2016 Concurrent Sessions

Session A: 11:00am- 12:30pm

A1:  Responding to Disclosures of Sexual Assault

• CJ Rowe, Diversity Advisor – Sexual Assault Intervention & Prevention
• Leslie Chesick,  Registered Psychologist, Counselling Services

Developed in partnership with the Ending Violence Association of BC, this workshop is core to the implementation of the University’s Sexual Assault Response and Support Protocol. It is designed to build the capacity of staff, faculty and key student leaders to respond appropriately to a student’s disclosure of sexual assault and provides participants with appropriate referrals to campus and community resources. This session explores how trauma impacts our minds and bodies, provides participants with the opportunity to learn how to support someone who makes a disclosure and provides time to practice these skills by engaging with scenarios. You will walk out of this session with practical skills to add to your already existing toolkit.

A2:  First Nations/ Metis/ Inuit Students: Best Practices for Student Success

• Jolie Ellison, Case Manager
• Deborah Bleackley, Academic Advisor, Arts Academic Advising Services
• Karlene Harvey, Academic Advisor, Aboriginal Services, Arts Academic Advising Services

This workshop is a place for advisors to meet and discuss best practices for working with First Nations/Metis/Inuit students. Let’s decolonize student supports!  Topics presented will include an Indigenous worldview, holistic approaches for student health and well-being, and building cultural competency to improve student experiences. These terms will be defined for/with participants to assist in the process of highlighting best practices in supporting First Nations/Metis/Inuit students.  Participants will discuss their experiences of working successfully with Indigenous students- What worked well, how did your practice change or develop? How would you incorporate the feedback from Indigenous students into your future practice? 

Participants will: Define and explain strategies and best practices that can be incorporated into your own advising; Identify on-campus supports and resources available for indigenous students; Understand how acute responses to student needs can increase successful outcomes; Challenge our thinking and assumptions about Indigenous students.

A3:  Rebranding Failure: Advising That Instills Hope and Builds Momentum

• Leah Marks, Academic Advisor, Arts Academic Advising Services

It is not uncommon for Advisors to encounter students who feel deeply distressed about a recent or past failure. An important part of our work is to assist them to manage and use failure to inform their next academic steps. We approach this aspect of our job with our own attitudes and expectations about failure often equipped with few evidence based approaches to assist students. How can we help the student maintain their dignity and self-esteem while using the opportunity of failing to grow and understand themselves in a positive and realistic light? Through a brief review of current peer reviewed literature on the impacts of University ‘failure’ on students (including resiliency building) and a summary of current hope-centered intervention approaches, a vision of failure as an inevitable and positive aspect of life and growing will be forwarded and an advisor friendly approach to the failing student will be explored.
Advisors will be presented with current theories in area of building resiliency through failure and offered active approaches to hope building.

The participants will have the opportunity to; reflect on their own experiences of failure and the resulting ways in which their lives have been shaped, review personal and professional views about "failure" and the "failed student", develop a greater understanding of the positive aspects of failure and discuss their present strategies for working with students experiencing failure, and be exposed to additional approaches to shifting students’ negative perceptions of personal failure. Advisors will participate in activities that build hope to create momentum while considering ways that the literature and activities presented may be integrated into their advising practices with their students.

A4:  Communities, Transitions, Stuck Moments, and Ripple Effects:  A Themed Approach to Supporting the First Year Student Experience 

• Cate Morrison, Assistant Director, Residence Life, Student Housing and Hospitality Services
• Kari Marken, Educational Designer, Centre for Student Involvement and Careers
• Robbie Morrison, Manager Student Engagement Centre for Student Involvement and Careers

The Centre for Student Involvement & Careers is partnering closely with Residence Life to support and enhance academic initiatives in first-year student residence communities. In this session we will share how our student and staff teams have followed thorough and creative processes to come up with guiding ‘themes’ that help connect our programs, approaches and conversations to first year students and their lived experience of the transition to university. These themes are also connected to and inspired by current research. As part of this session, we will share how we’ve started to see alignment in the CSI&C First Year Experience themes and the Residence Life Programming Themes and how these alignments guide our intentional collaboration this year. We will also guide participants through a process of articulating the themes that best illustrate their work with first year students.

Participants will:  be invited to consider ways they could incorporate these themes into their advising conversations with First Year Students; start to create themes that animate and illustrate their work; introduced to a sampling of the current research guiding first-year co-curricular program and residence life design; connect with colleagues from across campus who work with First Year Students; and use themes as a way to develop a common professional language

A5:  Working With Strengths: Understanding Your Own and Taking a Strengths-based Approach to Advising

• Kimberley Rawes, Career Educator, Centre for Student Involvement and Careers

Quick- Tell me the top 5 things you are good at ! Can you do it? Or would it be easier to tell me the things you're not good at? The truth is that many of us - advisors and students alike - spend more time focused on (and trying to fix) what we’re not good at, instead of discovering, appreciating, and cultivating our strengths. Using the Clifton StrengthsFinder assesment, in this session, you will learn more about your particular top 5 strengths, how they interact with each other, and how they shape your perspective. After familiarizing ourselves with this tool and our own strengths we will discuss how to adopt a strengths-based approach in our advising practices with students.

Participants will be able to articulate and interpret their own strengths and identify how to adopt a strengths-based approach into their every-day their advising practices. (In advance of the conference, participants will receive and complete the 30-minute online assessment -  the Clifton StrengthsFinder.)

A6:  Ethical Boundaries in Advising:  Where Is The Line?

• Ryan Holliday, Case Manager
• Gabriela Aragay, Academic Advisor & Program Coordinator, Undergraduate Office, Sauder School of Business

From an ethic of care, advisors make meaningful connections with students and seek to offer the best possible supports and resources to help them succeed.  But what are the ethical boundaries around how we care for and support our students?  Is it ok to send your students texts?  What if your student invites you to join them for a social event or go for coffee?  Is it okay to drive a student to a medical appointment?  Boundary issues are not always obvious but a clear understanding of appropriate boundaries in our daily interactions is essential.  Through discussion, reflection and case studies, this highly interactive workshop looks at real life situations while heightening ethical awareness and concludes with practical steps to consider when faced with an ethical boundary issue.

Participants will:  Understand how ethic of care, boundaries, and professionalism are interconnected; Reflect on their own individual boundaries; Identify when boundaries might be tested and how to maintain ethical boundaries; Identify some boundaries that should never be crossed; Communicate boundaries to students and colleagues while remaining supportive. 

A7: Domestic Student Financial Aid – The Future at UBC

• Darran Fernandez, Associate Registrar and Director, Enrolment Services
• Kate Ross, Associate Vice-President, Enrolment Services and Registrar, Enrolment Services
• Allison See, Director of Finance, Enrolment Services

Access to post-secondary education is an ongoing point of conversation in media, among colleagues in post-secondary and most significantly among parents and students – prospective and current.  In April 2015, the Board of Governors approved a proposal to focus more student financial aid to support four populations – aboriginal students, those from low and middle income households, students from rural communities and first generation students.  Enrolment Services has taken steps in that direction through the Centennial Scholars Entrance Award and a re-think of domestic student financial aid.  This conversation will share the vision for supporting domestic students at our two campuses in the years ahead, and will seek insights on what you see as priorities to support domestic student success at UBC. Be prepared to learn about the proposed vision and approach and to share your thoughts on supports that are needed for our domestic student population.

Participants will: Describe the revised vision for domestic student financial aid at UBC; Discuss support that advisors observe domestic students need in their day-to-day work; Identify opportunities for deeper engagement around domestic student financial aid at UBC.

Lunch and Wellness: 12:30pm - 1:30pm

L1:  Why Movement Matters

Learn from Suzanne Jolly, UBC’s Manager of Physical Activity with UBC Athletics  and Recreation, about evidence-informed approaches to reducing sedentary behavior and promoting physical activity.  Explore how levels of physical activity impact student success and the many resources at UBC to help students, staff and faculty move more.  

L2: The Top 5 Food and Nutrition Questions To Ask In A Counselling Session And Why  

Learn from Nicole Fetterly, UBC’s Manager of Nutrition and Wellness with Student Housing and Hospitality Services, about the role food and nutrition can play in student wellbeing and academic success.  Learn simple tools and strategies to influence a student's relationship to food to improve their wellbeing and how to refer students to Registered Dietitians.

L3:  Yoga - UBC Recreation

Need some time to stretch and unwind from the morning and ready your mind for an afternoon of learning?  Participate in this low intensity, not too strenuous, Yoga class.

L4:  Pilates - UBC Recreation

Want to boost your physical strength and flexibility and enhance your mental awareness as you ready yourself for an afternoon of learning? Participate in this low intensity, not too sweaty, Pilates class.

L5:  Meditation - UBC Recreation

Need some time to quiet your mind and focus your thoughts as you ready yourself for a busy afternoon of connecting and learning? Participate and regenerate in this meditation session.

L6:  Health, Wellbeing and Benefits for UBC Faculty and Staff

Have a burning question about your benefits?  Want to learn more about UBC’s corporate health and fitness discounts?  Looking to stay on top of your health in the New Year?  Drop in to see the UBC Health, Wellbeing and Benefits team and discover the many benefits and initiatives that are available to support and promote your wellbeing

L7:  Open Discussions

Informally connect and converse over lunch.  Initiate topics or join a discussion generated by you and your colleagues

Session B: 1:30pm - 2:30pm

B1: UBC’s Case Management Approach: Responding to and Supporting Complex Student Concerns Involving Mental Health

• Joanne Elliott, Case Manager

Mental health concerns can have a significant impact on student’s academic performance. Most student concerns are addressed through established student support processes, but some escalate and become more complex. For example, a student may experience ongoing well-being difficulties - despite being connected with supports - to the point where their academic progress is significantly impacted and/or hospitalization is necessary due to the health concerns.   Additional support and strategies may be needed to support the student, in particular when hospitalized, as well as organize and coordinate the information.  In response to this need, UBC has developed a Case Management Approach that plays an important role in its student Mental Health and Wellbeing strategy alongside such programs as the Early Alert Program, which collectively, support a comprehensive approach to supporting students and the campus community. This presentation will explore the Case Management Approach that UBC has developed over the past few years, the types of concerns specifically addressed by the Case Management Approach, and will also include an overview of the specific resources, strategies, actions, and tools that advisors can draw on depending on the situation.  A few case studies will be presented to illustrate how the approach works and has been successful.

Participants will be able to: Describe the specifics of the Case Management Approach: what types of concerns are addressed by the Case Management approach and what respective actions and processes are recommended; Identify how this approach operationalizes UBC policies related to at-risk behaviour and academic accommodations; Describe how this approach enables the university to effectively balance student and university needs, while following principles of fairness, due process, and natural justice.

B2:  The Mindset of Academic 'Success': Connecting Grit and Growth Mindset to Undergraduate Student Learning

• Kari Marken, Educational Designer, Centre for Student Involvement and Careers

Concepts like ‘grit’, ‘creativity and ‘growth mindset’ are informing how we can create the best possible conditions for student learning and academic success. In this hands-on workshop, I will share practical ways to support undergraduate student learning through story-telling activities, daily actions and conversation prompts. For example, what are some new questions to ask a student about their experience of learning in university? We’ll also look at how simple ways of thinking and talking about ‘learning’ and ‘success’ could lay a foundation for other types of success in the future.

Participants will leave the workshop with conversation prompts and facilitation tools that can be applied in their unique professional context and be introduced to 3 key theories/concepts that are shaping current thinking & research around the psychology of 'success'
     
B3: The Helpful Advisor – Basic Counselling Skills in an Advising Setting

• Natalie Lim, Recruitment and Advising Officer, Undergraduate Programs, Faculty of Land and Food Systems
• Rana Hakami, Manager, Student Support Services, Nursing

“How can I help?” may be a question you often think of in an advising appointment with a student. Well, there can be a way to help, without saying much! This hands-on workshop led by Counselling Psychology graduate students working in advising on campus will focus on basic skills that can be applied in an advising context.  After a brief review of empirical research in the field, participants will practice basic empathy, active listening skills, and elements of motivational interviewing that can help elicit change and foster and propel students toward success. Whether you are a new advisor or a seasoned veteran, you will get a chance to learn something new or build upon what you are already doing. You do not have to be a counsellor to create a safe space for your students – just a non-judgmental, genuine, and empathetic person who is willing to lend a helping hand. Warning: Participating in this workshop does not mean you are a counsellor. Side effects may include: increased trust, greater insight, increased awareness, higher rates of wellbeing, lower rates of wellbeing, onset of change, academic plan compliance, onset of student success, etc.

Participants will be able to: Identify evidence-based research about the efficacy of counselling psychology; Demonstrate basic empathy, active listening skills and elements of the motivational interviewing approach in an advising setting

B4:  “Collaborative Resilience: Working across differences to support the whole student”

• Tam Uden, Enrolment Services Professional, Enrolment Services
• Peter Wanyenya, International Student Advisor, Special  Populations and Programs, International Student Development
• Karen Waugh, Senior International Recruiter/Advisor, Awards and On-Campus, International Student Initiative

What are ways that units from across campus come together to support the whole student? Post-secondary institutions across Canada are increasingly internationalizing. Diverse student interests and needs require us to innovate not only in our pedagogical approaches, curricular choices, and research scope, but also our student affairs approaches and practices in supporting student success. Through our shared work as advisors for the International Leader of Tomorrow and Don Wehrung awards. Which, provide generous 4-year awards for outstanding, highly deserving, and diverse international students. UBC offers less than 30 award every year, and we receive hundreds of applications. We select among students that demonstrate academic excellence, superior involvement in a wide range of extracurricular activities, and extensive involvement in their local, and the global community.  We will share our collaborative model of supporting our richly diverse students cross functionally and share some of our challenges, successes, and best practice of working together to support the whole student.  

Participants will: • Understand how various units including Enrolment Services, International Student Initiative, and International Student Development present to students; Analyze diverse cases concerning issues such as finances and academics from multiple stake holder perspectives; Assess actions that can be taken individually and collectively to solve complex student cases;  Explore best practices for supporting the multifaceted needs of international students  

 B5: International Learning for UBC Students:  Opportunities available through Go Global

• Charlotte Humphries, Advisor, Study and Research Abroad, Go Global: International Learning Programs
• Wendy Kang, Advisor, Study and Research Abroad, Go Global: International Learning Programs
• Laurinda Tracey, Coordinator, Study and Research Abroad, Go Global: International Learning Programs

In partnership with over 260 post-secondary institutions from around the world Go Global supports UBC faculties and departments to achieve the UBC International Strategic Plan (2011) goal of increasing student participation in mobility programs ensuring 30% of all undergraduate students at both campus have an international experience by the time they graduate. In addition to outbound student mobility, Go Global supports international students attending UBC as exchange students and student researchers. These students become our Ambassadors when they return home. International learning experiences challenge students academically and help them develop professionally as citizens of the world. 

Participants in this session will learn about the breadth of international programs available to UBC students, including exchange, global seminars, research abroad and summer programs. Additionally, participants will learn more about the work being done to reduce barriers to participation like financial barriers and academic planning. Following an overview of the incoming programs, participants will learn how to create a positive experience for visiting international students. It is our goal that participants leave with new knowledge about Go Global programs and advising tools that they can incorporate into their interactions with students. 

B6:  Supporting students to become Career Ready Graduates: It takes a whole campus

• Kim Kiloh, Director, Centre for Student Involvement and Careers
• Carol Naylor, Associate Director

As an institution, UBC aspires for all students to graduate “career-ready” – able to connect their education, talent and curiosity to the world of work.  But how does that happen? Where and when?  Often students will approach the process of building their career as an additional or separate endeavor.  However, evidence shows that it is the whole experience of pursing and completing a university degree that prepares our students to be career-ready and make meaningful contributions to society and the world.  The program they choose, their orientation experience, their learning and engagement with their discipline, their enriched learning experiences, their extracurricular involvement, the faculty members who influence and inspire them, the mentors and role models they aspire to, the friends they make in residence, in class, on the bus; the interests they nurture. Sometimes our students miss seeing how career building experiences are woven into every fabric of their UBC experience. As a community of Advisors how do we best support this holistic notion of career development?  How do we help our students see and leverage their every-day career development experiences?  This workshop will introduce a framework for understanding career development and identify strategies for Advisors to intentionally support students as they build their careers. 

Participants will: Explore a framework for understanding the process of career development; Identify how your specific advising role and the work of your unit can uniquely support students to become career-ready graduates;  Discover some of the experiences and interventions that research has shown can positively influence students’ career development 

B7: Graduate Students: Who are they, what do they want and how do we support them?

• Caroline Kingston, Director, Academic Support, Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
• Jenny Phelps, Assistant Dean, Student Admin & Strategic Initiatives, Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
• Theresa Rogers, Associate Dean, Faculty and Program Development, Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies

This session is geared towards anyone in the role of advising, support or service to students on campus – anyone who interacts with graduate students. While there are over 10,000 graduate students at UBC, occasionally their unique needs, abilities and interests are swept up by the larger undergraduate culture. Because it is largely self-directed, graduate study can be a very different experience for students and, at times, isolating.  Graduate students have different relationships with faculty, including supervisors. Many juggle familial or personal commitments, concurrent employment in their fields, academia or in both. Many in research programs engage in field work globally for months at a time with even less connection to direct their academic progress. These unique pressures, struggles with balance and stressors can show up in different ways for these students and our responses are nuanced.   

Participants will gain a better understanding of who graduate students are, the nature of graduate school and how they can best meet students’ needs. They will have a better understanding of why students pursue graduate education and what graduate students are looking for from their University.   We will work through case studies and they will share their burning questions about graduate students. We will advance best practices in advising to support participants with specific skills, strategies and tools to apply going forward in relation to supporting program progress, addressing student well-being, and navigating supervisor/student relationships.

Session C: 2:40pm - 3:40pm

C1:  Building Wellness Capacity Within Communities

• Jessica La Rochelle, Assistant Director, Native Indian Teacher Education Program (NITEP)
• Amanda Unruh, Acting Wellness Coordinator, Student Health Services

UBC staff and faculty members are now, more than ever, faced with students’ mental health & wellness concerns. Often these concerns are very program, unit or community specific.  The Wellness Centre and the NITEP program collaborated in 2015 on a new initiative, “Mental Health and Wellness Program” for NITEP Students. This program will be used as a case study on how other communities or units can integrate mental health and wellness education that is relevant to their environment and culturally sensitive/appropriate and how culture is integral to student wellbeing. As this is a new initiative, we will explore what has worked and not worked so far and how to implement potential changes for the next academic year(s).  This is an opportunity for attendees to envision ways for their work to create more allies/support on these essential subjects.

Participants will: Learn about resources and trainings available for professional faculty, staff and student development; Making mental health and wellness relevant depending community, program or unit needs, with an emphasis on culture; Review best practices for integrating wellness education and support within an environment that respects the cultural norms of students and their communities.
 
C2 The Role of Customer Service in a University Setting: How to be Efficient While Maintaining Meaningful Interactions

• Mallory Manley, Front Desk Coordinator, Arts Academic Advising Services
• Fay Alikhani, Associate Academic Advisor, Arts Academic Advising Services

This presentation seeks to inform on the practice of customer service in a higher education institution. With several years of experience working in customer service centered industries, our presenters will discuss how customer service fits into a university setting. We will focus on techniques advisors and advising units can implement in order to increase student satisfaction and increase retention. The most important topic of this presentation will be the discussion on meaningful interactions; how can one create an efficient and service-oriented atmosphere without losing the important aspect of creating meaningful interactions with students.

Participants will: Describe what customer service can look like in a university and specifically within an advising office; learn specific service skills and best practices to implement within their own department.
 
C3: An Online Interactive Knowledge Base for Improving Advising Consistency and Retaining (and Tracking) Institutional Memory

• Tim Conklin, Academic Advisor, Arts Academic Advising Services

One of the challenges facing advising units is ensuring that all advisors provide the same correct up-to-date information to students and that each follows the same policies and procedures for your advising unit.  You want to make sure all your students get consistent advising.  As well, it is vital that advisors can keep track of not only when a policy or procedure was changed but why it was changed. Take a look at how some campus advising units are meeting these challenges by developing a secure internal website that is easy to access, update, and use.  

Participants will: Learn new formats for keeping advisors informed and all operating on the same page;Evaluate the relative merits of three online knowledge sharing platforms; Identify key considerations when visioning and maintaining an internal knowledge base; Think about an appropriate balance between the organizational cost of setting up a knowledge base (financial, time, and human resources) and the benefit to advising staff in their unit and to students.
 
C4: Using the Coach Approach In Your Interactions with Students

• Erin Green, Student Engagement Coordinator, Faculty of Science
• Kali Wilson, Senior Student Engagement Coordinator, Faculty of Science

Have you heard about coaching on campus? What IS coaching? How is it applicable in our everyday work?   Learn about the UBC Coach Approach, a practical framework stemming from coaching theory, and utilized by a number of Peer Programs at UBC. 
In this session, you will be introduced to some of the theory behind the concept of coaching, explore the key components of the Coach Approach, and practice utilizing coaching principles in your conversations with students.   This interactive workshop is most relevant to folks working in student-facing roles; however, the principles of coaching are widely applicable and you will have an opportunity to consider how the coach approach could work in your own role. 

Participants will:  Identify components of the UBC Coach Approach; Explain the key aspects of a coaching conversation; Demonstrate how to utilize the coach approach; Articulate how the coach approach can be applied in the individual's role 
 
C5: Start Your Career in Canada: A Program for International Students at Sauder

• Elena Giorgetti, Manager BCom Careers, Business Career Centre, Sauder School of Business
• Alden Halbacon, Senior Advisor, Intercultural Understanding

Start your Career in Canada was developed to help Sauder international students prepare to enter the Canadian workplace. Including themes of communication, culture and career preparation, and interactive networking opportunities, this program introduces Canadian job search knowledge that assists international students throughout their academic studies at Sauder.   Join us to learn more about how the Sauder Business Career Centre introduced this program, and what we have learned along the way about our students, as well as how the program has evolved over the past two years based on student feedback.  We also invite participants to share their experiences and knowledge in both working with international students and other international programming with which they are involved.

Participants will leave with an understanding on how to design a similar program to support International students in their faculties.
 
C6: From Camps to Coast: UBC’s Student Refugee Program 

• Heather Mitchell, Enrolment Services Professional, Enrolment Services
• Sarah Cameron, Assistant Director, Arts Academic Advising Services
• Stacey Simpson, International Student Coordinator, Faculty of Science

The World University Service of Canada (WUSC) is a non-profit development agency that provides educational opportunities to disadvantaged students. WUSC established the internationally acclaimed Student Refugee Program in 1978, which enables approximately 75 student refugees to pursue post-secondary studies in Canada each year. UBC sponsors four new students each year and supports up to 25 undergraduate students every academic session.   UBC has one of the most robust programs in the country thanks to the strong leadership of the student-run WUSC club and the UBC WUSC Working Group--a cross-functional team comprised of academic advisors in Arts, Science, and Business, as well as International Student Development and Enrolment Services. We are brought together by the shared objective of enhancing the academic, financial, and personal success of WUSC student refugees at UBC.   This presentation aims to offer awareness of the WUSC student refugee program at UBC at a time when Canadians are showing considerable interest in refugee issues. It will demonstrate the strength of a cross-campus advising team in supporting students with complex backgrounds. It will also showcase the strength the WUSC student refugee program by including a segment presented by a current student.

Participants will:  Develop awareness of UBC’s student refugee program and knowledge of how it contributes to providing critical opportunities for those impacted by the global refugee crisis; Identify how and when a cross-functional/team approach can be used to support special populations of students.
 
C7: Faculty Fellow Panel:  Welcoming First-Year Students: An Asset-Based Approach to Building Learning Communities

• Faculty member panel - TBA

In the UBC Jump Start summer intensive program, incoming first-year international students are welcomed into Faculty-based learning communities (~30 students). The learning communities are connected intentionally to their Faculty’s academic advisors, peer student leaders, and faculty members. The purpose of this panel is to learn more from the experience the faculty members—called Jump Start Faculty Fellows—who steward daily 2-hour academic conversations with a specific learning community. In Jump Start 2014 there were over 55 Jump Start Faculty Fellows connecting to and welcomed over 1400 new-to-UBC students to the academic campus community. In this panel presentation, members of the Jump Start Faculty Fellow community will share their approach to orienting first year students to UBC.

Participants will learn the approach faculty members take to orienting first - year students to the academic community of scholarship at UBC