Feeling overwhelmed by the transition into university? Are your grades suffering because of it? No need to panic – the University of Windsor has academic resources dedicated to helping you succeed! Here are five resources for academic success at UWindsor!
1. Academic Advising
University can be really confusing compared to high school; from picking your courses to choosing a major, there are so many options and choices to make, and it is common for students to feel overwhelmed. UWindsor offers support for students who may be feeling confused and need advising regarding their academic experience through academic advisors! Some examples of questions and topics you can discuss with an academic advisor are:
- What your degree requirements are and how to successfully fulfill them
- How to select or change your program or major
- Help with selecting, dropping, or adding courses
- Academic offenses
Academic advising is here to help make your experience with school a little easier – whether it be through joining one of their daily drop-in sessions or scheduling a one-on-one meeting, the team is accessible and ready to help!
2. Bounce Back
Bounce Back is a weekly, nine-session program dedicated to helping students who are struggling to succeed academically at UWindsor. It approaches these difficulties holistically, with the goal of understanding what factors are preventing the student’s success, such as an academic issue such as time management or study habits, or other, more personal factors, like mental health, stress, or social environment. If you’re not enjoying school and are unable to maintain good grades, this is a great option to help you get back on track by identifying and addressing the obstacles preventing you from succeeding.
3. Connecting 4 Success
Being a student comes with difficulties, but some of those challenges may be unique depending on who you are. Connecting 4 Success (also known as C4S) is a mentorship program for incoming first-generation students, designed to help make the transition into university smoother. It can be difficult, as a first-generation student, to connect with others who are experiencing university in the same way you are, especially because much of the process is very new and unexplored by your parents and others who you may look to for help. This is where Connecting 4 Success comes in; by introducing first-years to an upper-year mentor, students are connected with someone who they can ask questions, share experiences with, and receive mentorship from. Students and their mentors meet several times a year at academic workshops, social events, and more.
4. Help Centres
If you’re finding difficulty in the content you’re studying, chances are, UWindsor has upper-year and graduate students who are dedicated to helping you succeed! Accessing your department’s Help Centre is a great way to receive academic support from students who, not so long ago, were in the same position as you. From the Engineering Student Support Services Centre, which offers one-on-one course help from upper-year students, to the Political Science Help Centre, which connects students to assistance with identifying common mistakes, exam preparation, and academic research, UWindsor has accessible avenues for individualized academic help.
5. Writing Support Desk
Transitioning from writing in high school to university can be challenging, as the expectations evolve drastically. UWindor’s Writing Support Desk can help make this transition a little easier by providing students with assistance regarding anything from grammar and punctuation to constructing strong arguments in essays. Expectations around important components of your writing, such as citing and referencing, often change in university, and the Writing Support Desk can support you in understanding these rules and consequentially, avoiding academic offences.
The main purpose of the Desk is not to edit or proofread students’ work, but to help improve students’ writing on a conceptual level. They do this by providing two different services: workshops and one-on-one consultations. The Desk’s free workshops are available to all students online and cover a wide range of topics from sentence structure to punctuation. Some workshops are recorded, and others can only be accessed during the time they’re presented. Consultations, on the other hand, are twenty-five-minute, pre-booked appointments where students can consult with an academic writing advisor, who will provide personalized feedback on the piece of writing the student provides.
This resource is definitely one you should take advantage of, as 95% of Writing Support Desk users claimed it was helpful, and 86% said they would recommend it to a friend!
All in all, while university is challenging, there are a number of incredibly helpful resources dedicated to ensuring your academic success. Make sure to take advantage of the ones available to you, and good luck achieving the best grades possible!
