2017 Concurrent Sessions

Session A: 10:45AM - 12:15PM

A1: Barnga: A Hands-on Look at Intercultural Sensitivity

• Michelle Suderman, Director, International Student Development
• Sarah Cameron, International Transition Advisor, International Student Development

International students, student refugees and other newcomer youth comprise a hearty portion of our student population today. How do our daily interactions reflect the changing cultural reality of our student population? Join us for a fun, hands-on introduction to Bennett’s Developmental Model of International Sensitivity and identify key ways you can build your own and your students’ ability to communicate effectively across cultures.  

Learning outcomes:

1. Develop increased awareness of the cultural rules underlying everyday behaviour
2. Understand the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity (DMIS) and the insights it offers us as practitioners
3. Identify how to build our own and our students’ intercultural sensitivity

A2: Leading From the Intersections: Developing a Framework and Practice for Mentoring Diverse Student Leaders

• Adeline Huynh, Equity Facilitator, Equity and Inclusion Office
• Jeannine Kuemmerle, Equity Facilitator, Equity and Inclusion Office - UBC Okanagan 

How does identity influence student leadership development and your mentoring practices? Legal scholar Kimberlé Williams Crenshaw coined the term intersectionality to frame how power structures interact in the lives of people with diverse identities. This workshop will explore how Advisors can use intersectionality to frame student leadership development, and sharpen their skills to be more culturally responsive in mentoring student leaders with diverse identities. In the context of this workshop "culture" encompasses more than race and ethnicity; it takes into account sexual and gender identity, age, class, disability, and other aspects of identity formation. Through a brief review of current peer-reviewed literature, critical reflection, discussion, and skill-building activities, this interactive workshop will provide the groundwork for understanding how identity can shape leadership styles and how to provide culturally responsive mentorship to diverse student leaders.

In this workshop, Advisors will learn to:

1. Identify how their beliefs, worldviews, and identities influence student leadership development and mentoring practices
2. Recognize how intersectional diversity can impact mentoring relationships with student leaders
3. Become aware of the impact of privilege, conscious and unconscious stereotypes, assumptions and biases in the Advisor-Student Leader relationship
4. Apply evidence based strategies to mitigate the impact of stereotypes, biases and privilege to foster culturally responsive mentoring relationships
5. Use culturally responsive mentoring principles to guide them in exploring intersectional identity and leadership with students

A3: Responding to Disclosures of Sexual Assault 

• Amanda Unruh, Sexual Assault Educator, Student Wellbeing Promotion Unit 
• Ashley Bentley, Sexual Assault Intervention & Prevention Advisor, Health Promotion Programs 

Updated since the 2016 Advising Conference, this session will teach participants to how to support someone who discloses sexual assault.  Participants will practice techniques to respond to and support survivors, understand the difference between disclosure and reporting and their role and responsibilities.  Discussion of barriers and myths that impede disclosing will also be included.

Participants will:

1. Become familiar with how trauma impacts our minds and bodies
2. Understand the barriers to disclosing
3. Understand the difference between disclosure and reporting
4. Learn how to support someone who discloses sexual assault
5. Practice techniques to respond to and support survivors

A4: The Graduate Student Experience: Supporting the Success and Wellbeing of 10,000 Diverse Students

• Sarah Joosse, Wellbeing Promotion Strategist, Student Wellbeing Promotion Unit 
• Brianne Howard, Director, Academic Support, Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies 

This session is intended for anyone in the role of advising, support or service to graduate students. The graduate student population at UBC is large and diverse. They are enrolled in every Faculty, with more than 200 degree options. Graduate students have unique needs and face complex challenges as they navigate supervisory relationships, experience isolation and cope with the rigors of research work and study.  A panel discussion will unpack some of the issues and opportunities that exist in supporting graduate students and provide various perspectives on the graduate student experience.  Complex cases will be discussed to raise awareness of challenging issues graduate students face while navigating their post-secondary studies.  Resources available to support faculty and staff who interact with graduate students will be shared in an interactive format to highlight the services and supports that exist.

Participants will:

1. Gain a better understanding of who graduate students are, the nature of graduate school and how they can best meet students’ needs.
2. Learn from a panel of diverse stakeholders who support graduate student success and pose burning questions. 
3. Discuss challenges, opportunities and resources for enhancing the graduate student experience and improving student wellbeing.
4. Advance best practices to support participants with specific skills, strategies and tools to apply going forward to address student wellbeing.

A5: Strategies for Supporting UBC Students in Outreach Initiatives With Aboriginal Communities 

• Ryanne James, Bridge Through Sport Program Coordinator,
First Nations House of Learning

UBC’s Point Grey Campus is located on the traditional, ancestral, unceded territory of the Musqueam people. This land has always been a place of learning for the Musqueam people, who have used this site for millennia to transmit their culture, history and traditions from one generation to the next. This session offers strategies for supporting students in building stronger and more reciprocal relationships with the people of the land where we live and learn. The presenters will point out existing resources to support participant and student learning and facilitate a discussion around some of the following questions: “How can we support students in learning meaningful ways to contribute to Aboriginal communities and organizations in their work? How do we support students in recognizing the assets of the communities? How can students use their skills to benefit both their learning experience with Aboriginal communities while benefitting the community itself?” This session aims to provide the following outcomes:

Participants will:

1. Share strategies for supporting students’ lifelong learning of the history, legacy and contemporary status of the relationships between Canada and the specific Aboriginal communities that they are working with
2. Have the opportunity to reflect on experiences and apply new knowledge
3. Have an opportunity to share and get feedback on their ideas for ways to support students in their work

A6: Transformative Advising: A New Approach to Student Advising

• Charles Shi, International Student Advisor (RCIC), International Student Development 

Student advising is a fundamental task across all the areas of student affairs. It plays a vital role in university students’ life. With today’s changing student body and its increasing diversity, the shifting landscape of post-secondary education calls for a new approach to student advising with more inclusive theoretical framework.  What are the new challenges facing today’s students? How can we engage students in learning and facilitate their transformative learning experience through advising? How can we best support students in the discourse of transformation in their university life to bring out their potential and prepare them for their future?  Based on the transformative learning theory and the trends in today’s post-secondary education, this session will review the existing advising approaches and their theoretical foundations, examine the nature of transformative learning and the multiple facets of the learning discourse, introduce a new approach---transformative advising and its principles. The session will further engage participants through case studies in discussing how to use the new approach in student advising to facilitate and enhance student transformative learning experience. Some practical advising strategies will also be discussed.  

Learning outcomes:

Participants will walk away with deeper understanding and a new perspective in student advising. In addition to the knowledge of different advising approaches and the insights of the new trends of the post-secondary education, they will also be equipped with a new transformative advising approach and practical advising strategies to facilitate and enhance student transformative learning experience. 

A7: The Community Animation Model:  Enabling Community at UBC's Global Lounge 

• Eve Court, Program Advisor, Global Campus Initiatives, International Student Development 
• Amit Chandna, Global Lounge Community Animator
• Franny Varty, tandem Program Assistant Coordinator
• Natasha Laponce, Global Lounge Community Animator

Common approaches to community building in universities involve staff-led programs promoting participation in campus activities and aiming to build relationships amongst students. The Global Lounge is a campus hub for global and interculturally-focused initiatives, and has adopted a different approach: employing “Community Animators,” a student leader team that fosters environments of student collaboration and peer mentorship.  This session will outline the value and outcomes of the animation approach to community building, share best practices, and provide the opportunity to discuss perspectives on how best to animate community on campus. 

Learning outcomes:

1. Apply best practices from the Global Lounge program to enable community animation at their own institutions.
2. Describe theories of “third spaces” (Oldenburg, 1999) and “learning spaces” (Palmer, 1998) and how they relate to positive community-building on post-secondary campuses.
3. Analyze best practices for community-building within university programs through group discussion 

Session B: 1:15PM - 2:15PM

B1: Developing a Wellness Program for International Scholars

• Jola Lekich, Program Director, Global Campus Initiative, International Student Development 
• Erin King Brown, Counsellor, Counselling Services 

International students who are on scholarships based on merit and financial need face unique challenges as they navigate a new culture and educational system in Canada. UBC’s wellness program for The MasterCard Foundation Scholars provides an opportunity to address mental health concerns before they potentially rise to a clinical level and aims to minimize barriers to accessing mental health support. Strategies to increase mental health help-seeking behaviors and ideas to address acculturative stress will be discussed.    

Learning outcomes:

• Identify characteristics and issues needs-based international scholars face as they attempt to navigate Canadian post-secondary structures.
• Recognize strategies which could increase mental health help-seeking behavior
• Discuss and analyze best practices for addressing acculturative stress.    

B2: A Theme Based Group Advising Approach

• Karla Gouthro, Manager, Career & Professional Development , Centre for Student Involvement & Careers 
• Beth Helsley, Career Educator, Centre for Student Involvement & Careers 

Group advising offers a format for students to interact with and learn from each other, to share ideas about what has worked for them in the past and to offer support and encouragement, while learning about tools and resources to help with their questions. Using the theme "Feeling Stuck or Unsure" in career development, we will present a group advising approach for undergraduate and graduate students to address their common and diverse questions.

By the end of this session, participants will:  

1. Have an understanding of how a theme-based group advising approach could be used to meet a variety of advising objectives;
2. Consider appropriate topics for group advising, relevant to specific advisor roles; 
3. Be supported in designing group advising experiences that allow UBC students to gain insight, inspiration, and learn practical tools and resources.

B3:  Engaging, Advising, Coaching and Recruiting, Prospective Students: A Conversation or a Recruitment Opportunity? 

• Colleen Mooney, Enrolment Services Professional, Student Support and Advising
• Anthony Dodds, Student Recruiter Advisor, Student Recruitment and Advising

Have you ever found yourself at a party, in a cab, or at a coffee shop and you’ve mentioned you work at UBC? Did that conversation very quickly shift from a light and easy conversation with a new acquaintance to a full on prospective student advising conversation? As staff members at UBC, we represent one of the top 40 institutions in the world. Regardless of our positions here, we are looked to as experts on everything UBC. People of all ages and backgrounds want to connect with us to discuss the possibility of attending UBC. Whether they are mature students who have been out of school for many year, or students who’ve applied and were refused admission we may find ourselves discussing the pros and cons of attending UBC. How do we take these conversations whether on or off campus with prospective students and their families and make them impactful  advising conversations. How do we to help these students determine if UBC as an institution is a good fit for them; which campus is better suited, and what courses they “should,” be taking. Every interaction we have with a prospective student influences their decision to attend or not.

Participants will:  

1. Understand their role in recruiting future UBC students
2. Know what influences a student’s decision to attend or not
3. Know how to dissect the prospective student questions to get to the heart of what they want to know
4. Discover the fine balance between advising, and providing students with academic information and leaving them with a positive experience
5. Get an appreciation for the different types of prospective students and how to adjust their advising based on the needs and types of inquiries
6. Know what boundaries may exist in these conversations and what resources to refer to

B4: How Do UBC Student Rates of Physical Activity and Sedentary Behavior Impact Student Success?

• Suzanne Jolly, Physical Activity Manager, Athletics and Recreation
• Erica Lau, Post Doctoral Research Fellow, Population Physical Activity Lab

In 2016, for the first time, the International Physical Activity Questionnaire was distributed as an optional survey as part of the Undergraduate Experiences Survey.  Using this data, let’s explore how increasing physical activity and reducing sedentary behavior amongst undergraduate students can also impact student success at UBC. In this practical and interactive session, you’ll learn evidence-informed practices and new options for students to move more and sit less at UBC.  

Participants will:

• Learn evidence-informed approaches to reducing sedentary behavior and promoting physical activity 

B5 The Residence Life Approach to Supporting First Year Students

• Ivan Yastrebov, Residence Life Manager, Student Housing and Hospitality Services
• Cate Morrison,Assistant Director, Residence Life, Student Housing and Hospitality Services

It is our goal in Residence Life to set up students with the skills to navigate all areas of post-secondary life to help ensure they don’t just survive, but thrive. Students have a multitude of experiences during their academic careers, from classes to extra-curricular activities to living in residence. While these are all separate experiences, they all intertwine and affect student’s wellbeing and success.  Join us for this session where we will be explaining how Residence Life approaches supporting students through the multitude of experiences they are going through. We will be looking at how we connect with other support services on campus to contribute to holistic wellbeing, and helping students navigate the different structures at UBC.  

Participants will:

1. Learn about the supports available to residents and how students can access those supports
2. Learn about our Community Building model and how that supports holistic student success
3. Have the opportunity to discuss ways that the Residence Life approach could benefit or compliment their specific work

B6: What’s in a Name? Navigating Mispronunciation and Misgendering With Grace in Student Advising 

• Rachael Sullivan, Equity Facilitator, Equity and Inclusion Office

Our names are powerful representations of identity. They can hold family, cultural and linguistic history, as well as a deep sense of connection to who we are as individuals. Facing the complexity of diversity in students, and the expectations for advisors as front line UBC staff, we have important roles to play in a student’s sense of wellbeing. Research shows that the mispronunciation or avoidance of a student’s or colleague’s name and pronoun(s) can be exclusionary, and impact their sense of belonging and identity. Despite these being uncomfortable or anxiety producing moments for both students and advisors, having the skills and awareness to navigate these moments with competencies and grace will strengthen connections with students and positively impact advising processes. Informed by an Appreciative Inquiry approach to advising and research that examines how names relate to identity and belonging, this workshop will explore the importance of names in relation to advising practices. Utilizing interactive and reflective activities, participants will identify benefits and challenges with using preferred names (nicknames, non-western names and chosen names). This session will offer best practices for advising students by using their name and pronouns, while supporting their sense of connection and belonging to the UBC community.

In this workshop participants will:

1. Examine current name and pronunciation practices in advising
2. Learn how names and pronoun use matter to a variety of students (western, non-western and gender non-conforming) and how name pronunciation and pronoun use can inhibit or enhance the student-advisor relationship
3. Identify advising relationship practices that are inclusive and build connection
4. Engage in best practices for navigating the use of names and pronouns with competencies and grace in the advising process

B7:  Connecting the Co-op Experience With Academic Learning 

• Tony Loring, Co-op Coordinator, Faculty of Forestry

The University of British Columbia, Faculty of Forestry Co-op Program recognizes the importance of working with academic advisors to ensure students have all the information they need when considering co-op. This presentation will outline the steps we follow, the lessons we have learned and how advisors can help connect diverse groups of students with co-op programs at UBC. It will also look at the role of advisors in helping UBC achieve experiential learning targets and in helping our graduates stand out in the current job market.

In this workshop, participants will learn:

1. The benefits of co-op 
2. How we market co-op to various student groups, faculty and employers 
3. Understanding the employment crisis for millennials 
4. How co-op is an important component of the solution.

Session C: 2:30PM - 3:30PM

C1: Tuition Dollars to Award Dollars: Financial Support Options for International Students

• Eleni Korres, Enrolment Services Professional, Enrolment Services 
• Adam Lukasiewicz, Enrolment Services Professional, Enrolment Services 
• Karen Waugh-Clark, Manager, International Recruitment, Awards

As international enrolment continues to rise at UBC, we must ensure that the well-being of students from overseas stays front and centre. While wellness is most often understood to encompass academic, physical, and emotional aspects—financial wellness is increasingly seen to play a crucial role in student development. Over the past year, UBC has implemented a novel approach to better supporting international students who face financial distress due to unforeseen emergencies in their home country. UBC is in a very unique position with this ability to support our international students through the 7.47% that’s taken off each dollar of international student tuition that goes toward international student financial assistance (awards, scholarships, emergency bursary, etc.). The increase in tuition and net dollar amount out of the 7.47% has afforded us the opportunity to provide greater support to this population in a way that mimics much of what we do for our domestic students, and truly surpasses what no other public post-secondary institution in this country – or North America – can do. This session will provide an overview to financial wellness research, explain how the international student financial assistance model functions at UBC, and present several contextual case-studies.

Learning outcomes:

This session is intended for advising staff who wish to learn more about financial support options available to international students. Emergencies that international students face are numerous, but can include the devaluation of country’s currency, the inability to have funds transfer out of the country, illness or death in the family, an exceptional medical situation, or other unforeseen circumstances that could not have planned for. By going over both theory and case-studies, attendees will come away from this presentation with an improved understanding of how to better refer students in financial distress, and how to collaborate with staff across campus to set students up for continued success.

C2: Empowering Students to Become Wellness Leaders – The Aboriginal Mental Health and Wellness Working Group as a Model

• Jessica La Rochelle, Assistant Director, Native Indian Teacher Education Program (NITEP)
• Savanah Knockwood, Indigenous Student Programs Coordinator, Centre for Excellence in Indigenous Health, School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine 
• Naomi Schatz, Student Engagement Officer, Wellness, Student Health Service, Health Services 
• Drew St. Laurent, MHA Program Manager, School of Population and Public Health, Faculty of Medicine 
• Renee Avitan, Registered Social Worker, Counselling 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 Aboriginal Mental Health and Wellness Working Group (AMHWWG) formed in the summer of 2016 to work collaboratively to increase leadership opportunities for Aboriginal students and empower them to be proactive regarding their mental health and wellness and also to give them the tools they need to support their family and friends. The AMHWWG is a partnership of different faculties and units across the university who work with Aboriginal students. Since its inception, the AMHWWG has collaborated to offer professional development opportunities, information and resources, self-care strategies, and student led discussions in the hopes of inspiring students to become wellness leaders. This partnership explores what is working and not working in terms of meeting the needs of Aboriginal students’ mental health and wellness. The presentation will showcase the partnership as a framework with transferable strategies and initiatives ranging from a health and wellness resource fair to yoga sessions. Presenters will also highlight key themes including: collaboration, holistic, student focused/led, and cultural relevance and how these can be implemented in other faculties, units, and communities.

Learning outcomes:

1. Attendees will learn about mental health and wellness resources and trainings available for professional faculty, staff, and student development and how these resources and trainings have been implemented by the AMHWWG
2. Presenters will share successes and learning opportunities for building mental health and wellness capacity with Aboriginal students and other student populations
3. Attendees will learn how a collaborative model has increased opportunities for student/faculty/staff participation in mental health and wellness initiatives for Aboriginal students and how this model can be adapted for other student populations 

C3: Setting, Holding, Rebuilding: Strategies for Developing Effective Relationships With Students​

• Mike Cheung, Residence Life Manager, Student Housing and Hospitality Services 
• Holly Dysserink, Residence Life Manager, Student Housing and Hospitality Services 

This workshop is based off of the strategies and approaches to community and relationship building within Residence Life.  Advisors in UBC work daily to set clear personal yet professional boundaries with the students they work with both in person and online; develop strategies for maintaining self-care after peer helping and rebuilding relationships after conflict.  We will explore some common trends, current practices and approaches that we offer to our staff as they set, hold and rebuild relationships with students.  Discussing the tools and thought processes that are currently used in residence, the workshop will decipher the intent behind different approaches and offer ways by which you can modify and apply these tools to your own programs.

Upon attending this session, participants will:  

• Articulate 5 strategies for setting and maintaining boundaries in an intimate working environment.
• Examine best practices for empowering student staff to develop a professional identity. 
• Compare techniques for establishing boundaries as a method of self-care.

C4: The Advisor as Servant: Servant Leadership and the Commitment to Student Growth

• Matthew Isherwood, Enrolment Services Professional (Scholars Community Coordinator), Enrolment Services 

The idea that servant-leaders are committed to the growth and development of people is central to the philosophy of servant leadership. In September 2016 UBC Enrolment Services launched the Scholars Community, a pilot program designed to provide unique programming and support for the university’s best and brightest domestic students. These scholars are outstanding academics and leaders in the community. They enter the university with high personal expectations – aiming for major prestigious scholarship opportunities, and for top graduate or professional programs. The session aims to reflect on how The Scholars Community is using the philosophy of servant leadership to support relevant and desirable outcomes of student advising in four key areas: commitment to individual growth, self-awareness, community building and foresight and conceptualization. We also hope to allow space for UBC faculty and staff to reflect on how they might become involved in supporting the community as it develops. 

Participants will:

1. Learn more about Servant Leadership as an approach to student advising and development
2. Be shown provable outcomes and anecdotes from the Scholars Community 
3. ​Lean how Servant Leadership can help manage complex populations of students with diverse needs 

C5:  Tuition and Support for Former BC Youth in Care

• Hala  Nugent, Enrolment Services Professional, Enrolment Services 
• Linda  Hallam, Enrolment Services Professional, Enrolment Services
• Kate Ross- Associate Vice President, Enrolment Services and Registrar 
• Celia Reimer- Admissions Advisor, Enrolment Services 
   

UBC has stepped up to a challenge by BC’s Former Representative for Children and Youth to waive tuition fees for former youth in government care.  In British Columbia, youth must leave foster care when they turn 19, suddenly leaving them without clear access to housing, financial assistance, healthcare and emotional support.  Many have not considered post-secondary education as part of their future because of financial barriers.   In addition to tuition assistance, UBC has an admissions policy and offers support through the admissions/transfer process, and has created both a student support and advising network to connect our youth with on campus resources.   UBC currently has 24 students participating in this program (18 students at the Vancouver Campus and 6 in the Okanagan).   We will discuss what makes this student population unique and explore the kinds of support we provide, how we engage students in the process and the challenges we have faced.  We would like to examine ways to grow the program while giving the best opportunity for success for these students.

Learning outcomes:

1. Who are these students and why is this program important 
2. Program eligibility and requirements
3. What makes these students diverse and how can our work be applied to other unique populations?
4. How we adapted our program to support the needs of the students.
5. Wrap around services available on campus.
6. Recruitment strategies

C6: The Introvert Student and the Extrovert Ideal: Tapping Into the Potential of Different Personality Types

• Ana Curcin, Student Advisor/Recruiter, Forestry Faculty 

Extensive research has been done on the topic of introversion versus extraversion, and many analyses carried out over which personality makes for better leaders or influencers. Our students come from all corners of the world, with various sets of values and cultural upbringing. In the same way as we promote intercultural understanding, we need to understand how inter-personality traits relate to student performance, both academic and extra-curricular. In order to tap into the potential of each student, it is necessary to consider the different ways in which students learn and engage, and understand that there is no one-size-fits-all model. This workshop will delve into the concepts of introversion and extraversion, as well as the notion of the assumed extrovert ideal, and how these impact students in our current education system. The workshop will also facilitate a discussion of ways in which we can provide students with a diverse set of platforms for ideas-sharing and involvement so as to propagate the next generation of leaders and influencers, be they introvert or extrovert (or some combination of both) at heart. 

Learning outcomes:

1. Familiarizing ourselves with the concepts of introversion and extraversion as an alternate lens through which to look at the student population
2. Understand that there are different ways in which students learn and engage with their community based on their personality type
3. Discuss ideas for engaging different personality types on campus and the risks associated with not engaging the introvert student population