FAQs

Brescia's orientatation offers a variety of programming that will help you as you build new friendships, get acquainted with campus, explore the experiences and opportunities available at Brescia/Western, and prepare for your courses. To ensure the safety of our incoming students and the greater Brescia community during this time, we have made the decision to build a primarily virtual New Student Orientation experience.

To house this virtual programming, Brescia has built a New Student Orientation Portal that will be made available to all incoming students. You will access this portal through OWL, Western's learning management system, using your Western login credentials. Consider it the hub for all of Brescia's orientation and transition programming! 

For those incoming students who are not living in residence, such as off-campus, international, & out-of-province students: All orientation programming will be accessed via our virtual New Student Orientation Portal. 

For those living in residence: Orientation programming will be blended, with in-person events offered only when physical distancing practices can be maintained.

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Our goal is to ensure that all incoming Brescia students have access to the supports and resources needed to be successful in their first year. With that in mind, all incoming students, regardless of whether or not they have paid the O-Pass fee, will have access to the Brescia New Student Orientation Portal and Brescia-specific events. In-person events will only be available for those who have paid the O-Pass Fee.

The O-Pass fee will ensure that you have access to all available Western Orientation programming and that you receive your O-Kit.

Due to restrictions presented by COVID-19: 

• Only students living in residence or within the province of Ontario will receive a physical O-Kit.
• Students living internationally or out-of-province will receive a virtual O-kit of equal value.

Those students living in residence will be able to pick-up their OKit from the Clare Hall front picnic tables on:

• Saturday, September 5th from 2pm-6pm
• Sunday, September 6th from 2pm-6pm

Those students living within 35km of Brescia campus (i.e., London, Ilderton, St. Thomas, Strathroy, Lucan, Komoka, Belmont) Curbside O-Kit Pickup will be available at Brescia Parking Lot C on:

• Saturday, September 5th from 6pm-8pm
• Sunday, September 6th from 6pm-8pm

If you're a London and area student who is unable to pick-up your O-Kit on Saturday, September 5th or Sunday, September 6th, you will be able to pick-up your O-Kit on Tuesday, September 8th from 6pm-8pm, as this pick-up time is open to all local/residence students. 

For those living within Ontario but outside of the London area, your O-Kit will be mailed to the Admissions Address identified in your application to Brescia. Note: Please ensure that this address is up-to-date based on where you will be living in August/September. If your current address is not the same as your application address, please email bucstudent.life@uwo.ca with an updated address by Tuesday, August 18th 12pm (noon). To check your application address, login to Student Center, and click on "Your Current Address".

Those students living out-of-province or internationally will receive a virtual O-Kit of equal value.

Don’t quite know your way around campus yet?  No problem – you’re not the only one! Thankfully, you can utilize a Brescia campus map, the Sophs, and the Brescia community to help you get around.  

In order to participate in 'in-person' events, please come prepared with a face mask.

As stated in the Residence Handbook, no guests will be permitted to be signed-in to residence throughout Orientation Week (September 5-September 12). 

Those assessed the O-Pass fee are all incoming, new-to-Brescia students.

Note: Incoming students who were in Preliminary Year in the previous year have also been assessed the O-Pass Fee. Those who are not assessed the O-Pass Fee include preliminary, mature, and/or transfer students, any student admitted after August 17, 2020, and those who opted-out of the fee prior to the August 17, 2020 deadline. 

New-to-Brescia students can opt-in to participate in New Student Orientation until Friday, September 11, 2020 at 4 p.m. To opt-in, please fill out the O-Pass Opt-In Form. Your eligibility to participate will be assessed during business hours. 

Please note that by submitting the O-Pass Opt-In Form the O-Pass Fee will be added to your student account. The O-Pass grants you access to additional Western Orientation programming, and you will be sent the appropriate O-Kit. The Business Office will be processing changes to student accounts due to opt-ins/opt-outs during the month of September.

 

Huron is delivering their orientation programming entirely virtual. As this year's host of Affilifest, this HBK community event will be virtual as well.

All of events being hosted by Western and the Affiliates will strictly adhere to current indoor and outdoor event capacities as outlined by the Ontario government. As such, in-person events at Western and King's have limited capacity with preferred participation given to members of that constituency. All campus-wide events hosted by Western will be available virtually. 

For those students living in residence at Brescia, we will be hosting viewing parties for each of Western's campus-wide events.

Western OneCard pick-up will be available to Brescia students from the Clare Hall Bottega on the following dates/times:

• Monday, September 7th from 4pm-6pm
• Wednesday, September 9th from 4pm-8pm
• Friday, September 11th from 4pm-8pm

Students living in residence will get their OneCard in their residence package.

Out-of-Province and international students need to contact Lissette Ochoa, International Program Coordinator (lochoa2@uwo.ca), as she has their OneCards.