As a graduate student, you are likely facing new academic challenges. The ideas about which you are reading, thinking, and writing are becoming increasingly complex, yet you need to find clear, concise, and engaging ways to express them. You are shifting from a focus on consuming information to a focus on producing and disseminating new knowledge and insights. You are expected to be fluent in the conventions of your discipline and to produce work that is free of grammatical and spelling errors.
Academic Skills works closely with graduate students to help them develop as scholars and writers as well as teaching assistants. We hope that you will take advantage of the many services that we can offer you.
Learn more:
Graduate Student Social: Traill College and Academic Skills Special Event
- Thursday, September 14, 2023
- 7:00 to 9:00 pm
- Traill College, Amphitheatre and Tent on Kerr House Lawn
- An evening of connection and conversation as you enjoy live music and snacks. Graduate students will have the opportunity to interact with Dr. Michael Eamon, the Traill College Principal, faculty, and staff from Academic Skills and Graduate Studies. Come and join your graduate student cohort for a fun evening in a relaxed atmosphere.
Services for Graduate Students
Individual Appointments
Graduate students are welcome to book a free, confidential one-on-one appointment with an Academic Skills instructor.
Synchronous video, in-person, and asynchronous appointments are available to book in the Student Experience Portal.
Writing Conferences
You can book a free and confidential appointment to discuss any aspect of your writing. Academic Skills instructors can help you organize your ideas, outline, or upgrade your grammar skills. They can also look at partial drafts and comment on grammar, organization, and clarity.
Time Management for Graduate Students
Graduate work often involves long-term research and writing projects that have few check points along the way. It can be easy to feel overwhelmed by the magnitude of what you need to accomplish and, as a result, to procrastinate your work. You can book an appointment with an Academic Skills Instructor to discuss time management problems and to create a project plan that will work for you.
Grant Applications and Personal Statements
Academic Skills provides several resources to help you as you write graduate school or grant applications. Academic Skills is not an editing or proofreading service, but our instructors can comment on the strength and clarity of your writing and organization.
We also work with the Career Centre to offer "Apply Yourself: Writing the Graduate School Personal Statement," a workshop that provides advice on what to include in personal statements as well as how to write them.
Workshops
Fall 2023 Workshop Offerings
Graduate Academic Integrity: Policy and Prevention Strategies
Did you know that plagiarizing, cheating, and dishonesty are violations of Trent’s Graduate Academic Integrity policy? Do you know how to prevent plagiarism, especially with the introduction of AI generators, such as ChatGPT? This workshop will help graduate students protect their academic integrity by introducing them to Trent’s Graduate Academic Integrity Policy. We will then delve into some prevention strategies by using paraphrasing, attributing techniques, and citing of sources.
- Date: Tuesday, September 26
- Time: 7:00 to 8:30 pm
- Place: WH 226 (Traill College) or Zoom
- Register for the Zoom link
Time Management for Grad Students
Need help balancing competing time pressures and commitments from a variety of sources, such as research, course work, teaching commitments, and personal life? This workshop will help with project management skills and prioritizing through the establishment of long- and short-term goals. The process of conquering the workload will become more manageable.
- Date: Tuesday, October 17
- Place: WH 226 (Traill College) or Zoom
- Time: 7:00 to 8:30 pm
- Register for the Zoom link
Managing the Graduate Reading Load
The graduate reading load can be overwhelming. This workshop will help graduate students understand the goals of graduate reading, the key challenges of reading large volumes of text, the process of reading, and methods to deal with the graduate reading load effectively and efficiently. We will discuss note-taking strategies and some of the common pitfalls of graduate reading.
- Date: Tuesday, November 7
- Place: WH 226 (Traill College) or Zoom
- Time: 7:00 to 8:30 pm
- Register for the Zoom link
Common Writing Concerns for Graduate Students
This workshop will explore some of the common concerns seen in graduate writing assignments from course-based writing to research proposals and thesis writing. We will explore the writing process as an aid in clarifying the thought process. We will discuss style and flow in writing, the needs of the reader, and the basis of strong writing - the paragraph.
- Date: Tuesday, November 14
- Place: WH 226 (Traill College) or Zoom
- Time: 7:00 to 8:30 pm
- Register for the Zoom link
Winter 2023 Topics
Grammar for Graduate Students
Have you ever received feedback and you are not even sure what it means? What is a comma splice anyway? Then this workshop is for you! We will delve into the mysteries of English grammar to help you edit and improve your writing. We will consider topics such as: sentence structure, punctuation, subject-verb agreement, modifiers, active and passive voice, and parallel structure.
Writing about Quantitative Data for Grad Students
Are you planning on including quantitative data in your research project? Then this workshop was created for you! We will discuss how to organize your analysis for quantitative data, how to write about statistics, the best methods to visually present your data, and how to refer to figures in your writing. We will conclude with a discussion of how to explain your findings in the results and discussion section of your thesis.
Writing about Qualitative Data for Grad Students
Are you planning on including qualitative data in your research project? Then this workshop was created for you! We will discuss how to organize your analysis of qualitative data, the process of analysis, a discussion of NVivo analytic software, how to create and write about themes, the best methods to visually present your data, and how to refer to figures in your writing. We will conclude with a discussion of how to explain your findings in your thesis.
Survival Strategies for your Thesis Defence
This workshop will help graduate students understand the thesis defense process by demystifying the presentation, question period, and evaluation processes. We will discuss your thesis talk, including knowing your audience, explaining the rationale for your research, and telling your research story. We will provide strategies to handle the question period and some general survival tips.
Motivation Mondays: Graduate Students Writers’ Group
The graduate student writing group helps to develop writers with tips to improve their writing as well as build a community of writers to encourage and celebrate achievements of writing. Graduate students will be encouraged to set realistic writing goals on a weekly basis to monitor their progress and to maintain momentum with their writing.
Fall 2023: We will meet every Monday (except Oct. 9 and Oct. 23) starting on Monday, Sept. 18 from 10:30 to 11:30 am. The first two sessions in September will be in person and the remainder will be via hybrid delivery. Check the chart below for locations.
Register for one session and then you will get an email with the zoom link for all the hybrid sessions. Register at the Student Experience Portal
- Week 1: Sept 18 - Traill College Tent (outside)
- Introductions
- Tour of Scott House and workspaces
- Week 2: Sept 25 - Hybrid – WH 226 or Zoom
- Goal setting for the semester
- Planning: The Best Thesis Hack Ever
- Week 3: Oct 2 - Hybrid – WH 226 or Zoom
- Narrowing your topic
- Thesis Anxiety can be Good for You
- Holiday Monday: Oct 9
- No Motivation Monday
- Week 4: Oct 16 - Hybrid – WH 226 or Zoom
- Special Motivation Monday: Research Librarians
- Zotero Research Management Software
- Reading Week: Oct 23
- No Motivation Monday
- Week 5: Oct 30 - Hybrid – WH 226 or Zoom
- Writing Introductions
- Phone Addiction: From distractors to power devices
- Week 6: Nov 6 - Hybrid – WH 226 or Zoom
- Writing Conclusions
- Take the Stoic Challenge: Increase your Resilience
- Week 7: Nov 13 - Hybrid – WH 226 or Zoom
- Literature Reviews
- Ways to Stop Critical Self-talk
- Week 8: Nov 20 - Hybrid – WH 226 or Zoom
- Using Templates to join the Academic Conversation
- Overcome Thesis Inertia
- Week 9: Nov 27 - Hybrid – WH 226 or Zoom
- Creating Cohesion (Flow)
- Strategies to Prevent Burnout
- Week 10: Dec 4 - Hybrid – WH 226 or Zoom
- End-of-Year Reflection
- Celebrate your Success
Graduate Student Blackboard Site
An online resource for graduate students developed by Academic Skills that contains a wealth of information geared to writing at the graduate level. Topics include narrowing a topic, literature reviews, revision strategies, and motivation and procrastination. This site is available to all graduate students who have registered for a workshop or who have signed up for Motivation Mondays.
Services for Teaching Assistants
Referring Students
As a teaching assistant, you can refer students to Academic Skills for help with their math, reading, listening, writing, and grammar skills. Referrals can be made either by emailing acdskills@trentu.ca (please cc the student on the email) or by providing students with information about our services. Students can book appointments directly at www.trentu.ca/sep