I have a thing for metaphors.
As a writer and communicator, I’ve often appreciated how metaphors can help convey complex ideas or processes, or evoke emotions and subtleties, in simple yet powerful ways.
I also have a deep appreciation for nature. Flora and fauna – especially trees – fill me with a sense of quiet wonder. The natural environment is a big part of what makes working on the UBC Vancouver campus so lovely – it’s a literal “forest” of wonder for me.
These two loves have come together to shape how I’ve approached this year’s Plan for Success campaign. This campaign, run by Student Communications Services from Sep 21 to Oct 18, focuses on setting up students for success in the school year — and beyond. It’s my first time as project lead for this annual campaign and, naturally, I looked to nature and metaphor for inspiration.
The result? Plan(t) for success.
Oh yes.
It might sound like a bit of a stretch at first – to use the idea of planting as a conceptual scheme to communicate to students the rich and varied resources that exist to support their academic journey at UBC.
But when I pondered the metaphor, it seemed to work nicely (dare I say organically?) with the key themes that emerged in the conversations that I and my colleague, Jamil Rhajiak, had with staff across campus – from faculty advisors and student engagement officers to directors and educational designers in Enrolment Services and Student Development & Services.
Those conversations emphasized the importance of:
- welcoming and introducing students to the scholarly community;
- cultivating an early awareness of and connection to resources and supports;
- broadening students’ understanding of what success at university looks like and the importance of having perspective; and
- encouraging resilience and understanding that university academics is challenging and that it’s okay to ask for help
Recast from a planting perspective, these messages took on new life. One could summarize them by saying that succeeding in university means:
- growing as a scholar in a new and different terrain;
- putting in the work to cultivate success;
- getting rooted in the UBC community;
- learning how to weather the elements (and not lose sight of the forest for the trees, so to speak);
- recognizing that growth often feels imperceptible – until one looks back;
- and accepting that success, like nature, looks different for everyone and is beautiful in its many forms.
To deliver these messages, the campaign takes the following approaches:
Diverse students, diverse stories
Feature students from as many faculties as possible, sharing on the range of themes, such as resources in their faculty, what success means to them, and how they approach their courses/learning in a university context.
The hope is to enable a wide range of students to see themselves and their experiences reflected in the campaign’s key stories. Check out the stories.
Professors share
Include stories and advice from professors – because students (especially international students) are more likely to pay attention when their profs are speaking and offering the ‘invitation’ to join them in solving a problem or coming to an office hour.
Incorporating stories by professors also reflects a new voice and perspective for the campaign.
Discover Your Community Contest
Motivate students to physically visit the various resources/student services on campus via an Instagram contest with an incentive they’ll be sure to get excited about: textbooks paid (up to $500) for Term 2 – for not one but three lucky students!
This contest, which runs from Oct. 3-7, provides an opportunity for participating units/resource centres to make a personal connection with students – whether through staff, student staff, or peers – and to share existing materials about their services. Enrolment Services at Irving K Barber Learning Centre is one of the contest locations so if you’re an ESP, expect to see students coming to room 260 during this week – ready to snap an Insta-picture in your space!
Evocative posters
Take a new, fresh, and intimate approach to our posters by featuring up close and personal portraits of real students in a treed setting on campus, with handwritten quotes that come directly from the subject’s story.
The hope is that passersby will be intrigued by the words and inviting design, look up the URL to learn more, and from there, discover authentic student stories (in the form of blog posts or video clips), and other resources to help them succeed. There are seven students featured in the series and below is a sneak peak of one of their posters. Look out for the remaining six on campus – or come up to Student Communications Services in room 2303 in Brock Hall to see the entire collection. 🙂
It’s been rewarding working on this campaign, in particular getting to know students, staff, alumni, and faculty – and learning their stories and perspectives on success. I guess you could say I’ve grown too, in my capacity for engagement and storytelling – but by how much, I’ll have to look back and see.