Preparing for Fall 2024 Increased Enrolment
Providing an Enriching Student Experience for Incoming Students
As the University of Guelph prepares to welcome our new incoming class, we hear the concerns that some of you have regarding the high enrolment of new students.
We know how incredibly important the first year of University is for students as they make new life-long friendships, adjust to the demands of University academics and explore their interests and passions. U of G is committed to supporting all our students and their personal, professional and academic development as they navigate the transition into university life.
While Student Housing has expanded on-campus housing as much as possible for the fall, we know many students on the residence wait list are disappointed that they may not receive a spot. For this year’s incoming class, we are enhancing supports and services across the University for students living off campus to further address their needs. As a long-term solution, the University is accelerating projects to intensify housing on university-owned land.
Please know that although more students accepted their offers to attend U of G than predicted, the University has been planning for increased enrolment since last fall and our staff and faculty have the resources and expertise to support the success of our incoming class. We are aware that with increased enrolment comes the need for meticulous planning and we are committed to ensuring each student has the enriching student experience U of G is known for.
How U of G is Preparing for Increased Enrolment
U of G is activating more student supports to ensure all students have easy access to the services they need to have an exceptional university experience.
On This Page:
Orientation and Transition Programs Housing Courses Classroom Planning Hospitality Services Parking Library Student Wellness Services Athletics and Recreation
Orientation and Transition Programs
Facilitating a smooth transition to university is a top priority for our Student Experience team, which has a long and successful history of assisting both on-campus and off-campus students in finding and fostering their U of G community. To enhance support further, Student Experience is expanding its staff capacity and introducing a new Coordinator of Student Transitions and Engagement. This initiative aims to bolster programming and resources for incoming students, ensuring a more enriching university experience from the outset.
Orientation
We will continue to welcome all students who wish to participate in Orientation Week and other orientation activities to kick-off their first year, build connections and have fun!
Gryphons Nest
On July 3, we will be launching Gryphons Nest, a virtual community for incoming students to connect with peers and facilitators who will act as a community-touch point!
START U of G
We are expanding the START skills drop-in program to support first-year students in developing academic skills and transitioning to university life by exploring campus, meeting peers and more!
Housing
On-Campus Housing
For Fall 2024, Housing Services has expanded on-campus housing by 300 beds by adding capacity to rooms and converting space at 73 College Avenue.
For future semesters, U of G is expediting plans to expand housing on university-owned land, and we expect to have more details to communicate in the fall. While we acknowledge this won’t address the current situation, these plans are part of our efforts to ensure a long-term, sustainable housing strategy.
Students on the student housing wait list who choose to defer their acceptance until next year are being offered a confirmed spot in residence for next year.
Off-Campus Housing
To help students find off-campus housing, the Off-Campus Living team is increasing their staff this summer in order to enhance off-campus housing supports. The team is providing one-on-one advising meetings with students and their parents and hosting information sessions.
Courses
Increasing Course Capacity
U of G has increased course and section sizes, added sections, optimized use of time slots and facilitated department-initiated changes to course modality such as offering hybrid courses to ensure students can access the courses they need. Most courses will continue to be delivered in-person.
Revenue Share Agreements have been put into place to direct funds from increased tuition revenue to the colleges to ensure the colleges have the resources they need to support this expanded course delivery.
Expanding Course Selection
Course selection for first-year students is spread over three days from July 3 to 5, divided by program. This expanded from two days in previous years. Students can verify their course selection window on the Course Selection website.
Several courses will have restricted access based on specific programs or year levels to prioritize enrolment in required courses. These restrictions ensure that students have priority to enroll in the courses they need. Restrictions are lifted after a certain period, allowing other students to enroll if desired.
Student Wellness
Student Wellness Services (SWS) offers primary health care, mental health support, academic support for students with disabilities and gender-based violence supports.
In preparation for higher demand, SWS is hiring additional staff to increase health care and mental health support, as well as increasing resources for Student Accessibility Services intake and advising.
Classroom Planning
The University has surveyed the current classroom inventory and available space and determined that there is enough space for the Fall 2024 requirements.
U of G will use all available campus space to deliver necessary courses and support increased enrolment without sacrificing the quality of instruction.
Hospitality Services
To support first year students who will be living off-campus, we will be offering the on-campus meal plan. There are five sizes of meal plans to choose from with the option to add on the Textbook Plan.
Additionally, U of G is increasing its food production capacity and adding a new restaurant in the University Club that can seat 200 people, accommodating approximately 400 people over meal periods and operating over the busiest times of day. This restaurant is expected to be available in late September.
Parking
There is enough parking for students, faculty and staff who drive to campus, and we are investigating ways to maximize our parking space on campus to support commuter students.
Later this summer, we will be rolling out a new ride share and carpooling app that will help students connect with one another to commute to campus.
We also encourage students to explore public transit options such as Go Transit and Guelph Transit as alternative ways to get to campus. The Universal Bus Pass (UPass) is included in student fees and provides unlimited transportation on Guelph Transit buses. Learn more about the U of G bus pass.
Library
In addition to housing the University’s collections, the McLaughlin Library serves as the hub for writing and learning support and runs the popular peer-led study groups for historically challenging courses, known as Supported Learning Groups (SLG).
In preparation for the fall, the library is increasing staff to support SLGs and increasing the capacity for other services such as research help, in-class instruction and accessibility services.
Students looking for study space can view the real-time building occupancy on the library home page to see if space is available before traveling to the library.
Athletics and Recreation
The Department of Athletics is working to maximize the current facility and programming options to accommodate as many students as possible, as participation in athletics and recreation provides students with a strong sense of belonging, connection to campus and an outlet to benefit their mental and physical well-being.
Frequently Asked Questions
Increased Enrolment
Given the extremely challenging financial landscape the University of Guelph—and the entire post-secondary sector in the province—is navigating, this year the university sought to enroll a higher number of first year students than it has in the past.
Enrolment is one of the few levers the University can control in terms of revenue and strategic enrolment growth enables the University to generate the revenue required to maintain our enriched student experience.
While strategic growth was intentional, enrolment projections are not an exact science. After the deadline to accept offers had passed, it became clear that our incoming class will be larger than anticipated.
Two factors resulted in higher than anticipated enrolment:
- Late surge in acceptances, as a significant number of students made their final decision over the last weekend, June 1 and 2.
- Overall higher yield of acceptances on offers, with a 14% increase in the proportion of students who accepted their offers this year compared to last year.
The situation this year reinforces the need for the University to increase its housing inventory on university-owned land. We recognize that and are working to expedite plans. We hope to have more to share in the fall.
In addition, we have learned that we need to improve how we communicate about housing. Moving forward, we will not rely so heavily on historic data when communicating with students and families given the potential fluctuations in enrolment.
The University will be implementing a Revenue Share Agreement (RSA) to provide additional base budget to the colleges which deliver academic programs. We are projecting $15.9 M will flow to colleges based on the undergraduate and graduate RSAs. The colleges will have discretion to determine how they will use these funds to support teaching and learning needs, for example by hiring instructors or teaching assistants.
Additional resources will be directed toward financial accessibility through scholarships. Also, the University is setting aside approximately $2.5 million to support the delivery of services in several areas across campus, especially those who do not generate revenue through student fees such as the Library, areas within Student Affairs, and Physical Resources.
Student fees are approved through the compulsory fee committee and flow directly to the unit or initiative supported by the fee. As our student population grows, the revenue generated from student fees increases proportionately. This additional revenue allows service units to expand and enhance essential services to meet the evolving needs of our larger student body.
Student fee examples include:
- Athletics
- Career Services
- Central Student Association
- Graduate Student Association
- Mental Health Services
- Student Health Services
- Centre for International Programs
The University is committed to providing teams with the resources they need to effectively support the enrolment increase. Recognizing that increased enrolment impacts more than just teaching and learning, the University is setting aside approximately $2.5 million to support the delivery of services in several areas across campus, especially those who do not generate revenue through student fees such as the Library, areas within Student Affairs, and Physical Resources. This ensures that we can provide an enriched campus experience and support our staff and faculty without asking them to do more with less.
An additional $1 million investment from Ancillary Fund will support student mental health and wellness and international student support.
Academic Planning
Our comprehensive planning efforts aim to ensure that the University of Guelph continues to provide a high-quality academic experience for all students. We are actively working with units to understand the impacts of enrolment growth and are committed to ensuring that units have the resources they need. We also have Revenue Share Agreements in place, providing a proportion of tuition growth revenue to the colleges.
Housing
The University has added beds, bringing the total capacity to approximately 5,100, including around 100 new spaces since June 3. This includes new inventory in:
- 164 beds at Days Inn / Gordon Hall
- 54 beds at West 78 College
- 143 beds in main campus housing
We are expediting plans to intensify housing on university-owned land and hope to have more details to communicate in fall. While we know this won’t address the current situation, these plans are part of our forward-thinking and sustainable approach to student housing.
Housing is only guaranteed to out-of-province and international applicants, which represent only 5% of students admitted to housing. Ontario high school students were informed they would receive priority consideration if they submitted their residence application and paid the $750 deposit by June 3. If demand exceeded supply, a lottery system was to be implemented for domestic Ontario students, which make up 95% of students admitted to residence.
As academic confirmations increased, the University communicated with applicants earlier than usual to advise whether they had a residence confirmation or if an offer was not able to be made to them at that time. This rolling communication began as early as April, continuing within 48 to 72 hours of residence application, intending to allow students more time to explore off-campus housing options if needed.
We acknowledge that the messaging about residence availability was unclear to some families and that we need to improve how we communicate about housing. Moving forward, we won’t rely so heavily on historic data when communicating with students and families.
A residence waitlist has been established based on a randomly generated priority number for those who met the application and deposit deadline. Student Housing will continue to make offers throughout the summer and into the fall as spaces become available due to cancellations and deferrals, even after classes begin. Historically, we have seen between 150-200 spaces open up during this time.
The University of Guelph is dedicated to offering an exceptional first-year experience for both on-campus and off-campus students. Our Student Experience team has a long and successful history of helping students find and build their U of G community.
This year, we are enhancing our off-campus housing supports to address student needs now and throughout the summer. We’re providing one-on-one advising meetings with students and their parents and hosting information sessions about off-campus housing.
Other programming specific to students living off-campus includes community-gathering opportunities throughout the summer and fall semesters, support from START U of G and the Gryphons Nest online community.
Students are encouraged to visit the Off-Campus Living webpage for resources on securing housing in the broader community.