OISE Student Success Centre (OSSC)

A student attending OISE orientation.
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
Student Success Centre (OSSC)

About the OISE Student Success Centre

NOTE: The OISE Student Success Centre is only offering online appointments until further notice.

The OISE Student Success Centre (OSSC) is an academic skills and support centre that offers OISE graduate students the opportunity to book one-on-one appointments with an OSSC advisor to improve their abilities in a wide-range of areas. Our advisors have a range of professional and academic experience. Students are encouraged to consult the advisor profiles as a guide when booking appointments for a specific subject.

Book a One-on-One Online Appointment

Services Offered/Contact

Advisors at the centre will be able to provide support to students in the following areas:

  • Academic Writing 
  • French (select advisors)
  • English Language Development
  • Academic Writing Group (New) 
  • Literature Review 
  • Presentation Skills
  • Resume and Cover Letters
  • Mock Interviews
  • Teacher Skills Development 
  • Indigenous Learning (New)
 
Please note: 

We do not provide academic support for Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) grant and Ontario Graduate Scholarships (OGS) scholarship applications. Please inquire with your department about workshops and resources on these award competitions.

We do not provide editing or proofreading services; instead, we work with students to give feedback and work together through the writing process to develop your skills long-term.

Address:

OISE Student Success Centre
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education
University of Toronto
202 - 8th Floor, 252 Bloor Street West
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M5S 1V6

Contact: 

Ghayas Shams (Primary)
OSSC and Career Coordinator
416-978-1599
ghayas.shams@utoronto.ca

Jeananne Robertson (Alternative)
Assistant Director & Student Success Counsellor
416-978-2448
jt.robertson@utoronto.ca
 

Advising Schedule

Summer 2023

Monday, May 1, 2023
to Friday, September 1, 2023

Fall 2023

Monday, September 11
to Friday December 15, 2023

Winter 2024

Monday January 8
to Friday April 19, 2024

Holidays

We are closed for Holidays as per University of Toronto Holiday Schedule.

Advisor Profiles

Amina Yousaf

Doctoral candidate, APHD
Expertise: Academic writing, teacher development, culturally relevant pedagogy
Language: English
Services: Academic writing, presentation skills, teacher skill development, CV/resume/cover letters writing, interviewing skills, lesson plan development, English language development

Christos Orfanidis

Doctoral student, LHAE
Expertise: Student success; academic and professional development; socially responsible leadership, teaching and learning
Language: English, Greek
Services: Academic reading, writing, and publishing; grant writing and research development strategies; further graduate education choice consultation; CV/resume and cover letter development; career selection advice; interviewing skills; EDI and pedagogical statements; lesson planning, public speaking and presentation skills; inbound and outbound international student experience; English language development

Claudio Jaramillo-Yanquepe

Doctoral candidate, CTL
Expertise: Curriculum, language policy, critical pedagogy, qualitative methods, ethnographic case studies, critical applied linguistics
Language: English, Spanish
Services: Writing and reading skills, English language proficiency improvement, data visual representation

Diana M. Barrero

Doctoral candidate, CTL
Expertise: Qualitative research methodologies, Critical pedagogies, critical race theory, feminist theories
Language: English, Spanish
Services: Academic writing (revising academic essays, manuscripts, dissertation), presentation skills, research development (developing research questions, literature reviews etc), publishing

Elena Danilina

Doctoral student, CTL
Expertise: International and EAL teaching, plurilingualism, oral communication, digital technologies and language learning, cross-cultural communication
Language: English, German, Russian
Services: Academic writing, English language development, presentation skills, teacher skills development, CV/resume/cover letter writing, interviewing skills

Fiona Purton

Doctoral candidate, CTL
Expertise: Lesson and unit plans; mock teaching; reflective writing (self study); teaching or pedagogical philosophy statements; academic (faculty) job interview prep; qualitative research
Language: English
Services: Teacher skills and development; reflective/personal writing; research skills; interview preparation

Gabrielle Breton-Carbonneau

Doctoral candidate, SJE
Expertise: Academic writing, working with multicultural learners, ESL/FSL teaching, qualitative research
Language: English, French
Services: Academic writing, presentation skills, resumes and cover letters, French language proficiency

Ghayas Shams

OSSC and Career Coordinator, Registrar’s Office & Student Experience (ROSE) at OISE
Expertise: Higher education, student services, student recruitment, management, event coordinator, career services
Language: English, Urdu, Hindi
Services: Resume writing, cover letters, interviews, curriculum vitaes (CVs), career progression, how to find jobs, how to apply for jobs, what to do with your degree/program

Hoda Gharib

Doctoral student, SJE
Expertise: Research proposals, literature reviews, mixed-methods research, survey research, qualitative data analysis (grounded theory), semi-structured interviews, psychology/sociology of social movements, social media analysis
Language: English
Services: Research skills, presentation skills, academic writing (including journal publications), conference preparation, ethics applications, scholarship applications, graduate school applications (research Master’s or PhD)

Jasmine Pham

Doctoral student, LHAE
Expertise: Academic writing, reflective writing, grant writing, publishing, quantitative methods, qualitative methods, mixed-methods, lesson and unit plans, pedagogical statements, international student experience, and presentation skills
Language: English, Cantonese, Mandarin, Korean
Services: Academic writing, CV/resume/cover letter writing, presentation skills, research skills, general study strategies

Lucy El-Sherif

Doctoral candidate, CTL
Expertise: Academic writing, coaching English language learners, comparative and international education
Language: English, Arabic
Services: Academic writing, presentation skills, English language development

Michael Koslowski

Doctoral student, CTL
Expertise: International and ESL teaching, plurilingualism, oral presentations, adjusting to new educational cultures
Language: English
Services: Academic writing, English language development, research development, transition advising, presentation skills, teacher skills development, interview preparation

Sana Abuleil

Doctoral candidate, LHAE
Expertise: Navigating research databases, academic writing, resumes and cover letters, lesson plans/mock lessons
Language: English, Arabic
Services: Research skills, academic writing, English language development, designing teacher-trainee resources

Stacy Alexandra Costa

Doctoral candidate, CTL
Expertise: Academic writing, qualitative methods, learning sciences, curriculum development, digital technologies & education, science, mathematics and technology education
Language: English, Portuguese
Services: Presentation skills (in-class presentations, conference presentations), academic writing (planning, organizing, writing and revising academic papers, dissertations, articles), resumes (preparation for interviews), mathematics concept development (STEM), English language proficiency improvement (grammar, listening, reading, pronunciation)

Stephanie Chartrand

Expertise:
Language:
Services:

Susan He

PhD student, LHAE
Expertise: PSE access, student development, educational policies, professionalization in student affairs, qualitative methods, quantitative methods, mixed-methods
Language: English, Mandarin
Services: Academic presentations, academic writing, CV/resume/cover letters, practitioner development, teacher development

Ty Walkland

Doctoral candidate, CTL
Expertise: Academic writing, qualitative research, practitioner research, critical literacies
Language: English
Services: Academic writing, presentation skills, resume and cover letters, teacher skills development

Velta Douglas

Doctoral candidate, CTL
Expertise: Academic writing, environmental education, Indigenous education, international ESL teaching experience
Language: English
Services: Academic writing, English language development

Wenyangzi Shi

Doctoral student, CTL
Expertise: Academic writing, oral presentation, qualitative research methods, multilingualism, teacher development, international student experience
Language: English, Mandarin, Japanese
Services: Academic writing, proposal preparation, presentation skills, resume and cover letter review, interview preparation

Ximena Martinez Trabucco

Doctoral candidate, SJE
Expertise: Qualitative research methods, ethnographic techniques, experienced classroom teacher, adjusting to new educational cultures
Language: English, Spanish
Services: Organization of ideas for academic writing, presentation skills, teacher skills development

Frequently Asked Questions About Online Appointments

Log into the WCONLINE system approximately five to ten minutes before the start of your appointment. Then, open your appointment and click "Start or Join Online Consultation".  

In situations where we/you are encountering technical difficulties with the online booking system, your advisor will email you with Zoom instructions. 

  • For your online appointment, make sure you have a working webcam and microphone, and a quiet space.
  • Ensure that your local internet provider has not put up any firewalls for modes of this form of communication. Firefox and Chrome browsers usually work best for online appointments on the WCONLINE system.
  • Be sure that you have the latest version of your browser installed. 
  • Bring the rough draft of the assignment you would like to work on, your questions and ideas. 
    • Please note we do not review your work outside of appointment times.
  • If this is a course assignment, the assignment instructions and/or syllabus.
  • For in-person appointments, feel free to bring your laptop or a print out of the assignment.

If there are any accommodations we can provide in order to better facilitate your learning during an appointment or improve your experience in the writing centre, please contact Ghayas Shams or Jeananne Robertson. 

Students can have two active appointments at a time, and book up to five a month. Each appointment lasts 50 minutes. 

We do not allow back-to-back appointment bookings as we feel students should have time to reflect on the appointment, and suggested changes or revisions before booking their next appointment with an advisor. 

WCONLINE provides a legend (i.e. colour blocks) to easily identify when appointments are available, booked, online etc. For easy viewing, please see the legend below which is also available on the appointment booking system

  • White: Appointment(s) available 
  • Yellow: My appointment(s) 
  • Purple: Not available
  • Blue: Unavailable (in person) appointment
  • Red: Unavailable (online) appointment

If you need to cancel an appointment, please do so as soon as possible but at least 12 hours in advance. This will allow other students to plan ahead when booking an appointment.

If you fail to cancel your appointment within the required time or miss the appointment twice, it will result in a "missed appointment" and you will be blocked from booking further sessions.