As parents, when you are considering sending your child abroad to study, you want them to gain a better education and a more global perspective than what they would receive at home. During your decision-making process you ask:
At Columbia, our ASEP-Total Care Education System™ is designed to identify your child's needs and nurture them to achieve success at school and beyond.
While your child is at home, you support their needs in various ways and strive to give them the very best: a good education in a safe, loving and warm environment where they can grow confidently and develop good character and values. You seek to guide them in their decisions to make good friends, to cultivate healthy relationships and lifestyle choices. When they go abroad to study, you want to ensure that they continue to receive the same care, support and guidance all day, everyday.
Columbia has categorized most of the ways parents meet their child's needs into 4 main areas:
At Columbia, we are committed to developing the academic potential of each child to ensure they succeed. We realize that their academic success greatly depends on their social, emotional and physical well-being. Therefore, when your child spends their formative years away from home, there must be a systematic approach to addressing their ASEP needs since they are interrelated, critical to their personal and character development, and ultimately affect their success in life. To effectively nurture your child so they achieve success, Columbia addresses their academic, social, emotional and physical (ASEP) needs through the 4 components of the ASEP-Total Care Education System®:
These four components, respectively, provide your child with an excellent learning environment; a safe, comfortable place to live and study; and character-building extracurricular activities; while allowing you to keep in touch and stay informed of their progress every step of the way.
Columbia's ASEP-Total Care Education System® is applied individually to each student because we recognize that students have diverse academic abilities and backgrounds. Once they arrive at Columbia, each student's ASEP needs are scientifically and professionally assessed. This assessment:
The 4 components of the ASEP-Total Care Education System® provide the flexibility to tailor each student's program of studies, extracurricular activities and residence life programs to meet their ASEP needs.
(1) Total Learning® provides students an exceptional academic experience by equipping them with the tools to successfully transition into studying at university.
Since students have varying aspirations, our Guidance Counsellors meet individually with each student to discuss and develop a Personalized Success Plan (PSP) based on their interests and goals as well as the academic component of their ASEP assessment.
The Personalized Success Plan (PSP) enables students to:
Through the PSP teachers are able to:
As students complete their academic journey at Columbia, we want to ensure that they continue to succeed in university. Therefore our University Placement Officers meet with each student to review their marks and guide them with the selection of the university and program that best suits their interests, goals and ASEP needs.
With the support of our teachers and guidance from our University Placement Officers, 100% of our graduates enter renowned universities worldwide. Many of our graduates receive scholarships and continue to excel and receive awards throughout their university career.
Total Learning® is instrumental in ensuring that each student's academic program is tailored to their unique needs. Consequently, students have every opportunity to maximize their academic potential and ultimately succeed in university.
(2) Total Living® offers our students a home away from home by providing age-appropriate guidance into independent living in a safe, comfortable environment where they can achieve academic success.
At Columbia, we realize that an environment with fewer distractions allows students to focus on and succeed in their studies. To create this environment, we provide:
When students live away from their parents' care it becomes easier for them to get distracted. To ensure that students continue to pay attention to their studies, Columbia's residences and residence programming are age-appropriate in design, allowing for the delivery of effective guidance.
Total Living® provides a safe, comfortable and friendly residence atmosphere with supportive, caring staff who nurture students' social, emotional and physical well-being all day, everyday; allowing them to grow confidently as they make the transition into independent living. Also, with our stress-free environment, Total Living® gives students the space and time to focus on their studies, ensuring their academic success.
(3) Total Development® builds students' characters so they have the solid foundation to achieve academic excellence.
At Columbia we place great emphasis on extracurricular involvement and leadership training because we know that having the right character, values and skills are an integral part of success both at school and in university. To help them develop into successful young adults, students have over 70 extracurricular clubs and activities to choose from. Students can also participate in the Leadership Training Program which allows them to hold leadership positions, enrol in leadership courses and workshops, and take part in leadership development programs at our Bark Lake Leadership Training Centre.
Our extracurricular and leadership programs:
The valuable experiences that students gain during these extracurricular and leadership activities allow them to:
Through Total Development®, students acquire the values, skills and character to succeed at Columbia and in university. They also become confident, responsible, well-rounded adults who are able to positively impact the world.
(4) Total Communication® bridges the distance between students and their parents by providing modern communication systems to help them stay connected. For students to thrive and succeed during their studies abroad, they need the continual guidance of their parents as well as the maintenance of ties with friends and family back home.
To enable parents stay in touch at their own convenience and in their own language, each student has an individual phone extension with voicemail in their room. Students have internet connectivity both at school and in the residences; as well as Wi-Fi access in select areas of the school; to allow them to email, chat and keep updated with friends and family. By keeping in close touch, students can receive appropriate guidance from family and continuous encouragement from friends. As a result:
Columbia's multilingual admissions and liaison staff are also available to help the student adjust socially and emotionally to their new environment, by providing a listening ear and a helping hand. Through this:
By providing modern communication avenues, parents can rest assured that their children are engaged in meaningful activities and students can receive from their families, the appropriate guidance and encouragement they need to learn and grow successfully.
Together, the four components of Columbia International College's ASEP-Total Care Education System® provide an environment where students can fully realize their academic potential and develop their social, emotional and physical well-being, even when they are living and studying away from home.
Our unique approach to caring for international students brings greater assurance to parents and motivates students to achieve their academic and personal best. This is because we take into careful consideration each student's ASEP needs, while working to meet their individual goals and parents' expectations.
ASEP-Total Care Education System® allows Columbia to deliver an exceptional educational and nurturing experience that has brought success to our graduates for the past 30 years; and we are confident it will continue to yield success for your child.