Every weekday this summer, Amisha Sharma ’21 has logged into Slack to connect with nearly 170 incoming School of Business students from around the globe. She might ask them to share a family photo or discuss career tips — but the real goal has been to help them feel at home at UC Riverside before they ever step foot on campus.
Sharma, a second-year MBA student and an intern in the International Relations office of the School of Business, developed the #SummerWithUCR campaign to overcome the challenges of geography and the restrictions of COVID-19.
“Because this year is very, very different from previous years, it was important to give a feel of how online engagement looks,” Sharma said. “So, we started with something fun and interactive and engaging.”
Based on the response from students, it has been a success.
“We have students from all over — Nigeria, Taiwan, China, India, Saudi Arabia and the United States as well — who are now friends with one another before orientation, and that’s never happened in the past,” said Tamra Johnson, associate director of International Relations for the School of Business.
Sharma chose Slack as the platform because it offers unrestricted access across the world. Incoming students are able to see videos of faculty interviews, ask questions and engage with one another. Each of the campaign’s eight weeks had daily activities based on a theme, such as #AllAboutParentsWeek, #CareerDevelopmentWeek, or #AskMeAnythingWeek.
The campaign offered modest incentives for participation — certificates and gift cards — but what seemed to matter most was an opportunity for students to engage, Sharma said.
“Every day there are a lot of students who want to participate, even in a week when we’re not giving out gift cards,” she said. “I received a message from a student from Sri Lanka, and she said, ‘It’s an amazing program. It is one of the best resources I have.’”
Sharma developed the concept following a brainstorming session over Zoom as the International Relations team discussed ways to encourage student retention in the pandemic era. Drawing on her past experience working for an online education company, she put together the plan in about a week. She collects all of the content herself and also engages with students one-on-one through text messages and video calls.
“This was 100 percent Amisha’s brainchild, from start to finish,” said Johnson, who added that the campaign reinforces UCR’s role as a diverse, inclusive, globally focused community.
“It’s extremely important for students to feel safe — especially for international students,” Johnson said. “They come a long way to go to school here. It’s a long way from home. All of us at UCR tie in safety to a community of belonging.”
Sharma herself is an international student — she completed her undergraduate studies in computer science at Manipal University Jaipur in India — and she agrees the #SummerWithUCR campaign supports the university-wide philosophy.
“I have never been in a school that is so diverse and at the same time respects the cultural diversity of where everybody’s coming from,” she said. “So that was definitely something that worked, because UCR is known as one of the most diverse schools by all our incoming students.”
Johnson and Sharma see opportunities for #SummerWithUCR to be part of engagement efforts beyond the pandemic.
“Next year,” Johnson said, “when our orientation is in person, instead of students walking in saying, ‘I wonder who these people are?’ they will walk in saying, ‘Oh my gosh, I know you!’ They will have spent eight weeks getting to know one another and getting to know us.”
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Tamra Johnson, left, associate director of International Relations for the School of Business, and graduate student intern Amisha Sharma say the #SummerWithUCR campaign supports the university’s role as a diverse, inclusive, globally focused community.