As Queen’s prepares to welcome students to campus in the fall of 2021, it promises to be a September like no other in the school’s history. Not only will a new cohort of Queen’s Engineers be discovering the campus for the first time – it will also mark a return to campus for an entire university following a year of remote learning due to COVID.
Fitting the times, Queen’s will be offering its recognized campus orientation program, SOAR (Summer Orientation to Academics and Resources) is being offered online. Delivered via OnQ, Queen’s course delivery platform, it offers everything incoming students (and their parents and supporters) need to know about living and studying at Queen’s.
It also has several unique components for Queen’s Engineering students, delivering purpose-driven content to meet the specific needs of incoming engineers.
Among this year’s features is a casual Q&A for incoming Black engineering students – connecting them directly with upper-year Black students in the program to discuss anything and everything.
“We set this up following several discussions with the Dean on how to ensure our Black students feel as supported as possible through their Queen’s Engineering experience,” explains Arinze Imasogie, a fourth-year Engineering student and a member of a working group consulting with the Dean on equity, diversity and inclusiveness issues.
“As a group that’s traditionally underrepresented in the profession, and in academia, it’s important that we foster strong support networks both at Queen’s and coast to coast – and there’s no better place to start than with our incoming class.”
Imasogie’s session will be accompanied by a networking node in the Queen’s Engineering mobile app, EngConnect – a private group where Black students can connect and converse. “SOAR will be the jumping-off point for this new approach to building and encouraging peer support among our Black students,” Imasogie says.
“I believe that senior students sharing their knowledge and experiences as Black members of the community will be invaluable to our Black freshmen.”
Students can learn more about SOAR at the Queen's Student Experience Office SOAR website.