International students receive warm welcome
By Leanna Roy
News Editor
September 7, 2010
An annual price tag of $26,000 is about the cost that international students are faced with and this only covers the bare essentials such as tuition, food and residence fees.
Ali Akbar, a first year international political science student, admits that although a long distance call home may break the budget, international students get the bang for their buck here at UWindsor.
“International students are highly respected and well taken care of here," he stated, “and there is dynamic body of different students from different countries that makes this university appealing.
UWindsor president Alan Wildeman recognizes that international students make a huge positive impact on UWindsor’s revenue.
In his Thinking Forward Taking Action Plan,Wildeman noted that $270,000 will be provided for international scholarships. The number of international students makes up nearly 10 per cent of the student body yet they are receiving more than half of scholarship expenditures according to the university’s 2010/11 strategic plan.
UWindsor hopes to meet a government goal and increase international enrolment by 50 per cent in an effort to prioritize international students.
The plan also implies that in order to keep up with the competitive international student market UWindsor will continue to prioritize the international students.
“Many institutions across the province have established such goals, increasing the competition the university faces when recruiting international students,” stated Wildeman.
Aside from the priority based funding for international students, there are dozens of student organizations and programs throughout campus specifically dedicated to assisting international students like Akbar through whatever barrier they may come across.
The International Students Society (ISS) and Volunteer International Students Assistance are among the dozens of student organizations to help you make friends at UWindsor.
“They’ve been completely accommodating to all of my needs,” stated Akbar and after being in Windsor for three days, Akbar has already been moved into his residence, toured the campus and met new friends at the orientation that was held last Sunday for international students.
Although ISS has made Akbar feel at home, the transition period is far from over. “I miss my mom already,” admitted the homesick Akbar.
“It's especially hard to know that she’s paying for my university education with her hard earned money, so there is a lot of pressure for me to excel in my studies,” he added.
Akbar hopes to use his political science degree to return to his home in Pakistan to fight against their feudal law system. "It’s about time someone my age steps up to try and make a change for the better.” |
