Every year, York University welcomes thousands of new students as part of its January intake of first-year and transfer students. While the number of new students who arrive in January is only a fraction of those who arrive in the Fall term, York University offers an especially warm welcome during the frosty cold Canadian winter. Winter term orientation activities are equally as exciting and fun, relevant and important, as activities for the Fall term orientation students.
McLaughlin College will welcome its new student January admits with its “Matriculation Ceremonies and Common Read” event on Jan. 7, 2020, in its Junior Common Room, 014 McLaughlin College, from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. The program for the matriculation ceremonies includes a welcome from the College Head, James C. Simeon, and introductions and welcome from the college student leaders: Alec Pichelli, president of the McLaughlin College Council; Gil Segev, peer mentor network coordinator; and, Sebastian Moreno, the McLaughlin College Community Choir director.
McLaughlin College student club representatives will be in attendance from the more than 20 student clubs based at the college. Professor Thomas Klassen, author of this year’s common read, How to Succeed at University (and get a great job), co-authored with John Dwyer, will be present to lead January first-year students on a lesson that covers the critical skills necessary to be able to succeed at university. The first-year experience for new students transitioning to the rigors and demands of university studies is generally considered to be the most challenging. (The book is available as a free download).
As part of the McLaughlin College Matriculation Ceremonies, new first-year students are invited to sign the College Register. By doing so students are welcomed as part of the McLaughlin College community within York University.
“Our College Register is a record of all of those students who are enrolled in our affiliated college schools and departments and their programs: politics (Global Political Studies); sociology; social science (Criminology; Law and Society; Interdisciplinary Studies; Work and Labour Studies); and, public policy and administration,” said Simeon. “When our students sign the College Register they become part of the history of our college and part of the body of current and past students, and, now alumni, of our great college and university. They are welcomed to participate fully in all events and activities at our College and to contribute to the enrichment of College life at McLaughlin.”
The college provides the full panoply of student supports to help ensure that our students make a successful transition during their first-year of university studies through its peer mentor program, critical skills workshops and a full range of co-curricular and extra-curricular activities at the college.
Klassen, one of the foremost authorities on student transitions and studying abroad, said many first-year students who are part of the January intake are international students who will be experiencing the additional challenge of adapting to a new society and learning environment.
“I will be incorporating a number of key messages and points to assist all our new international students who will be joining us at McLaughlin College at the start of the Winter term in my presentation on Jan. 7,” said Klassen, who is the co-author of a recent publication, The Essential Guide to Studying Abroad: From Success in the Classroom to a Fulfilling Career, with Christine Menges.
“The McLaughlin College ‘Matriculation Ceremonies and Common Read’ is a wonderful way to welcome our January admits to our college and it is the right way to start off the new year and the new Winter term,” said Simeon. “It is the time of new beginnings for all and, especially, those new students who will be joining us in the pursuit of their university studies, in preparation for their highly successful learning careers, at McLaughlin College and York University.”
For more information on the “Matriculation Ceremonies and Common Read” event visit the McLaughlin College website.
The campaign is designed to help students navigate campus, find classrooms and discover resources during their first days at the University through the ASK Me program, and also provides additional student support during Orientation.
“We are just looking for a minimum commitment of one to two hours,” said Ostrosser, adding that it could be during lunch when staff and faculty can really participate in helping students get where they are going.
