth knowledge and be able to
practice your writing with the University Academic Program instructors.
How can I ensure my wellbeing? Keep me Safe
Join Student Ambassador Paniz Permanoon and UCW’s KeepMeSafe representative, Tara Hamilton in this insightful discussion about what
it means to care for and balance one’s mental and emotional well being as well as your classes, responsibilities and work. Each of us owes
ourselves our physical, mental and emotional health, and through this presentation you can see ways in which you will be supported during your
time at UCW in this journey!
What will class be like? Expectations for University
Meet UCW’s Learning Strategist who will guide you on how you can prepare for your studies, what to expect from your lectures and what type
of assessments will be done in your courses. You will also get the opportunity to hear from current students who will give you their experience
at UCW to help guide new students and hear what it was like from their own experiences of attending class here at UCW.
Learning for Success: Effective Online Learning
This session will prepare you with tips and skills to be an effective online learner as everyone has adopted an online platform at schools, work
and socially. Our Online Learning Manager will cover advantages and disadvantages of online learning and will provide advice and tips on how
to resolve common issues that a student will experience with online learning.
Be Tech-Savvy: Tech Tools & Support
What tools and equipment do I need that can help me with my academic studies? Our IT staff will guide you on what learning tools are available
and how to use them effectively. Learn what platforms instructors will use to teach their class, how to set up your Microsoft Office 365 account,
Grammarly and MyUCW portal.
 START STRONG: NEW STUDENT ORIENTATION (NSO) SCHEDULE
SPRING 2021 TERM
THURSDAY - GETTING PREPARED, MEET THE DEPARTMENTS

Plan Your Degree Path: Your Academic Advising Questions Answered

In this session, Academic Advisors will provide an overview of what your degree pathway looks like, the benefits of your degree program
and how the Academic Advisors can help you plan your academic studies. The Academic Advisors will help answer any questions you have
whether you want to know what courses you can do, what elective specialization there is available or what is good academic standing. Take this
opportunity to have your questions answered during this session.
Donuts with the Chair – Meet the Department Chairs at UCW
Enjoy a virtual meet & greet with the five Department Chairs at University Canada West. At University Canada West, we have five Department
Chairs that look after the courses in your program. Your Department Chairs ensures that your content stays relevant, instructors are teaching
you the critical skills and to support you in your academic success. Join us and learn from their years of teaching and industry experience on
how you can succeed.
What Would Your Professors Tell You?
During this session, you will be introduced to three instructors at UCW. Gain top pieces of advice on what to expect from their individual courses
that they teach, how you can prepare for your courses and what is expected of you, as a student from an instructor’s perspective. Get the
chance to also gain further insights by engaging in a Q & A session to find out more invaluable information from these instructors before you
embark on your academic journey.
Are You Ready? Student Success Stories
A question all students want answered! This is your chance to hear from our current students about their experiences for how to cope with
courses, transitioning to a new University, how to juggle your academic and social life and managing your time effectively. Gain some tips for
preparing for exams, making connections and hear about our current student’s success stories and how they are achieving their goals.
Student Roles & Responsibilities
What do we expect of our students at UCW? What are the best practices to learn and undertake? What responsibilities do students have? These
important questions will be answered throughout this session as we review students’ roles and responsibilities. Due to the global pandemic
that we are currently experiencing and as we plan to transition back on campus, we want students to be responsible and adhere to our safety
measures that are put in place. As this global pandemic continues, we will review our health and safety advice and discuss the measures that
have been put in place as we put the safety of our students, staff and faculty members at the forefront of our minds.
Your Questions Answered – Registrar’s Office
This is an opportunity to virtually meet the Registrar’s Office and find out detailed information about this department. Learn what the
Registrar’s Office does, what queries they can help you with and how to get in contact with this department. During the session, the department
will give detailed information on frequently asked questions by new students and to have your questions answered during this session by the
Registrar’s Office.
 START STRONG: NEW STUDENT ORIENTATION (NSO) SCHEDULE
SPRING 2021 TERM
FRIDAY - GETTING READY

Let’s Celebrate: We Did It! Student Career Success Stories

How did our students get a job in a contemporary job environment? What was their experience like in finding a job? Our Career Development
Specialist will moderate a panel of current students who will share their experiences and success stories on how they find job in contemporary
job environment, tips and guidance to new students and challenges they experienced and how they overcome the challenges.
What Do Employers Want? Developing Skills & Leadership for the Workplace
In the ever-changing workplace environment, the skills that you thought employers wanted may have changed. Our Career Development
Specialist can provide a brief overview of what employers are looking for, what the contemporary workplace culture is like and how you can
develop the skills that employers want.
How can I get involved at UCW? First Year Fridays
Though we may not be physically interacting with each other, it is important to stay connected even on a virtual level. Student Affairs will advise
you on how you can get still get involved with the university by introducing you to the type of events we have every term. As new student,
we have a special event exclusively for new students called “First Year Friday” to help you get to know other new students– these events are
organized and hosted by our Peer Leaders.
Your Financial and Immigration Questions Answered
This is an opportunity to virtually meet the Finance department and UCW’s Immigration consultant, April Lu. Learn what the Finance
department and our Immigration consultant does, what queries they can help you with and how to get in contact with these departments.
During the session, the departments will give detailed information on frequently asked questions by new students. Take this opportunity to
have your questions answered during this session.
Connect with your Peer Leader
You’ve met some of our peer leaders and found out more about what they do. This is the time to find out how to connect with the peer leader
that you’ve been paired with. What are your questions? How would you like them to support you? What can you learn from their journeys and
what is awaiting you as a student at UCW? This is your time to find out more about all of these queries and more!
Next Steps
What do I do now? In this orientation session, we will provide a brief overview of what your next steps should be, who to ask for assistance if
needed and what upcoming events will be held in the next two weeks.