Graduate Pathways to Success
The Graduate Pathways to Success (Pathways) program is a palette of non-credit workshops, seminars and other activities designed to complement your graduate program's academic curriculum and mentorship experience.
Our offerings cover a wide range of personal and professional development topics to support you throughout your time in graduate school and to allow you to develop some of the skills and competencies needed to thrive as professionals and to make meaningful contributions to society.
Events
| Title | Description | Date | Theme |
|---|---|---|---|
| Resume & Cover Letter |
Cover Letters and Resumes are crucial elements of a job application package. This workshop will help you understand:
The live session will include opportunities for Q & A. |
26 October 2021 - 12:30pm | Career Exploration, Professional Effectiveness, Writing and Communication |
| Leveraging your Strengths to Strategize for Success |
Quick – tell us the top five things you are good at! Can you do it? Or would it be easier to tell us the things you’re not good at? The truth is many of us spend more time focused on (and trying to fix) what we’re not good at, instead of discovering, appreciating, and cultivating our strengths. |
27 October 2021 - 10:00am | Career Exploration, Health and Wellness |
| Introduction to Statistical Concepts II: Study Design and Data Collection Essentials |
This webinar focuses on the first two crucial steps in a statistical investigation: 1) identify a question and 2) collect the right data to answer this question. You will learn about: |
28 October 2021 - 1:00pm | Academic Support and Success, Research Skills |
| Doctoral Defence: Doctoral Examination and Defence Procedures |
Doctoral Defence information sessions walk students through the doctoral examination process, and explain the different defence modes - in person, virtual, and hybrid. The session includes: |
3 November 2021 - 2:00pm | Academic Support and Success |
| Breaking Patterns of Procrastination |
Putting things off to the last minute? Having a hard time starting a project? Or is it hard to finish and actually put a close to something you are working on? This workshop is here to help you procrastinate less and get more done. |
4 November 2021 - 9:30am | Academic Support and Success, Health and Wellness |
| Getting the Most Out of your Academic Experience: Designing your Grad School Strategy |
Take the lead of your education and hone your career intentions! |
17 November 2021 - 10:00am | Academic Support and Success, Career Exploration |
| Assertiveness: Speaking Up for Yourself in Difficult Conversation |
Are you looking for ways to build confidence and be assertive in challenging situations? You may find yourself in conflict situations where there is a difference of power or unclear expectations but you lack the courage or tools to address the situation. This practical course will give you the skills necessary to engage in difficult conversations and express yourself with conviction. |
24 November 2021 - 1:00pm | Health and Wellness, Professional Effectiveness, Writing and Communication |
| Assertiveness: Speaking Up for Yourself in Difficult Conversation |
Are you looking for ways to build confidence and be assertive in challenging situations? You may find yourself in conflict situations where there is a difference of power or unclear expectations but you lack the courage or tools to address the situation. This practical course will give you the skills necessary to engage in difficult conversations and express yourself with conviction. |
24 November 2021 - 2:00pm | Academic Support and Success, Health and Wellness, Writing and Communication |
| Introduction to Statistical Concepts III: Two group comparison and ANOVA |
In this webinar, you will learn how to gain insight from a random and unbiased data sample of a population: |
25 November 2021 - 1:00pm | Academic Support and Success, Research Skills |
| Interviews |
Interviews are one of the most stressful elements in the job search process. This workshop will cover the following aspects of the interview process: |
19 January 2022 - 1:00pm | Career Exploration, Writing and Communication |
| Introduction to Statistical Concepts IV: Correlation and Linear Regression |
Understanding relationships is a key part of the scientific inquiry process. You will learn how to describe relationships between two numerical quantities through correlation measures and simple linear regression models. This will also be extended to multiple linear regression for including additional predictor variables. Specific topics include: |
27 January 2022 - 1:00pm | Academic Support and Success, Research Skills |
| Negotiating Job Offers |
Negotiation is a common part of the hiring process, and many applicants find this part intimidating. This workshop will cover:
This session also includes an interactive part to practice job negotiation with your peers. |
2 February 2022 - 12:30pm | Career Exploration, Writing and Communication |
| Introduction to Statistical Concepts V: Logistic and Poisson Regression |
Learn about generalized linear models (GLM) for categorical and count outcomes. Necessary for understanding and using these models, the following will be covered: |
17 February 2022 - 1:00pm | Academic Support and Success, Research Skills |
| Introduction to Statistical Concepts VI: Mixed Effects Models |
This webinar is critical for understanding when linear regression models aren’t applicable and how to model dependent data. Topics that will be covered are: |
17 March 2022 - 1:00pm | Academic Support and Success, Research Skills |
Resources
| Title | Description | Theme |
|---|---|---|
| Individual Development Plan, Sciences |
My IDP is a unique, web-based career-planning tool tailored to meet the needs of PhD students and postdocs in the sciences. This website was developed by AAAS/Science, the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), and experts from several universities (see authors on their site). |
Academic Support and Success, Career Exploration |
| Individual Development Plan, Humanities and Social Sciences |
ImaginePhD is a free online career exploration and planning tool for PhD students and postdoctoral scholars in the humanities and social sciences. The ImaginePhD project is powered by the Graduate Career Consortium (https://gradcareerconsortium.org/; GCC). |
Academic Support and Success, Career Exploration |
| Individual Development Plan, Health |
The Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) has developed an online Individual Development Plan (IDP) and resources. The IDP is a tool that supports graduate students and PDFs in actively preparing for the career(s) of their choice by exploring career paths, establishing career goals, and identifying skill gaps, culminating in an action plan to achieve their career goal(s). |
Academic Support and Success, Career Exploration |
| Statistics Webinar Series |
This 6-part statistics webinar series is annually presented by the Applied Statistics and Data Science Group. Slides and descriptions of each session are provided. |
Academic Support and Success, Research Skills |
| Leaders Dialogue Series: On Making a Difference for Good |
The Leaders’ Dialogue series is an opportunity to get to know individuals who have made a difference for good in the world, and hear their thoughts on questions such as ‘What motivates you?’, ‘What does ‘success’ mean to you?’, ‘What have you learned about leadership?’, and ‘What’s wrong/right with the world?’ |
Professional Effectiveness |
| Writing with Integrity |
A short video in which Drs Susan Porter and Beth Haverkamp discuss the importance of writing with integrity (the importance of writing and contributing new knowledge and scholarship with integrity; avoiding plagiarism) |
Academic Support and Success, Writing and Communication |
| Video Guides to Writing and Research |
A series of videos to introduce students to the fundamentals of academic writing and research: “Writing in Situations”, An interview with Dr. Anthony Paré plus |
Academic Support and Success, Writing and Communication |
| Scholarships and awards_Presentation materials |
Applying for graduate scholarships or awards? Past presentation materials and webinar recordings provide you with guidance. You may also find the tips and best practices helpful. |
Academic Support and Success |
| Planning for your Doctoral Exam |
To help prepare you for a smooth examination process, the doctoral exams team provides tools and resources including a checklist, sample workplan, and past presentation materials and recordings to help you map out a timeline for your final doctoral examination. |
Academic Support and Success |
| Thesis Preparation and Submission |
Finishing your thesis or dissertation? G+PS provides sample templates, checklists, past presentation materials and recordings, as well as information on how to submit your thesis for review and final submission. |
Academic Support and Success |
| InterSECT Job Simulations |
InterSECT is an online platform that allows PhD-level scientists and humanists, regardless of professional stage, to explore future career options. Our goal is to provide true-to-life job simulation exercises that help individuals consider the following questions: What are my professional interests and skills? |
Career Exploration |
| GPS Workshop Materials, Recordings |
Materials, handouts, and recordings from many past Graduate Pathways to Success sessions, including our career and statistics series, are posted online here (cwl login required) |
Academic Support and Success, Career Exploration, Research Skills |