Final Report of the Bachelor Plus Program at UNB, Fredericton. Cristina Ganter

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1 Final Report of the Bachelor Plus Program at UNB, Fredericton Cristina Ganter This is the final report about my academic year at the University of New Brunswick (UNB), Fredericton, with the Bachelor Plus program. There are many different things to organise in advance, but if you start early you shouldn t have any problems. If there are any difficulties just ask. Both, the people from UNB and the University of Freiburg are very friendly and helpful and they want to make your stay as comfortable as possible. I will start with some general information, before I write about my personal experiences during the year. Application Once you get the promise for the scholarship you have to apply at UNB by yourself. All important information are written down on this homepage (inclusive the application form as download): You need the application form, your transcript from Freiburg in English, a one page essay why you want to study at UNB and a passport photograph. If you have any questions you can feel free to write an to Silke Klenk (sklenk@unb.ca). She is the International Student advisor and very helpful with any questions. I did take an English Test, but for UNB it is also sufficient if your institutional coordinator (Prof. Spiecker) certifies you adequate English skills. The courses you have to choose for the learning agreement are not obligatory and you can still change them in the first weeks after the term started. After a few weeks you get the Welcome Package from UNB with your letter of acceptance (you need this for your visa), information about UNB, the campus, and Fredericton, and your access information for the myunb and UNB e-services homepage. On this homepages you can check your , register for courses, and see your term marks. Visa You need a study permit if you are an exchange student for more than six month. All information can be found on the following homepage: It takes at least three weeks until you get your study permit, but it can take even longer if your application package is not complete and you have to send something later. So apply for your Visa as soon as possible. With this study permit you re allowed to stay in Canada for one year, but you are not allowed to work (except for on-campus work). If you plan to get a job during your studying, in the summer, or you want to do an internship where you get paid for, you have to apply for another visa. I didn t work during my stay in Canada, so I do not know for what kind of visa you have to apply, but on the above-named homepage you will find all necessary information.

2 Health Insurance You have to have a health insurance if you want to study at UNB. There is an own health insurance from UNB for their students, but this one is quiet expensive and you can find a cheaper one in Germany. I have the international health insurance from the ADAC, and the fee is fully covered with the money from the scholarship. Flight There are in general two different ways to come to Fredericton. Either you fly to Fredericton with the plane (with stops in Montreal, Ottawa, or Toronto), or you fly to Halifax (Nova Scotia) and take then the bus to Fredericton. During my stay the buses were most of the time on strike, so there weren t any connections. As flights are in general very expensive you should buy as early as possible to get a cheap one. From the Fredericton airport it is a 20minute taxi drive to the city centre, and it costs about $20. Course registration As a full time student you have to take at least 4 courses or you have to get 12 credit points. You can register for the courses on this homepage after you have your access information: But you can already see the courses here to write them down in your learning agreement (in the application). You are free in your course choice and you don t have to take only forestry courses; environmental studies, biology, or geology is also possible. I would suggest to take the courses you are most interested in, because they are a lot of work and it is easier if you like what you do, than working on a project you have no interest in. The courses are much more time consuming than in Freiburg and with 4 courses you have enough to do. Maybe you can visit more courses at the beginning of the term to figure out which ones you like, you ve got plenty of time to withdraw from any courses you don t like after the term starts. For some courses (especially the ones for the 3 rd and 4 th year) you need pre-requisite courses, but I think this is not obligatory for exchange students and you can still register for them. Maybe you should write a short to the instructor, but for me it was never a problem. If you are not sure about your courses you can write an to Yolanda Spitthoven (Yolanda@unb.ca), she is the student advisor at the Forestry Faculty and helps with course registration. Housing You can either live on campus in the residences or off campus in an own apartment. Most of the residences on campus are expensive and you have to take the meal plan. With this meal plan you have to eat in the dining halls from UNB and some residences don t even have a small kitchen. There is a new residence where you live in apartments and you share a bath and a kitchen with 1 or 2 people. You don t have to take a meal plan in this residence and it is therefore much cheaper. There are a lot of apartments around the campus and also farther away, where a lot of students are living. The rent is not really cheap ( $) and you should have a close look at the room and maybe compare some, to get one that fits your needs. Not all rooms are leasable monthly and you have to take a 12-month-contract. If you plan to live off-campus you should look for a room as soon as possible after you arrive, most of the rooms are already rented in late August or at the beginning of September.

3 To look for rooms you can check the homepage of the student union ( or (where you can also find different other things like books or bikes). Another possibility is the International Hostel Fredericton. They rent single rooms with a 4-month-contract and you have a shared kitchen, washroom, and living room with the other people. Many international students live there and it is a nice atmosphere and close to campus and downtown. Fredericton Fredericton, with its inhabitants, is not one of the mega cities in Canada but it is a really nice place to live. The people are very friendly and helpful, and the old Victorian buildings are really pretty. The public transport system is not really good, there is no train and the busses are scheduled every 30 minutes. Therefore most of the people drive with their cars. But you can still get around with the bike or by foot, or you can rent a car, if you want to make a daytrip, or go somewhere over the weekend (possible destinations are the Fundy National Park, Halifax, or Quebec/Montreal). The food is more expensive than in Germany and it is sometimes dominated by American Fast Food, but there is also the local Farmers Market (every Saturday) where you can find fresh fruits, vegetables, German bakers and German butchers. The winters can get really cold (-20 C) and you might have a lot of snow, but the people are used to it. You can buy winter clothes in Fredericton (saves space and weight in your luggage), there are some shops with nice (and warm) clothes. My studies The fall term started for me with a field course (FOR4973). This is a great possibility to get to know Canadian forestry, other students, and some of the instructors. This one week camp starts before the regular courses, so you don t miss a lot of classes. The time is very intense with a lot of new information, especially if you don t know all the technical terms in English. But I would hardly recommend it to everybody! My other courses in the fall term were Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management (FOR4545), Forest Ecology: Population and Communities(FOR3445), and Wildlife Investigational Techniques(FOR4655). The course load was much higher than in Freiburg, as you have a midterm exam, a report, and a final exam. In all courses you do much more practical things outside the classroom, and you are requested to think critically. Especially the Wildlife Investigational Techniques course was great, as we were only six students and learned many hands-on skills. But I think this course is not offered every year. The second term I had courses about Conservation Biology(BIO4255), Wildlife Management(BIO4191), Integrated Management of Insects and Fungi(FOR4625), and Wildlife: Scale and Forest Landscape(FOR4656). Both biology courses had a presentation instead of the report, what reduced the work load, FOR4625 was divided into two parts with its own lab test, midterm, and final, and FOR4656 was mainly focused on class participation and discussion. As I wrote before, I think it is really important, that you choose courses that you are interested in. I am happy with my choices, but I don t know if everybody would think the same, especially as different instructors have very different styles of teaching. During my academic year, I learned so many new things: I got hands-on experience, a lot of practical knowledge, and practiced presentations and writing reports.

4 Furthermore all academic advisors and your instructors are always very willing to help you with any questions. You can always stop by their office or write an if you have questions about the courses or anything else. The libraries are also well equipped, you can rent study rooms (if you have to work on a group project), or order books from any other Canadian university for free. Outside the classroom Although Fredericton is not a city with a high touristic value, it was an easy and peaceful place to live. You can do hikes in Odell Park, ride your bike along the river, or do daytrips in the surrounding area. Many times you have to plan your activities carefully, as you are really busy with your courses during the term. I joined the 1 st Rivorton Rovers (the UNB Scouts group), where I found a lot of good friends and we had some great outdoor trips. There are also some UNB Clubs and Societies that have a fair, where you can check out what you might be interested in. Furthermore you can do a lot of sports at UNB. You have free access to the huge and new Recreation Centre, where you can work out, play basketball, badminton, table tennis, volleyball and they also have a pool and climbing hall. The days over Christmas and New Year are off, as well as one week in March, where you are able to make longer trips (Toronto, Montreal, New York ) or just relax from school work. Internship After the exams in April you have the possibility to make an internship. I think the easiest way is to look for summer jobs at the Faculty, where a lot of professors and/or their students have field work during the summer months. My internship was mainly with a biology graduate student and his two assistants. We trapped small mammals in different plantation treatments in northern New Brunswick, to estimate their density. It was physical work, with sometimes long days in the field, but the experience I gained was fantastic. I enjoyed being in the forest the whole day, learning how to handle mice, and I got to know how to deal with unexpected situations, that are always happening if you are working outside. For me, the year in Canada was a great chance that worked out to be one of the best things in my life. Although I know that some people can t believe you, if you tell them that you would recommend a year in another country, it is true. I can just tell everybody to take the chance, and even if not everything works out to be perfect, you will come back with many impressions, new experiences, and hopefully great memories that you will always remember. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me anything you want to know about Fredericton, the University, courses ect. My address is: v2l28@unb.ca Finally, I have to thank the people from Freiburg (Mrs. Stadler and Prof. Spiecker), at UNB (Silke Klenk, Yolanda Spitthoven, Dan Quiring, Graham Forbes, Dan Keppie, Evan Dracup), and the DAAD for the help and the possibility to organize my study in Fredericton and the great experience I had.

5 UNB Campus Visit of Harvesting Machines during the Field Camp Deer Autopsy with the Wildlife Investigational Techniques Course

6 Day Trip to Saint John Montréal Fredericton Lighthouse during winter

7 Handling a Deer Mouse Black Bear in New Brunswick s forest Meeting a Moose during the Internship

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