Each year, Options Solutions team members visit many, many post-secondary institutions. These visits allow us to learn beyond what is readily available on the internet and in print materials. While on campus, we often meet with admission staff and Options alumni who attend the institution. We love learning about the nuance and vibe of each place and about all the hidden opportunities that exist there.
Our Options on Tour series highlights some of our recent adventures and shares them with you. We’ll feature what we saw, who we met, and what neat things/hidden nuggets we learned.
University of British Columbia – Okanagan Campus – Kelowna, British Columbia
The basics:
- UBC – Okanagan undergraduate population: 10,806
- Kelowna population: 229,000
- Campus Founded in 2005
Featured academic programs:
- Human Kinetics
- Nursing
- Management
- Mechanical Engineering
- Data Science
- Sustainability
- Art History and Visual Culture
- Philosophy, Politics, Economy
- Indigenous Studies: First of its kind program in Canada, celebrated its first 8 graduates receiving a Bachelor of Nsyilxcn Language Fluency
Most interesting things I learned:
In July, during a getaway to Kelowna, I popped into UBC Okanagan’s campus. My fabulous student ambassador tour guides (all international students) represented the school’s incredible diversity: one studying Computer Science in the Faculty of Arts from Atlanta, GA, another from Nigeria who participates in African dance groups on campus, and a third in Mechanical Engineering with a mixed Nigerian/Chinese heritage. All three shared their love for the incredible natural environment surrounding the campus and the ways innovation, curiosity, and fun meld there.
Things like:
- A professor-installed camera allows all university members to monitor the line at the popular Tim Horton’s located at the center of campus to see how busy it is.
- A high-tech makerspace that is open to ALL students, at any time, to create models for school projects or busts of their heads to send home or just decor for their residence rooms.
- A state-of-the-art nursing lab designed to resemble a hospital, complete with high-tech mannequins as patients. They are occasionally seen peering out windows to the horror of passersby.
- Growing traditions, clubs, and intramural sports based on student interest and initiative, such as the recently founded “Cabbage Club” for students to share their love for this popular produce.
- Tons of 24/7 study spaces, music practice rooms, artist studios, fitness equipment, lounges with stocked kitchens, and a 19+ student pub to cater to all students’ needs at whatever the hour.
Important things to know:
- All on-campus residences offer only single rooms— some more traditional with shared bathrooms down the hall and others in the form of apartment-style living and even studios.
- Many students remain in residence after their first year.
- There is a variety of affordable off-campus housing nearby on Academy Hill.
- The campus library not only houses quiet study spaces and actual books but also a center dedicated to offering free tutoring services for a plethora of courses.
- The BARK program provides a space on campus for students to interact with therapy dogs to help them de-stress and improve morale.
- The Student Connect program in the University Student Centre provides a centralized place for students to learn about and access all resources on campus.
- The university provides a shuttle bus to Big White Ski Resort in the winter.
- Kelowna was recently named one of Canada’s most entrepreneurial cities (Canadian Federation of Independent Business) and is a growing tech hub with many co-op and internship opportunities that turn into jobs for students after graduation.
- Students have access to ALL of UBC’s library resources with the ability to ship books or other documents from the Vancouver campus at any time.
- UBC Okanagan’s varsity sports teams are the HEAT, and their training facilities are nicknamed “The Furnace.” Varsity teams include basketball, soccer, volleyball, golf, and cross-country.
Conclusion
For students looking for a smaller, more supportive campus with loads of undergraduate opportunities, housed within a stunning and entrepreneurial city with world-class skiing, hospitality options, and a tech innovation hub at their doorstep, this place is DEFINITELY worth a visit.
Check out our Admissions category for all our Options on Tour posts!
