Alumni & Friends - Ways to get involved and give back
Student Housing & Residence Life
  1. Home
  2. Residence Life
  3. Orientation & Transition

Orientation & Transition

Photograph of residence students sitting around the bonfire pit behind Hickory & Grey Pine halls participating in an Indigenous Learning Circle during Residence Orientation.

Residence Orientation

Once you've settled into your residence room and bid farewell to your parents and family, join us for Residence Orientation. We are excited to be able to connect with you virtually, and we have some amazing programming planned. Check with your community Residence Advisor for upcoming community events!

During residence Orientation, you will get an opportunity to:

  • Engage in social activities online and develop your identity as a UTSC resident
  • Meet your residence assistant and floor mates and begin to form lasting friendships 
  • AND HAVE FUN! 

Have a look below for an idea of what Residence Orientation looked like in 2020 (Click image to open in new tab):

Transitioning to Residence

House Meetings

The RAs arrange house meetings with every unit in their area. You must attend this meeting. It is the RAs opportunity to get to know you and tell you about residence life if this is your first year here. If you have lived here before, the RA will tell you about any new developments or changes to the Residence Life Program. The RA will also facilitate some exercises that will help you learn more about each of your roommates and communicate openly throughout the year.

Steps to Working Through Conflict

There will be times when a situation doesn’t seem it will easily be resolved. The RA’s have been trained in communication, mediation and active listening skills and can approach the situation objectively to help all parties involved. It’s best to ask for help as early as possible since tension can build if you wait too long. Room changes will only be considered after housemates have gone through a mediation process facilitated by an RA, as per the process outlined below. In the event that the Residence Life Coordinator approves a room change, the resident will be charged a $150 administrative fee. Prior to a room change request being granted by the Residence Life Coordinator, residents must proceed through the following process/steps:

  1. Attend and actively participate in an RA-facilitated house meeting, where a roommate agreement will be developed with you and your roommates (this will happen at the beginning of the semester).
  2. Discuss concerns with your roommates, and attempt to work out your differences/come to an agreement.
  3. Meet with the RA on your floor/in your hall. The RA may provide tips on how to overcome the conflict with your roommates.
  4. If necessary, the RA may conduct a conflict mediation and/or an additional house meeting with you and your roommates, in an attempt to resolve the conflict. Note: A Lead Residence Advisor (LRA) may be asked to facilitate a meeting in the event that the RA needs additional support.
  5. If steps 1 through 4 are unsuccessful, residents may request a meeting with the Residence Life Coordinator to review the room change process and formally request a room change.
  6. Meet with the Residence Life Coordinator to explain the situation, and your request.
  7. The Residence Life Coordinator may facilitate a conflict mediation with the parties involved to assist in the situation and/or a room change may be granted if the conflict is unresolvable and only if space in residence permits.

The earlier you start working through a problem, the easier it is to solve. Reach out for support at the earliest that you can!

Time Management & Creating a Balanced Schedule

Time management is critical to ensure that you can complete all of your responsibilities on time. It is essential to plan your week ahead of time. When planning for your week, be sure to:

  • Slot in all your committed activities (i.e. classes, labs, tutorials, part-time job, regular meetings, etc.);
  • Slot in all the things that are important for your well-being (i.e. exercise, lunches, breaks, social activities, etc.); and
  • Assign time for your academic work (i.e. studying, completing assignments, etc.)

It is essential to be flexible with your schedule when planning. Utilizing a semester planner may be an efficient way to keep track of projects, appointments, etc., for the entire semester.

In addition, it is often helpful to make to-do lists. Writing down the tasks that you want to complete achieves three critical goals:

  1.  You track what has to be done
  2. Itemizing what has to be done to complete a project helps you to come up with a more accurate estimate of how long the project will take to complete
  3. As in goal setting, writing down what has to be done, you make a firm commitment to getting the work done.

While planning is essential, following through on your tasks is equally as important. To help motivate you to complete your tasks, it is good to reward yourself for your accomplishments. This could look like giving yourself a half-hour of guilt-free TV-watching or giving yourself some time to call friends/family.

If you have worked through these strategies and are still having difficulty balancing your responsibilities, please reach out to your Residence Advisor. Your RA will then connect you with the Academic Advising & Career Centre for further support.

Source: UTSC AA&CC Time Management Tip Sheet

Fire Evacuation Procedure

In the unlikely event of a fire, please:

  1. Leave the area immediately and close all doors
    1. If you live in Joan Foley Hall, pull the fire alarm on your way out of the building
  2. Call Toronto Fire Services at 9-1-1, and the University of Toronto Campus Community Police at 416-978-2222. Provide both services with information about the location of the fire, and information about residents remaining in the building.
  3. Proceed to the designated fire evacuation muster point (ARC Quad). Look for your Residence Advisor holding a sign for your community, and check-in with them to let them know you've safely evacuated.
    • In light of COVID-19, please ensure to wear a face covering/mask, and maintain a distance of 2 metres from other individuals.

Fire Evacuation Muster Point:

Kitchen & Cooking Safety

Fires have the potential to significantly impact you, your fellow residents, and our residence community. A common cause of fires in residence is due to unsafe cooking practices. With this in mind, we’ve prepared the following list of tips to help ensure that you’re keeping yourself safe while cooking in residence:

  • Deep or shallow frying in a pot is NOT permitted in residence. Light pan frying is permitted, but must be monitored carefully
  • Do not leave kitchen appliances unattended while cooking
  • Do not cook with oil on high heat
  • Never throw water on an oil/grease fire
  • Keep the burners on your stovetop clean
  • Do NOT use the Self-Clean feature of the oven – please submit a work order to have your oven cleaned