In September 2009, the University of Regina announced a new initiative for incoming undergraduate students: the UR Guarantee. This unprecedented guarantee, at a time when the province of Saskatchewan had a particularly strong economy, promised students an advisor to help with all aspects of university life, and support through every step to successful employment.  The guarantee states: “If you do not secure career-related employment within six months of graduation, you will be eligible to come back for another year of undergraduate classes free of charge (tuition and course fees).”

While an employment guarantee might be appealing to prospective students and their parents, it also creates a compelling motivation for undergraduate students to access campus services and engage in campus life in order not to “void their warrantee.” To be eligible for the guarantee, UofR students must participate in academic workshops, undertake advising on student engagement opportunities, participate in career development activities, service and leadership experience, and career fairs and networking opportunities.  The program is customized based on students’ specific needs and goals. They also must maintain a minimum 70% GPA and complete all requirements of their program. And to claim the tuition waiver, students must maintain a daily networking/job search log.

The UR Guarantee was launched one year after the University of Calgary Graduation Guarantee.

Results

Since it was launched, the UR Guarantee has become extremely popular, and more than 1,300 students are expected to participate in the program this academic year (2013-14). That’s approximately 11% of uRegina undergraduate students who are making the most of their uRegina education by taking the UR Guarantee challenge.

uRegina president Vianne Timmons credits a number of student-focused changes, including the UofR Guarantee, for 4% enrolment growth in 2010.  As well, uRegina saw a first-year rate of retention of 88.5% among UR Guarantee students, compared to 81.7% for all other students for the entry term 2010.

"The UR Guarantee program has been great. It motivates you to really get involved. Since being signed up with UR Guarantee, I've volunteered at Soul’s Harbour Soup Kitchen, been a U of R Ambassador, volunteered for CAN-STRUCTION and Poetry for Japan. The Academic Workshops have been great and I continue to use tips from them as I study for exams. The best thing about this program is that by doing it, you get way more out of your university experience. I've had such a successful year and it really pays off to get involved." - Celine, uRegina Business Administration Student