Adjusting to university life in your first year can certainly be a challenge, especially as we find ourselves in an academic year like no other. Between your academic responsibilities, your commitments to family and friends, taking care of yourself, and managing all the demands life throws your way, it’s common to feel overwhelmed and unsure of what to do next.
With the support of the Transition Coaching Program, you can build the skills you need to meet and exceed your expectations, and help answer some incredibly important questions:
- How do I make goals for myself and stick to them?
- How do I better manage my time and get my work done?
- How do I manage my stress during the school year?
- How do I make new friends and get involved on campus?
- Who is here to support me on campus?
Benefits of joining this program:
- One-on-one appointments with the International Students Proactive Coach, a professional staff at UTM who will work with you to create strong goals and support you in taking your next steps to success
- One-on-one meetings with your Proactive Coaching Assistant, a successful upper-year student at UTM, ready to share their experiences and help guide you to achieve your goals
- Receive individualized and continuous feedback on your goal setting throughout the semester
- Access to asynchronous content and activities whenever you need them to help you develop the skills you need to learn course material, manage your time, get involved on campus, interact with faculty and much more!
- Opportunities to build relationships with other students and connect with all the great resources and services available to you at UTM.
- Receive Co-Curricular Record (CCR) credit for participation in the program.
What is the Transition Coaching Program?
The Transition Coaching Program is based on six key areas of transition development; Learning Course Material, Managing Your Time, Paying for College Expenses, Getting Help with School Work, Making New Friends, and Interacting with Faculty.
Through meetings with the International Students Proactive Coach and the Proactive Coaching Assistants you will improve these transition skills. We will give you tangible strategies tailored to International and New to Canada students and connect you with the resources and programs on campus that meet your needs and goals.
How is the program structured?
Over the course of the academic year you will attend 4 thirty-minute appointments (2 with your International Students Proactive Coach and 2 with your Proactive Coaching Assistant).
In your first meeting, your coach will review some of their insights from your report from the Before College Survey of Student Engagement (BCSSE) with you. Together you will highlight key transition skills for you to work on with your coaching assistant and develop an action plan to improve those skills.
Over the next couple of weeks you will work on your action plan with the support of a coaching assistant.
In your final meeting with your coach you will look at ways to keep developing through programs at UTM and stay engaged with IEC supports to succeed at UTM and beyond.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the time commitment like?
Each appointment is thirty minutes and they will be two to six weeks apart depending on where you are in the process. At each appointment, you will book your following appointment.
How do I attend appointments?
By default, appointments will be booked as Zoom meetings, but we can also arrange in-person/phone appointments if you prefer that.
Can anyone participate?
While this program is an invitation program. For the Winter 2023 semester we will be accepting all international first year students interested in participating.
Ready to Register or want to know more?
Send us an email at international.utm@utoronto.ca and let us know if you'd like to register for the program or have any questions to ask!