International Common Rooms to help UCL students connect with peers in their region

UCL has established International Common Rooms led by our fantastic Cultural Societies to give students an opportunity to build new networks, share ideas and passions, and generally engage with the UCL community in their region. The international common rooms cover 12 different regions around the globe to account for time zones and provide more tailored advice where needed. 

The International Common Rooms (ICRs) are virtual spaces hosted on MS Teams and will launch to students on Monday 21 September 2020.

Student-led regional networks

Each of the 12 ICRs will be led by the committees of the approximately 60 Students' Union UCL Cultural Societies. The student leaders willl share their insights into UCL, and post valuable information and support tools to help students get the most of their time at UCL.

The purpose of ICRs is to make sure that students are able to make new friends and still feel connected to the UCL student community, wherever they are based.

The societies will also set up different groups, events and activities for students in that region to get involved in. More than one cultural society will be involved in each regional common room, and will create sub-groups for different countries, interest or cultural groups. 

How they work 

The International Common Rooms on MS Teams are divided into a number of channels each with a different purpose; the main ones are:

• Noticeboard – for official announcements by UCL and Students’ Union UCL, as it might be in a physical common room.
• Introductions – a space for students to introduce themselves and share information about themselves and their interests.
• Café – for booking in live meetings, events, drop ins and other activities. We have recommended each society tries to do at least one live drop in session each week and invite students to get involved in other activities they run on different platforms.
• Chat – This is a general chat where society leaders can start conversations with students, answer their questions about their activities and UCL.

The cultural societies' leaders can also set up their own channels as part of the group to create smaller networks or collaborations between multiple societies around a particular topic/discussion.

Further information

You can find more information about the International Common Rooms on the #WeAreUCL site.

You can also find a full list of Cultural Societies on the Students' Union UCL website.

The International Commons Room project is one of a series of projects focused on enhancing the student experience and student engagement by fostering connections with fellow students and wider UCL - in particular, they complement the Virtual Common Rooms being established within many departments. 

Image: Christina Wocintechchat / Unsplash.com