Smart Start student ambassadors are gearing up to facilitate orientation sessions for incoming Brock students throughout the summer. From left are incoming Master of Sport Management student Kassie Kuiper (BEd ’25, BA’ 25), second-year Medical Sciences student Lauren Clarke, fourth-year Concurrent Education student Andrea Araga and fourth-year Kinesiology student Oluwadunmomi Ayelabola.Brock University’s Smart Start program has helped more than 40,000 make the transition to post-secondary life since its inception.
This year, the long-standing academic orientation program has been revamped to make it more effective than ever, with new faculty-specific content and an open house approach to exploring campus supports and services.
Smart Start, which begins on Tuesday, July 15, helps incoming students prepare for their studies and connect with future classmates and the broader University community.
As well as benefitting from the program’s staple components — course registration support, tutorials on how to pay fees and obtain a Brock card, and how to get involved on campus — incoming Badgers will also be able to participate in sessions and community building opportunities that are tailored to their area of study.
“I’m excited for the new era of Smart Start,” says Liam Nielsen (BSM ’22), Recruitment Officer and Smart Start program lead. “Giving incoming students the ability to explore their future learning spaces, meet with faculty and academic advisors from their programs, and make friends with other students who will be taking classes with them in the fall, is something we haven’t had capacity to offer in the past and are looking forward to offering this year.”
There will be eight sessions offered throughout the summer, each tied to a specific Faculty. The Faculties of Applied Health Sciences and Social Sciences will have two dates available. Each session runs from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.
After registering for the day that aligns with their Faculty, students can attend the sessions and tours they are most interested in. Student supports and services like the Student Accessibility Services, The Wellness HUB, Campus Store, the Black Student Success Centre and Hadiya’dagénhahs First Nations, Métis, and Inuit Student Centre will also be open for students to visit on a drop-in basis.
Also new this year is a daily community barbecue. Open to participants as well as the broader Brock community, the lunch will be hosted daily in Jubilee Court from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. during the Smart Start program.
“We’re looking forward to really pumping up the new community barbecue aspect so that folks coming in can get that warm welcome to the Brock community in addition to all the critical academic information they need to start their studies off on the right foot,” says Courtney Keogh (BSM ’12, MA’14), Brock’s Manager of National Recruitment.
Students who participate in Smart Start also have the option to register for BEGIN@Brock, a separate overnight orientation program. At the conclusion of their Smart Start session, students can choose to participate in the Begin@Brock Campfire Social before taking part in an overnight stay in Brock Residence, interactive workshops, a downtown St. Catharines experience and other social activities.
Students may register for their applicable Smart Start session up to 24 hours prior to the event date.
- Faculty of Education: Tuesday, July 15
- Faculty of Mathematics and Science: Thursday, July 17
- Faculty of Applied Health Sciences: Friday, July 18 and Thursday, Aug. 21
- Goodman School of Business: Tuesday, July 29
- Faculty of Humanities: Thursday, July 31
- Faculty of Social Sciences: Friday, Aug. 1 and Friday, Aug. 22
