Flagged above are the ISL program placements that were offered for the summer of 2015. The flags denote the approximate location of each placement in instances where this information was available. Map by Kosta Prodanovic / The Ubyssey.
Since the cancellation of International Service Learning (ISL), students have been eager to make their voices heard.
“Cutting a program that creates so much value for not only the students directly enrolled in this program but also the global communities UBC promised to work with is simply irresponsible,” wrote Viet Vu, AMS representative for the Vancouver School of Economics Undergraduate Society, in an open letter to the university.
Through ISL, students offer aid to developing countries while also getting experience in their chosen field.
“What makes ISL particularly unique is that it’s not just like an exchange or just an international placement for the sake of being in a different geography, it’s that it’s entirely community needs-based,” said Pranav Chintalapati, a graduate student in chemical engineering.
Chintalapati’s first placement was in Mexico, designing a solar water heating system for a community. Chintalapati’s career path was significantly influenced by his experience.
“The whole time I was working in oil [after graduating] I was still very much cognizant of the kind of global issues tied into working for a big oil corporation… now I do research in water treatment,” he said. “Everything that could’ve been contributed to oil is now contributed to water and that’s partially impacted by a program like ISL.”
The placements that ISL offers range from helping integrate community members into the operations of a turtle hatchery in Costa Rica, to working with an international NGO in Swaziland.
"My peers and I share a deep concern for the urgent lack of other similar educational programmes on campus, given the university’s persistent encouragement for international volunteer and research placements," said Chaya Go, graduate student in gender, race, sexuality and social justice.
The program was cut in order to free up money for other priorities. According to Janet Teasdale, Managing Director of Student Development and Services, the decision was part of a larger budgetary process where central units were asked to identify opportunities for savings.
“Although it’s facilitated valuable learning opportunities and has made a real different in communities, the number of students who benefit was quite small … and the costs were not sustainable,” said Susan Grossman, director for the Centre for Community Engaged Learning.
According to Grossman, ISL involved 89 students last year. The total budget used for the program that year was $240,765 ($272,103 total had been allocated for the program).
“This is not a decision about the quality of the program, the program we recognize is incredibly transformative for students, however it’s not serving a large number of students so we need to make some tough decisions,” said Grossman.
Teasdale has not specified where the funds are to be reassigned, but said this was an investment in the university’s academic mission “by redirecting funds to strengthen faculties and provide greater financial support for research and learning.”
According to Teasdale, the university looked at cutting other programs but decided on ISL since it serves a small number of students. Charging for the program was decided to be not “self sustaining.”
“I don’t feel like the full ramifications of the cancellation of the program were taken into account,” said fifth-year international relations student and ISL alumnus Krista Knechtle. "I feel like it was only taken into account the number of students that benefit from the program, but not necessary the mutually beneficial effects with host communities and host organizations.”
The abruptness of the decision upset some students. Chiyi Tam, a fourth-year student in global resource systems, has a peer group that is very involved with ISL. According to Tam, the email notifying of ISL’s cancellation said that the program was “shutting down immediately and it was the immediately part that was like woah, okay, why immediately … we were just really shocked.”
UBC economics professor Catherine Douglas echoes Tam's surprise. Douglas spent the last three years developing an ISL-based course.
“The news about the termination of the ISL program has been especially discouraging given that the decision was made without prior consultation with students, faculty and community partners -- those of us who are actually involved and have knowledge about the value of this program,” said Douglas.
According to Grossman, students doing their placements at the time of the announcement were notified over the summer. However, faculties were notified in May and June and alumni were contacted in July.
When asked why students had not been consulted earlier, Grossman said that “we didn’t want to notify [students on placements] in advance and the alumni were notified after because we thought … the alumni might share the news with students.”
While there are other organizations that offer international experiences at UBC, both Knechtle and Chintalapati say that ISL was a unique experience.
Grossman says that faculties are about to begin the process of moving forward.
“We are really committed to engaging students and faculty in the process going forward… we know that they know [students] want to stay engaged in some we so we’d like to hear their perspectives on how to move forward,” she said.