Campus KINnections is a brand new initiative that pairs upper-year Kin students with incoming Kin students in a year-long partnership. Throughout the year, students meet in-person within their pairings, attend Campus KINnection events designed to strengthen the overall community (including socials, pumpKIN carving, and gingerbread house decorating), and provide regular feedback on the program and their pairing.
In its pilot year, the program has had over 100 participants and has succeeded in its goal of delivering campus resources, current information and peer-support that has helped many incoming Kin students as they navigate through their first year at UBC. The program also provides upper-year Kin students with the opportunity to develop valuable peer-leadership and communication skills, all while fostering spirit and sense of community across the faculty.
First-year and transfer students have appreciated having an upper-year peer that they can trust, reach out to, and acquire resources from to assist them with academics and the University experience altogether. Many upper-year students have felt inspired by the partnership this program has enabled. In particular, students have highlighted the benefits of a reciprocal peer-learning relationship and noticed significant improvements in their personal active listening skills, leadership qualities, and abilities to empathize with others. This personal growth has been facilitated through students’ new experiences in recognizing and aiding others through challenges. Through their involvement in Campus KINnections, a majority of students say they feel more connected to the Kin faculty, and that the program has further strengthened the community as a whole.
Next year, Campus KINnections hopes to expand the program’s outreach and impact by hosting a greater selection of diverse events to further enhance first-year and transfer student support. If you are interested in being a part of this program in the next academic year, registration to be an upper-year partner in the program will open in early March.
If you have any questions regarding the program, you can contact Grant Phillips-Hing at campus.kinnections@gmail.com.