FFB 360
Fit for Business - transforming the first year university experience
At the Ted Rogers School of Management, we invest in the student experience through a dedicated first-year transition program, called Fit for Business (FFB). Transforming the student experience with FFB, students are empowered with a community and a path to achieve academic, career and personal success. Enabling engagement outside the classroom creates more collaborative, resilient and innovative students that are better equipped for the business world.
Take a glimpse into the diverse opportunities at the Ted Rogers School with FFB 360, where we provide you with insights into what our first-year students experienced through the years.
Get ready to hover over and click on the interactive dashboards you’re about to see below, as we take you on this journey. To get the full experience, we recommend you use a desktop computer instead of a mobile phone.
Get ready to hover over the interactive dashboards below, as we take you on this journey. To get the full experience, we recommend to use a desktop computer instead of a mobile phone and click on the full screen mode icon 
at the bottom right corner of the dashboards.
Worried? You're Not Alone
As students enter university, there are a lot of shared worries and doubts. In the interactive dashboard below, you’ll get to meet our real students and learn about their worries and how they got engaged outside the classroom to overcome them and maximize their experience. Click the buttons at the top of the dashboard to read stories from our students and their worries and gain fast access to some of the supports that can help you too.
TedPacks - make friends from all around the world
In the first semester of university, first-year students are individually placed into a TedPack. TedPacks are small groups of about 45 students that all share the same class schedule with one another, creating a community for students to connect and make friends from around the world. Students have the opportunity to gain student leadership experience in their first year by applying to become a TedPack Leader for their own TedPack and receiving mentorship from upper-year students.
“TedPacks have really helped me meet a lot of amazing and supportive people who have many of the same interests. Being a TedPack Leader has put me in a lot of social positions, and allowed me to put myself out there to make connections for a lifetime. As someone who is usually very quiet and shy, this is definitely a safe space with genuinely kind people.”
- Venecia Vassel, Retail Management student
“The transition from high school to university is not an easy one, especially with a virtual system. Despite not being on campus, or even in Toronto, TedPacks helped students like myself to connect and make this time alone much less lonely. Our TedPack members all know that they will always have a group of familiar WhatsApp or Discord profile bubbles to turn to for questions – bubbles that we will hopefully meet in real life soon.”
- Ying Ge, Business Technology Management student
Get informed with a personalized weekly FFB email
Students receive communication on everything needed to navigate first year through a personalized weekly FFB email - one centralized channel exclusive to first year students. Regardless of where our students are in the world, we make sure they get informed with relevant information and opportunities for their program.
“Receiving the weekly personalized emails from FFB helped me stay up-to-date with important upcoming dates and events. The frequently asked questions section of the emails really helped me navigate seamlessly through my first year at the Ted Rogers School.”
- Kinneret Witty, Hospitality and Tourism Management student
“FFB weekly emails made getting involved more straightforward and answered all my questions about co-op, courses and more at a click of a button. It’s basically a one-stop-shop for all first-years. I'm glad I took two minutes out of my week to read the weekly email because it opened up a whole year full of meeting new people, improving my skills and getting involved at the school.”
- Jessica Vasantharajan, Accounting and Finance student
Get engaged and rewarded with TedPoints
At the Ted Rogers School, students are rewarded with TedPoints for accessing services and resources offered by our departments outside of the classroom. Through unique first-year initiatives and events, students have the chance to learn from upper-year students, alumni and senior leaders. TedPoints rewards provide students with access to senior leaders chats and sold-out Bootcamps. Take a look at how students over the last 4 years have engaged and earned over 120,000 TedPoints - that’s 120,000 hours of engagement beyond the classroom.
“Through TedPoint Rewards, I got the chance to have a co-op deep dive chat with the Ted Rogers Co-op Manager, Medhat Sedarose, with my TedPack. This helped me better understand the co-op experience through the personal stories and experiences shared by Medhat. The open conversations helped me make up my mind about what I want to do and what things I have to do along the way to be successful in the future.”
- Vedansh Gandhi, Accounting and Finance student
“Thanks to the TedPoint Rewards, I was able to have an Industry Expert Chat with Dr. Allen Goss, who is the Associate Dean of Students, and was very impressive and informative. During this session I learned more about the importance of how to balance academic and non-academic activities. I feel more confident in being involved during my journey here at university.”
- Anish Anil, Business Management student
Get industry-relevant experience
Fit for Business launched a first-year exclusive case competition this year in partnership with the Business + Higher Education Roundtable. At this virtual competition, students had the opportunity to compete in the Canada Comeback Challenge and be mentored by alumni. Students strengthen their technical and soft skills through ongoing Bootcamps - some of which are offered to students as early as the summer before first semester begins. Let’s take a look at all the Bootcamps our first-year students took advantage of as they gained industry-relevant experience.
“In my first year, I've had the chance to not only attend a wide range of Bootcamps, but also to be hired as a Co-Facilitator to teach the Excel and Communication Bootcamps. The combination of attending my own Bootcamps and facilitating them for others has really broadened my knowledge like never before. The Excel Bootcamps taught me how to break down a problem into smaller steps and utilize all the Excel tools available to me in order to solve it. I was able to apply these Excel skills as early as my second semester of studies during my Accounting and Finance courses.”
- Vitaliy Yushvaev, Accounting and Finance student
“Although our team’s pitch fell short of being one of the top three teams in the case competition, I learned that you don't have to be a winner to gain something. I learned how to be confident in my decision-making and exploring beyond my comfort zone. Watching the top three teams was a great way to expand my scope of thinking as they presented unique ideas to the panel. In fact, not winning has only motivated me to work harder for future case competitions.”
- Ganden Gyaltsan, Business Management student
Get to the top - most engaged students
The most engaged students are recognized at the end of the academic year during a Top 10% end-of-year ceremony. Check out how our top engaged students leveraged these five departments within the Ted Rogers School for success.
First-year journey snapshot
There is no limit to what students can accomplish when they are empowered with a community and path to achieve academic, career and personal success right from the start of their university experience with Fit for Business. The timeline below provides a snapshot of some of the initiatives students can expect in their first year at the Ted Rogers School.
To learn more, contact the Fit for Business team at fitforbusiness@torontomu.ca (opens in new window)