UBC’s Jumpstart Program has received an increasing number of participants in recent years.
Jumpstart is the orientation and transition program run by the Centre for Student Involvement and Careers (CSIC) for first-year international students and Canadian students living abroad. The program consists of a two-week event that runs immediately before the academic year and a support process that continues throughout the year, in which student leaders mentor first years.
Kim Kiloh, director of CSIC, described the goal of the program as being “to provide an opportunity for students to become familiar with the campus, to become familiar with the city, and in some cases, to become familiar with the country, and to be well prepared for success in their first year.”
“There is an opportunity for students who are part of Jumpstart to, in theatre language, rehearse the habits, the behaviours, and the ways of thinking about what it means to learn at the university,” said Kari Marken, education designer of CSIC.
This year, the Jumpstart program received an estimated 1,650 participants, which was an increase by almost 400 from last year. Moreover, this year’s participation numbers were three times the amount in 2012, which numbered at 507.
According to Kim Kiloh, Director of CSIC, participation in Jumpstart improves international student retention by about four per cent. She attributes the increase in Jumpstart participation over the years directly to the fact that many students gain positive experiences through participating in the program.
“The program has a very good reputation with students who participated in it, and they’re very likely to recommend Jumpstart to friends, family members, community members that are coming to attend UBC,” said Kiloh.
The design of this year’s Jumpstart program differed from previous years in that all student leaders this year lived in residence alongside the participants. Kiloh believes that this redesign allows for first years to develop stronger relationships with their student leaders.
“Preparing our student leaders to be able to be effective mentors in both community development and in the academic development will be a really strong way to more realistically reflect a holistic student experience,” said Kiloh.
The Jumpstart Program first ran at UBC in 2004 in the Faculty of Applied Sciences. In 2006, the program expanded to all other undergraduate faculties at the university as well as students in Vantage College. Beginning in 2011, the program started to include the yearlong support process alongside the two-week orientation event.