To assist newly admitted students with their transition to graduate school, the School of Graduate Studies will be hosting its annual series of web chat sessions in May, June, and July.
The aim of the chats is to have on-line discussions with graduate students who have already been accepted but may have questions and concerns prior to their arrival on campus. The web chat sessions are administered by SGS Student Academic Services; in addition to enrolment, registration and graduate awards information, graduate students will get answers to their questions about housing, family care, and other graduate-focused programs and services from representatives of different offices across U of T. Students will need a JOINid or UTORid to participate in the chat sessions
SGS will email the list of chats/webinars with detailed instructions to the newly accepted students.
The online chat sessions will be delivered on the following dates:
- Wednesday, May 5, 2021 (2 to 3 pm ET) - Participating offices: SGS Student Academic Services, Graduate Awards, Housing, Centre for International Experience, Family Care, Student Life, and Graduate Professional Development.
- Tuesday, May 18, 2021 (10 to 11 am ET) - Participating offices: SGS Student Academic Services, Graduate Awards, Housing, Centre for International Experience, Family Care, and Student Life.
- Thursday, June 10, 2021 (2 to 3 pm ET) - Participating offices: SGS Student Academic Services, Graduate Awards, Housing, Centre for International Experience, Family Care, Student Life, and Graduate Professional Development.
- Wednesday, July 7, 2021 (10 to 11 am ET) - Participating offices: SGS Student Academic Services, Graduate Awards, Housing, Centre for International Experience, and Family Care.
How to Participate
In order to participate in these chats, students will need their JOINid or UTORid. Shortly after students applied to a graduate program, they should have received an e-mail from admissions.sgs@utoronto.ca with their JOINid and instructions for enabling it. If they have not enabled their JOINid, they should do so well in advance of the chats.
Students can join the chats at http://chat.sgs.utoronto.ca. They will be prompted to log in using their University of Toronto weblogin. After logging in, they will be taken to the welcome room and will need to click on the link to “rooms” on the upper left-hand side to see a list of themed rooms.
International Students
While staff from the Centre for International Experience (CIE) will participate, these will be members of the transition team, and not licensed immigration advisors. They will not be able to answer questions about applying for study permits, or other immigration issues; however they will be able to refer students to the University’s immigration advisors.
The CIE provides support and advice for University of Toronto students navigating the Canadian immigration system. International students should be directed to their information on how to apply for a study permit. They also provide additional, in-depth videos, accessed via the Career and Co-Curricular Learning Network. (JOINid or UTORid required).
The CIE will also be hosting online drop-in sessions for student who have viewed the videos, but still have questions:
The CIE asks all students attending the drop-in sessions to watch the videos before the sessions.
Should you have any questions about the session, please contact hasmik.sargsyan@utoronto.ca.