Tips and Tools for Choosing Your Courses
FAStanswers for first year students! Planning for the year ahead? Unsure of what your next steps should be? Trying to find answers online? FAStanswers has helpful and timely information from the Faculty of Arts and Science. It's a new resource where you can browse topics by category, click on commonly searched terms in our tag cloud, search by keyword or tweet us your question directly. FAStanswers has a built-in Google Calendar which contains important dates and deadlines, so be sure to bookmark the page for future reference.
Our Summer Academic Orientation Sessions give invaluable advice on how to select your courses using your essential guides, the Calendar, Registration Instructions, and Course Timetable . We hope to see you there in person! If you absolutely can't make an orientation session, please e-mail registrar.innis@utoronto.ca to set up a telephone or skype appointment with an academic advisor.
As a first-year student, you can enrol in courses online as of Tuesday 30 July. As of Monday 22 July you can log on to ROSI (see Useful links below for more information on ROSI) to see at what time on 30 July you can begin enrolling in courses. Students with transfer credits: Please note that if you are admitted with 4.0 or more transfer credits you must check ROSI earlier for your start time and enrol in courses earlier. Enrol in your courses at your start time since courses can fill up quickly.
Useful links
Videos of the 2012 Academic Orientation Sessions
Academic Orientation Handbook We have now posted the summary of some of the information we presented at last year's Academic Orientation Sessions. An updated 2013 version will be made available here at the beginning of the summer. This information will be valuable for those of you who are unable to attend a Session, but we urge all of you who are able to attend. We suggest that you save the PDF to your computer and use it as a reference tool (when the PDF is saved on your computer, the links will open in a new window; when the PDF is viewed online, the links open in the same window).
Calendar, Registration Instructions, and Course Timetable. You will need all three to choose and enrol in your courses. The Calendar lists information such as departments, the courses and Programs of Study (POSts) offered by each department, and degree requirements. The Registration Instructions give step-by-step instructions for enrolment and registration. The Course Timetable lists the courses that are being offered in a particular academic year (the Calendar lists all courses offered by a department), their location, and the time at which they are offered.
A-Z Program List This A-Z list of program options offered in the Faculty of Arts & Science will help you determine which first-year courses to choose. Although students officially enter Programs of Study (POSts) in their second year, many require first-year prerequisite courses. Take a look through this list of programs, click on the ones that sound interesting to you, and read up on which first-year courses are recommended. Note: you should always double-check the relevant section of the Calendar to ensure your first-year course selection meets the requirements for entry into a particular Program of Study.
College One Programs All seven colleges in the Faculty of Arts and Science offer distinctive first-year programs to help with the transition to university. These programs provide a structured transition from high school to university with a focus on developing critical thinking, speaking and writing skills and an atmosphere that allows students to develop close relationships with fellow classmates and instructors. All first-year, full-time students in the Faculty of Arts and Science, regardless of college affiliation, are eligible for admission to these programs. Click here for information specific to the Innis One program.
First-Year Learning Communities (FLCs) A FLC is a group of 24-30 students in the same area of study, who will be enrolled in some of the same core courses and will meet regularly outside of class time for useful and fun activities. FLCs provide first-year students with the opportunity to meet classmates, develop friendships, form study groups, and develop academic and personal skills. FLCs also introduce students to the resources, opportunities, culture, and benefit of the campus and its surrounding community. The 2013-2014 FLC registration will begin Monday 17 June 2013. Additional information, including deadines, will be posted on the FLC website in May.
First-Year (199) Seminars First-Year Seminars are small classes, generally with no more than 24 students, that are open only to first-year students. The small size of these seminars provides new students with the opportunity to interact with the professor, their fellow students, and the course material in a more personal environment.
Weekly Schedule Worksheet This worksheet will allow you to plan out your weekly timetable in a variety of ways before deciding on the final version.
SWS-ROSI ROSI is the system through which you will perform such actions as signing up for your courses, managing your courses, viewing your invoice, and enrolling in Programs of Study (POSts; you cannot enrol in a program until you have completed four full credits).
The first time that you sign in to ROSI you will need your student number and you will use your birthdate in YYMMDD format as your Personal Identification Number. For example, if you were born on 24 April 1994, your initial PIN would be 940424. ROSI offers a video demonstration of how to enrol in courses.
