CEWIL Resource Hub: International Student WIL at Simon Fraser University

Key success factors

• The course empowers EAL and international students to consider their strengths and see themselves as assets to the Canadian work environment, rather than focusing on their potential deficits. 
• The course meets students where they are to normalize experiences surrounding acclimatizing to work in Canada.
• The course is built around an evidence-based approach to understand the pedagogical needs of EAL students. It's facilitated by personnel with  experience in online course environments and strong ethics of care when responding to writing concerns. 
• The impact of the course is assessed through impact assessments conducted every term. 
• The course has demonstrated its value to institution leadership.

Unique characteristics

• We're now partnering with Fraser International College and offering the course to their international students on academic probation. These students have increased their GPA by an average of 1.0 after taking JSS and the increased remains consistent in the following semesters, which is having a positive impact on retention. A formal study will be conducted in 2020 to investigate why the course is having such a pronounced impact on academic motivation.

Challenges

• When the course was introduced, there was some pushback about appealing to EAL students and/or the course threatening other programming. No intercultural communication courses were being offered at that time.
• While the course experiences an attrition rate of roughly 50%, this rate has been reduced through the implementation of a $20 fee.

Resources

• Job Search Success

Student Testimonials

• "JSS is a key tool for understanding in exactly how a Canadian workplace demands and what key aspects to include in your resume to get a particular job. This also gives us more ability to understand our own unique skills to help a workplace."
• "Feedback received was very detailed and examples were given which helped me understand what employers would be looking for." 
• "I particularly found the passive and active voice explanation on the Canvas module useful, and it helped me improve my writing."
• "I think the course would be useful for university students of all ages and career experiences. Coming into this course, I already had a fairly good understanding of how to write an effective cover letter and resume. However, I was surprised at how useful this course was at helping me further improve my writing."
• "I would recommend the job search, especially to those students who have not attended the mandatory Resume and Cover-letter workshops that were required for Coop students. For those, like myself, who have attended those workshops there will be so much overlap. However, I still find this course useful as it provides every student with an individualized feedback that can be received remotely. This is very convenient for a student who leaves far from the campus and may not be able to visit the Coop advisers."

Key characteristics

• Type: International student WIL
• Year program was established: 2015
• Number of students per year: 751 since 2015
• Number of employers/partners per year: 0
• Programs/academic disciplines participating: Any English as an Additional Language learner and international student in either undergraduate or graduate level programs
• Duration of experience: 1-2 hours per week over 5 weeks 
• Submitted by: Heather Williams