Profile: Martha Piper, University of British Columbia
The University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, is one of the most popular North American colleges with IB students. “We understand what they need,” says president Martha Piper.
There are many reasons why IB graduates might choose the University of British Columbia (UBC) for their college years. Based in Vancouver—a city ranked number one in the world for quality of life in a 2001 survey—they would be minutes away from Whistler’s ski slopes. And if watersports were more their thing, they’re surrounded on three sides by a natural arena. But they might also want to choose it for its academic record: a survey of universities by the European Commission last year ranked it 12th in North America and 35th in the world. Not bad for a university that won’t celebrate its centenary until 2008.
Its president, Martha Piper, believes there’s another reason why IB students might choose UBC: its shared ethos with the IB. “We have the same values,” she says. “To go beyond knowledge and create caring people with an understanding of the world and global issues.”
Piper arrived at UBC in 1997. She has a BSc in physical therapy from the University of Michigan, a Master’s in child development from the University of Connecticut and a PhD in epidemiology and biostatistics from McGill, which is where her academic career began. She is the first female president of UBC but, understandably, refuses to think of gender as an issue.
IB wasn’t a recognized qualification before she took up the president’s post. It took her just three years to get that changed. “There was a lot of debate about recognizing IB,” she says, “but it was most definitely the right thing to do.”
Significant progress has been made in changing the way North American universities regard the IB Diploma Programme. Increasingly they appreciate that if a student has completed the IB Diploma Programme, he or she has already committed a great deal of energy to education and so is likely to make an excellent student. However, Piper gives an encouraging example as a university administrator who doesn’t just look at points and standards when it comes to admission, but understands the whole Diploma Programme.
Partly as a result of her efforts, UBC is the third most popular university in North America for IB students. “We have more applying and more coming every year,” says Piper. “This fall, 348 out of 4,464 were IB students. That’s a 13 per cent increase.”
Piper is a fan of IB students. “They are terrific learners,” she says. “They’re inquisitive and don’t just question what they’re learning, but why.” She has even said that the university is aggressive about courting IB students. It offers first-year credit to any student who has scored a five or six on a higher level IB subject, allowing them to go straight into second year, and gives six credits in philosophy to those who score an A or B in the theory of knowledge section.
In 2004, UBC offered a scholarship package of CAD2,500, early registration and a place in campus accommodation to any IB student from a Canadian IB school who gained 32 points or more in their diploma. Forty-six per cent of the IB intake from Canada qualified.
The university was even sufficiently interested in IB students to undertake research on how they fare academically once at the university. “In the first year, their marks were 12 to 13 per cent above the average,” Piper says. “But even more impressive were the students who had accepted a first-year credit and gone straight into the second year. They were still scoring from 7 to 12 per cent above average. They were outperforming students who had already spent a year at university.”
The academic abilities of IB students aren’t the only reason Piper welcomes them into her university. “The goal here isn’t just to get a good degree,” she says. “It’s to get prepared for life.” She thinks all studies should take on a global perspective, something that IB students already know and understand.
"I think Azir Nafisi’s recent book Reading Lolita in Tehran sums it up,” she says. “It’s about reading Pride and Prejudice or The Great Gatsby and understanding what those books mean to a woman in Iran: taking literature and thinking globally.”
She points out the global nature of the UBC campus, where over 50 per cent of students speak a language other than English in their homes. “Students learn so much from other students,” she says. “And I think people want to come to UBC because of the cultural opportunities. They seek them out and really value them.”
Although there have been no studies of IB students in extra-curriculum activities, Piper says they are everywhere on campus. “They are very engaged in their environment and often assume student leadership roles. We have several involved in our learning exchange programme,” she says.
This is a volunteer scheme where students spend up to 12 hours a week working with the disadvantaged community of Downtown Eastside in Vancouver. They do everything from tutoring young people to coaching basketball. “I think IB students get involved because of their experience with creativity, action, service,” says Piper. “They have been fulfilled by it and choose to continue that here.”
Piper imagines that the links between her university and the IB will continue to develop as word gets out from existing students. Her only concern is that, as more universities realize what excellent students IB students make, the competition to have them on campus will intensify.
However, there will always be some things the two institutions share that make their relationship special: “The IB and UBC both want to educate people to have enquiring minds and to help create a more peaceful world.” Those other universities are going to have to work hard to compete.
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Martha Piper, president of University of British Colombia
"In the first year, [IB graduates] marks were 12 to 13 per cent above the average, but even more impressive were the students who had accepted a first-year credit and gone straight into the second year. They were still scoring from 7 to 12 per cent above average. They were outperforming students who had already spent a year at university."
