OISE Student Success Centre (OSSC)
A Writing Centre and More!
NOTE: The OISE Student Success Centre offers both online and in-person appointments.
The OISE Student Success Centre (OSSC) is an academic skills and writing 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.
Services Offered/Contact
Advisors at the centre will be able to provide support to students in the following areas:
- Academic Writing
- English Language Development
- Academic Writing Group (Fall & Winter Sessions)
- Literature Review
- Presentation Skills
- Resume and Cover Letters
- Letters of Application
- Teacher Skills Development
- French (Gabrielle Breton-Carbonneau)
- Indigenous Learning (Stephanie Chartrand)
- Math (Sarah Lu)
Also check out the Academic Skills Hub (ASH) for asynchronous modules on academic skills such as academic writing, reading, critical thinking, notetaking and more!
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
Room 8-202 (8th Floor), 252 Bloor Street West
Toronto, Ontario, Canada
M5S 1V6
Contact:
Michael Koslowski (Primary)
OSSC Coordinator
m.koslowski@utoronto.ca
Jeananne Robertson (Alternative)
Assistant Director & Student Success Counsellor
416-978-2448
jt.robertson@utoronto.ca
Advising Schedule
Fall 2024
Monday, September 9th to Friday, December 13th
Winter 2025
Monday, January 6th to Thursday, April 17th
*Closed from March 10th - 14th
Summer 2025
Monday, May 5th to Friday, August 22nd
Holidays
We are closed for Holidays as per University of Toronto Holiday Schedule.
Summer Advisors
Christos Orfanidis
Expertise: Higher Education Administration; Leadership and Organizational Studies; Sociology of Education
Language: English, Greek
Services: Academic writing advice; public speaking and presentation skills; career advice and interviewing skills for aspiring higher education administrators; CV/resume and cover letter development; further graduate education choice consultation
Learn more about ChristosGabrielle Breton-Carbonneau
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
Learn more about Gabrielle
Harriet Akanmori
Expertise: Critical Theory (Anti-Racism, Anti-Colonialism, Critical Race, and Indigenous Knowledges); Qualitative Research Methodology; Survey Development
Language: English
Services: ESL Support, Academic Writing/Thesis Chapters, Research Design and Development, Career Skills (CV, Resume, Cover Letters, and Interview Skills), Job and Grad School applications
Learn more about Harriet
Jasmine Pham
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
Learn more about JasmineStacy Alexandra Costa
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)
Learn more about Stacy Alexandra
Ty Walkland
Expertise: Academic writing, qualitative research, practitioner research, critical literacies
Language: English
Services: Academic writing, presentation skills, resume and cover letters, teacher skills development
Learn more about TyAdvisor Profiles
Christina Arayata
Expertise: Race and higher education, critical race theory, qualitative research methods, survey methods
Language: English
Services: Academic writing/literature reviews, presentation skills, research development, graduate school applications, CV/resume and cover letter development
Learn more about ChristinaChristos Orfanidis
Expertise: Higher Education Administration; Leadership and Organizational Studies; Sociology of Education
Language: English, Greek
Services: Academic writing advice; public speaking and presentation skills; career advice and interviewing skills for aspiring higher education administrators; CV/resume and cover letter development; further graduate education choice consultation
Learn more about ChristosElena Danilina
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
Learn more about ElenaGabrielle Breton-Carbonneau
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
Learn more about Gabrielle
Harriet Akanmori
Expertise: Critical Theory (Anti-Racism, Anti-Colonialism, Critical Race, and Indigenous Knowledges); Qualitative Research Methodology; Survey Development
Language: English
Services: ESL Support, Academic Writing/Thesis Chapters, Research Design and Development, Career Skills (CV, Resume, Cover Letters, and Interview Skills), Job and Grad School applications
Learn more about Harriet
Hoda Gharib
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)
Learn more about Hoda
Jasmine Pham
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
Learn more about JasmineKatherine Anderson
Expertise: Academic and professional (STEM) writing, second language acquisition,
research methods (quantitative and qualitative), teacher training and recruitment,
international student support
Language: English (and spoken French)
Services: Academic writing, English language development, presentations and practice
interviews, résumés and personal statements, lesson planning, assignment planning.
Michael Koslowski
Expertise: International and ESL teaching, plurilingualism, mixed methods research
Language: English
Services: Academic writing, English language development, research development, transition advising, presentation skills, teacher skills development, interview preparation
Learn more about Michael
Noah Khan
Expertise: research/grant proposals, literature reviews, thematic analysis, semi-structured interviews, artificial intelligence
Language: English
Services: Academic writing, presentation planning, cover letters, scholarship applications, graduate school applications
Learn more about Noah
Sarah Lu
Expertise: Math education, curriculum planning and development, teacher development, critical race theory
Language: English, conversational Mandarin
Services: Organization of ideas for academic writing, CV/resume and cover letter development, lesson planning, teacher skills development
Learn more about SarahStacy Alexandra Costa
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)
Learn more about Stacy Alexandra
Stephanie Chartrand
PhD student, LHAE
Expertise: Peer-to-peer Indigenous student advising and engagement, Academic writing, reflective writing, grant writing, qualitative methods, and presentation skills
Language: English
Services: Academic writing, CV/resume/cover letter writing, presentation skills, research skills, and general study strategies.
Learn more about Stephanie
Ty Walkland
Expertise: Academic writing, qualitative research, practitioner research, critical literacies
Language: English
Services: Academic writing, presentation skills, resume and cover letters, teacher skills development
Learn more about TyFrequently 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 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.