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- UofT Orientation and Welcome Day
Use FYS @ Innis / Innes One
Supporting Your First-Year Student
- Compassion and Kindness
- Expect Changes
- Communicate (will not share information regarding your student)
- Resist Comparison (with your past experience)
- Celebrate First-Gen Students
- Trust (Let your student do their thing)
What Does Success Look Like?
For most - academics is important but their success is more than just academics!! Involvement in other activities is critical to the learning process.
Co-curricular Learning Can …
- Improve Social Skills
- Reduce Stress (outlets for reducing academic stress)
- Support Career Development
- Improve Academic Performance
Support Involvement Outside the Classroom
Academics is important but try to encourage your student to get involved in other opportunities. It may seem massive but once you get involved it actually gets smaller.
Resources for Parents
The UofT Students Life Parents and Supporters Handbook
The UofT Student Life Parents and Supporters Webinars
1:30-2:30 - Introduction to Student Success Resources at UofT
- It is a recognition that you will have a role in your student’s transition
- we want you to encourage your student to leverage the available resources
- UofT is “huge” but coming with that are an immense number of support resources available
- by taking advantage of these resources it makes the transition that much more manageable
Roles include a Wellness Programming lead, Learning Strategist, Innis College Library (one of 40 libraries), and accessibility coordinator.
Wellness Lead - address anxiety, mental wellness including running non-academic activities, therapy dogs, etc
Learning Strategist - academic coach. Work on on one with students, including general study skills, note taking, time management, etc.
Librarian (Innis college specific). The Innis library focuses on cinema documents, however the Librarian is available to support the access to all Library resources. Also the library provides a writing Center support - one on one wiring support (not an editing Center). You have to book online and can meet online or in person.
The accessibility coordinator assists with learning disabilities, ADHD, broken wrist support (such as note taking).
Examples of Common Issues for Inbound Students
- Many students don’t adapt well to the new self-regulation approach to study
- Students find that their approach on high school do not work at University level
- We have seen mark inflation due to Covid and students are not as well prepared for independent study
- Writing challenges - Students are not able to figure out how to even start with writing. Students often do t have the skills to draft/write a professional correspondence.
- Research - Students think that Google and Google Research is good enough but this is not enough ad they need to be able to do more ‘drill down’ on a particular topic
- Accommodation - Students are reluctant when having to communicate a need for accommodation, especially when having to reach out to a professor. This is something Accommodation can assist with.
- Two common challenges are resource navigation. Simply finding their way around and second is mental health. There are a wealth of resources to assist with wellness and mental health for the students.
- A key message is that these are not just remedial support resources and should be used in day-day activities
- Students need to pay attention to their Syllabus and use the writing Center early. Too many students wait till the end when it’s too late!!
- From the library you also can access to e-books, etc and everything is free!! If you ever get a challenge for a fee to access any resource, it is likely free - so don’t ever “pay” for any resource.
- Your students will have to manage all their activities on their own - so offer them support
- Nurture your students autonomy - let them to fail, reach out to other resources for support
- Parents should also look for any support that they may need
- Rwmind your students that there are concrete strategies that exist to help them become more successful in their learning journey. They will need to also learn these skills as well as be educated.
- Encourage the believe in themselves for your students. Be less concerned about their grades and more about their growth beyond just academics
How Do Students Access These Resources?
Google is your friend - Many resources are findable using google!!
Students need to register and get their UTOR Id. This will take place automatically but once you are registered, you can apply for some of the resources.
Accomodation - requires a formal application for assistance. This includes booking an “intake assessment” in support of your accommodation request.
Wellness - drop in, email, phone, front desk and form on the intranet. Her office is in Innis.
Learning Support - Google “Learning Support at Innis College” and you will find the website. There is an online booking capability.
Library - I am the only librarian. so just use the main email account -
Note: Roberts library requires a UTOR ID to enter.
Encourage your students to use Quercus once they get their UTOR ID and look for the Innis101 Quercus.
Also - professors are only allowed to communicate with their UofT email!! Many students miss their updates because they don’t check this email!! Make sure that your students keeps on top of their UofT account!!
Since UofT is a Microsoft shop - it is recommended that your student get familiar with O365 tools and environment!!