International Placement FAQs

General

Placement locations depend on the course and on the priorities of our community partners. ORICE has community partners located in Costa Rica, Mexico, India, Kenya, and Uganda. Most of these relationships are long-standing reciprocal relationships which have been developed over the past decade.

The type of project will vary depending on each community partner organization. However, the projects that are presented to each course have been pre-defined by the partner organization and reflect the academic discipline. For example, projects presented to social work students are likely to be very different to those presented to engineering students.

Here is an example of a previous placement:
Kenya: Econ 364B student interns have been placed in southwestern Kenya with a community partner organization that is working to determine financial models that will facilitate the continued growth and operations of the education facilities aimed at the girl child in their region. The intern worked with the team to identify models of sustainable enrolment and targets for the following five years. In addition, interns explored income-generating opportunities and conducted feasibility research and cost-benefit analyses on potential income generation opportunities such as establishing a community health facility or water point in the community.

Students going on placement will generally be paired with another student either at the same organization or going to the same location. There will also be substantial ongoing support from ORICE, fellow International Placement students, community partners and in-country representatives throughout the duration of your placement.

Applications & Eligibility

This is often the case for International Placement courses, but each course and ORICE opportunity lists the specific criteria to apply. Check out the postings or get in touch with us if you aren’t sure!

Yes, ORICE programs are only for UBC-Vancouver students at this time.

Students must be officially enrolled as a UBC student. As such, some students plan to enrol in one of our academic courses that run through the summer postponing their graduation until fall. This means that you are eligible to take part in the program if you are in your last semester at UBC, but will not convocate until the ORICE program and course is complete, as you must be a current UBC student to participate in our programs.

Students earn credit for academic course placements but not for co-curricular programs. Some of our programs may fulfill specific course requirements for specialization programs. Your academic advisor is the best line of contact with regards to specific requirements for your degree.

The individual interview is behavioral so it asks you to draw a lot on your own personal experiences so there are no right or wrong answers. One thing we do ask you to bring is your resume!

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