How Langara integrates foreign students into Canadian life

Langara College wants its international students to participate in Canadian life before transferring to national universities, so in 2006 it launched the Langara PLUS Program to help such students track their extracurricular activities. The college encourages students to participate in 4 types of activities -- study-skills workshops, social events, recreational activities, and lifestyle workshops -- and record them using the Langara PLUS "passport." International students are less likely than Canadian students to have worked part time or volunteered -- experiences universities often look for in applications -- in part because many are from cultures that emphasize studying. Langara's international-services co-ordinator calls the program "a carrot for students to get them involved, to be part of things, in the hope that it helps them down the road." The Chronicle of Higher Education (free access)