Learn from Iris about all things academics. Start off with course management form and classroom etiquette. Then learn about Grade Point Average, academic supports and tips and tricks to ensure a smooth academic career.
This may be a lot to take in at once, but don’t worry! You are just starting university and you will have support all around you. The longest you can spend on your undergraduate degree is 8 years so you have sufficient time to get accustomed to university. You can spend some time off school, do an internship, or even think about doing a minor!
One thing to note is that academics only make up one part of the university experience. You do not only live to study. It is important to find a balance between studying and your personal life. Luckily, there are many things to do here at Ryerson. You can get involved in many different activities or student societies! But that’s for another video…
Academics
"Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today."
– Malcom X
Academic Integrity
Policy 60 – or Academic Integrity – is the policy that is enforced by the university to uphold the highest standards of academic integrity, which are central to the sharing and development of knowledge. For more information, click here.
Students are expected to follow this policy at all times. There can be devastating consequences if you are found to be breaking the policy. For more information, visit the Academic Integrity Office website.
Exam Bank
RESS offers an exam bank full of returned midterms and finals given out by the professors to students. This resource is very beneficial as they provide you with an understanding of the material you will be tested on in your courses. Past exams also provide you with extra practice questions – if you’re lucky, they might even have solutions!
To access the bank click here, or visit ress.ca and visit Academics, under the Services Directory.
Academic Calendars
Ryerson University displays the full academic calendars for every engineering program. These calendars give you information relating to the admission requirements for your program, information about the courses in your curriculum – including transition courses, liberals, and minors. For more information, refer to the links below for your discipline.
Courses at Ryerson
Courses in university are structured differently than those in high school. To start, every course you will take in university will have a course management form – think of it as a plan for everything you will do in the course. This includes:
- a breakdown of marks for your labs and tutorials
- an outline of the concepts you will learn in the course, and when you will learn them in the form of a course schedule.
- Additionally, the instructor’s contact information such as their phone number, email and office location, the prerequisite courses required to take the course.
Most courses will have mandatory labs and tutorials which will make up a large portion of your mark breakdown. Labs are like experiments which aim to apply concepts you have already learned in class, but shift them towards real world applications. Most labs will require you to finish a report and/or have a lab quiz. In your first semester, you will have labs for all of your courses.
On the other hand, tutorials are designed to provide you with extra assistance in solving problems which you have learned the concepts for in class. These will be solved by a TA who has taken the course before. Expect similar problems to appear on your tutorial quizzes, and possibly your midterms and finals, so remember to pay attention and ask questions when you don’t understand.
Fees & Tuition
Tuition is mostly dependent on the billing units that you have per semester. Almost every course only has 1 billing unit. Some exceptions for courses that have 2 billing units are ELE302 and COE328. The cost of tuition is the same for 5-7 billing units. Other fees that add onto your tuition include fees for services, such as a Dental Plan and Athletics and Recreation. Ancillary fees also make up a portion of your tuition. For more information, check out the link below.
Student Learning Support
Online Resources: These vary in file types, from videos to PDFs, and cover a variety of topics such as grammar/writing and chemistry
Online Resources – Student Learning Support
Test Centre: helps with scheduling makeup tests and exams, or makes accommodations for students registered for Academic Accommodation Support.
Test Centre – Academic Accommodation Support
Supported Learning Groups: Peer lead group study sessions that go over many first, and second semester courses.
Study Skills and Transition Support
Additional Support
English support: Helps multilingual students with communication, writing, speaking, listening and reading. One on one appointment or group sessions are available.
English Language Support – Student Learning Support
Math Support: Helps with math & computer science. Drop in, online appointments, and group tutoring is available.
Math Support – Student Learning Support
Writing support: Help with writing essays. Drop in and appointment options.
Office of the Ombudsperson
A place for students to raise concerns which they have been unable to resolve themselves. Students can bring forward their concerns in confidence to the Ombudsperson’s office with the knowledge that they will not be disclosed, unless the student provides permission for this to happen.
Contact them if you believe you have been treated unfairly, if you are not sure what your options are, or if you would like to discuss how a RU policy or procedure applies to your situation.
Grade Point Average (GPA)
Your course grades and cumulative grade point average will be posted to your transcript using Ryerson’s grading scale. Your academic standing is evaluated at the end of each term.
Grading, Promotion and Academic Standing – Undergraduate Calendar
You can check your final grades on RAMSS approximately two weeks after the official end of term. See Significant Dates, opens in new window for the exact date that grades will be released.
You may attempt the same course up to three times (i.e., enrolled initially, repeated once, repeated twice = three enrolments). If you fail a required course for the third time, Ryerson will assign an Academic Standing of Permanent Program Withdrawal.
You may choose to repeat a course for the sake of improving on an earlier unsatisfactory grade. The grade earned for the repeated course is substituted for the earlier grade in calculating your grade point average even if the newer grade is lower. Ryerson records all attempts on your transcript.
