Presentation on September 14, 2011, by Rohene Bouajram at "Becoming a TA" session of the SFU Surrey TA Training Series.

2. • Getting to know our international students
@ SFU
• Understanding Transition
• The importance of your role

3. • 3.3 million students now study outside their home country
• Over 5,000 international students registered at SFU
• International students currently represent 20 % of the total undergraduate
university population and 22% of the graduate university population
International Students at SFU

4. Undergraduate International Students

5. Graduate International Students

6. 1. Local students subsidize international student’s
tuition fees
2. International students take “seats” in educational
programs away from local students
3. Some international students have English as their
second language
4. International students are the “cream of the crop”
from their home country
5. Any student can become an international student
6. Some international students come from wealthy
families
7. Previous travel experience prevents international
students from experiencing culture shock
True or False?

7. 1. Local students subsidize international student’s
tuition fees
2. International students take “seats” in educational
programs away from local students
3. Some international students have English as their
second language
4. International students are the “cream of the crop”
from their home country
5. Any student can become an international student
6. Some international students come from wealthy
families
7. Previous travel experience prevents international
students from experiencing culture shock
True or False?

8. “Visible” aspects of
culture: food,
dress, language,
rules, gestures,
music, traditions,
etc
“Non-visible” aspects of culture: innermost values, beliefs,
assumptions, attitudes, concept of beauty, concept of fairness,
communication styles,
perception

9. navigate university academic adjustment
system
psychological &
social isolation
emotional strain
relationships academic pressure
International Student Transition

10. Adjustment: Referenced from Griffith
University, Australia

12. 1. Lecture Materials
2. Create safe environments for
group participation
3. Learn student’s names
4. Be Clear and Model appropriate
academic integrity
5. Listen Actively & Ask
Questions

13. 6. How to Be an Effective Leader!
Use Nonverbal Cues & Tools
7. Slang, Jargon, Idioms and Colloquial
Expressions
8. Encourage the use of relevant cultural
experiences
9. Be Patient
10. Develop Empathy

14. • Some of my best friends are…
• I know exactly how you feel…
• I don’t think of you as…
• Where are your REALLY from?
• That happens to me too…
• I don’t see colour, I’m colour blind
Taken from “Dumb things well-intended people say”
Dr. Maura Cullen

15. “We teach more by what we
are than by what we teach”
Will Durant

16. International Services for Students –
www.sfu.ca/international
Student Learning Commons –
http://learningcommons.sfu.ca/
Health and Counselling Services –
http://students.sfu.ca/health/
Academic Advisors –
http://students.sfu.ca/academicadvising.html

18. Getty Images http://www.gettyimages.com
Dr. Karen Rolston, University of British Columbia, BC
Dr. Lotta Kokkonen, University of Jyvaskyla, Finland
Dr. Nancy Arthur, University of Calgary, BC
Dr. Natalee Popadiuk, University of Victoria, BC
Dr. Maura Cullen, “35 Dumb Things Well-Intended People Say: Surprising
Things We Say That Widen the Diversity Gap”
SFU Institutional Research and Planning, http://www.sfu.ca/irp.html