Everything You Need to Know About Creative Industries Academic Advising

When I was in high school, my guidance counsellor was my go-to for any questions I had about my courses, my future plans or anything really. In university, if you need advice on anything to do with your academics, your program’s academic advisor is your person. I have reached out to my Creative Industries academic advisors many times, and was made aware of their excellence before I even started. I was recently able to chat with Paula Rayson, the Manager of Academic and Student Affairs for Creative Industries Academic Advising (CRI Advising), and ask her about academic advising for current and future students.

Answer: My name is Paula Rayson. I've been with Creative Industries since before it launched. I was brought on in March 2013, and we took our first cohort in September 2013. Prior to that, I was at York University as a Senior Advisor. I've been doing this for most of my adult professional life. Before that, my background was in broadcast media and in law. 

Currently, my role is Manager of Academic and Student Affairs, so I deal with anything academic-related for the school. I do anything curriculum-related, and then I manage the School of Creative Industries Advising team, which currently consists of Kaityln (who is covering for Angela) and Leanna. We do everything student-related — we offer all the students support. We're here to make sure that students have somewhere to go to understand the academic side of their degree, which is everything from degree requirements, to exchange, to transfer credits — all that kind of stuff.

A: We're the people you should go to for any questions about your academic career. During your whole time at university, if you have questions about anything, you really should go to your home program. I would say, get to know your program’s staff and faculty, and get to know your program advisors. They're also really the only people you should be listening to for curriculum advice. They're the people that you should go to with any questions to do with your academic career.

A: When Admissions finalizes the incoming cohort they give us the list of new students and we hit the ground running. At that point we make initial contact with the incoming students, so we introduce ourselves and we say “look, this is what's going to happen: you've got to build your timetable for the fall semester and you need to unofficially declare your first module.” The reason we get students to do that is so that we can either manually enroll you into a module course where there is no choice, or we let you know what those [module] choices are. 

A: In addition to helping you build your timetable or we are also your first introduction to the school. We make sure that you're signed up for things like orientation because that's a great way to meet everybody. We make sure that you're doing things like bookmarking our website, and following us on social media because we post a lot of stuff on there in an effort to make sure students don't miss something. It's just trying to make sure first-year and upper-year students really know who we are. Even if they don't know our names, they know we’re who they contact, and that there'll be somebody on the other end, whether it's email or direct message, to help answer a question or point them in the right direction.

A: We offer a lot of email advising. We answer hundreds of emails a week during peak times. Email is a really good way to do advising because it puts everything in writing. I also use social media a lot to reach out to the students — I'm constantly posting. Through Instagram I do Top Five Tips every Friday, just about stuff that's coming up frequently. If I see something that's being asked a lot, I'll jump on there and chat about that. We also host Ask Us Anything sessions every two weeks. They're like virtual office hours. Basically, we're online and students would come by and ask us anything. We have a website as well. Anytime something's asked a lot, like if people ask about short-term withdrawals, or taking a Chang School summer course or minors, there'll be a tab. It's just another way for students to seek out information, outside of emailing. I highly recommend that students read the emails and follow us on social media to ensure they don’t miss out on anything

A: It's so different now because of COVID. Pre-COVID, I could always be found at different events, or I would periodically pop by the student lounge with cookies. Now that it's all stopped because everything is online. It is a lot trickier, during COVID. Instagram is a great way to put a face behind a name, and just remind students there is a human being here to help.

A: Honestly, I would just try not to overthink things too much. You've got to find a balance between enjoying university and achieving what you want to achieve. I'm not saying do one extreme or the other — don't spend your entire time focused on grades and then leave only to realize you didn't have a university experience. And on the other end, don't fail everything because you only went to parties. You've got to find a balance. University is about more than [grades], it's about making connections, it's about growing as an individual, having relationships, having breakups, having a bad roommate… make sure you have fun with it, but find a balance. Life has a way of figuring itself out. Sometimes it's negative, sometimes it's positive, but life has a way of just figuring itself out, so don't overthink it. 

As a third-year Creative Industries student, I can confirm that CRI Advising is a great resource and will always be there for you. I encourage all future Creative Industries students to reach out to them during their academic career if they have any questions or need any help with anything.