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iPods? New pods. uPods! by Dana Woito "You don't plug them in (but we think they'll be music to your ears!) You don't grow them in the garden (but we know they'll be good for you!) They're uPods--and you belong to one!!!! So began the invitation that welcomed the first-year class of 2006 to St. Jerome's and its new mentoring program known as uPods. The innovative new program partners small groups of 10 or 12 first-year students with a member of the faculty or staff Designed to help students make the transition to university life, meet each other, and access opportunities for involvement, enrichment, and fun, uPods address SJU's mission of educating the whole person. They also introduce students to the St. Jerome's spirit of community--for many graduates the hallmark of the SJU experience. The program was launched on Tuesday, September 5, during Frosh week. A lecture hall full of students sporting "uPodder" sweatshirts listened to welcoming remarks from the Interim President, Myroslaw Tataryn, and enjoyed a lighthearted skit performed by current members of the Students' Union dramatizing potential transition issues they might encounter. The dinner that followed allowed uPodders to meet their mentor and each other. Since that time, mentors have organized get-togethers that included dinners out, dessert and coffee, and snacks in the Community Centre. (It is apparent that the pairing of students and food remains a universal constant!) Mentors have helped individual students in their uPods with such issues as course selection and navigating the bookstore. Mentoring activities have ranged from being online on MSN one night a week answering questions to organizing a bake sale to support a refugee student sponsored by the World University Service of Canada Student Refugee Program. The program continues to evolve, seeking the most meaningful ways in which to engage students. "The uPods program allows us to involve students in the academic and social life of the community," says Tataryn. "At the same time, it allows us to conduct institutional research into how and what students are actually learning. This is critical to our plans for deepening and broadening our educational perspective, and for continuing our tradition of providing all SJU students with opportunities to enrich their undergraduate education." Inside this Issue: St. Jerome's University Archbishop Thomas Collins: Distinguished Graduate 3 Volume 25 • Number 2 The First Intercordia Students Return 4 & 5 Fall/Winter 2006 The Choate Reunion 6 Special Events for UW's 50th 11