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Guidelines and Procedures

Our programs and services are available to current Toronto Met students.

SLLS acknowledges the importance of academic integrity issues on Toronto Met campus and the need for students to take full responsibility for their own work. However, the nature of our work as responders to student academic struggles, and providers of academic support necessarily puts us into grey territory related to the collaborative effort. Indeed, we acknowledge that the idea of learning and studying as a strictly solitary act is problematic. Doing our work effectively may occasionally mean being, what some would view as, excessively collaborative in the learning process. We are very vigilant and strive to ensure an appropriate balance of good learning support for students and responsible dedication to academic integrity, but realize that this is a delicate balance.

  • We operate as a civil learning community - our goal is to ensure a free exchange of ideas in an atmosphere of mutual respect and we require all interactions in SLLS to be in accordance with that principle. 
  • We are committed to respecting the personal privacy of all visitors - personal information is collected under the authority of the Toronto Metropolitan University Act, and may be used to support decisions related to program planning and development, reports, and professional training.
  • We are committed to removing barriers to access – we will do our best to eliminate barriers to our services and create mechanisms for identifying where we have failed in those attempts.
  • We reserve the right to deny reservation privileges – those students who fail to show up for multiple appointments or contravene civility policies and the Student Code of Conduct, risk losing their reservation privileges.

  • Due to  (PDF file) Toronto Met Policy, we are unable to help with take-home tests or exams. 
  • SLLS will focus on the process over content – SLS staff cannot be expected to be subject-matter experts and the primary focus of their support will be upon the student learning processes as opposed to the specific content of their work.
  • SLLS will; employ a flexible, mixed approach to academic support – on the one hand, a minimalist, conversational approach to help students develop their own ideas and, on the other, a more directive approach to scaffold student learning development. One size does not fit all.
  • SLLS will avoid editing and proofreading student written work– we recognize that proofreading and editing is an important aspect of an effective writing process so aim to nurture this skill development in our students. Editing for the students, in most cases, tends to increase dependency and can contravene certain principles of academic integrity.
  • SLLS will not contribute directly to the content of student work – this includes direct editing and proofreading of written assignments, help with take-home exams, math homework, etc. The reasons for this are obvious.
  • SLLS will employ appropriately modified techniques for students who require accommodations – we recognize that students with learning disabilities or other exceptionalities will not benefit equally from standard policy and procedure. 

Our goal is to be available to the broad Toronto Met community of students. Our appointment limits allow for equitable distribution of time and prevents over-dependency on the service.

  • Math and Computer Science Appointments: 2 per day and 4 per week
  • Peer Coaching Appointments: 1 per day and 2 per week
  • Writing and Language Support:  maximum of 3  appointments per week across all appointment types
    • English Speaking and Listening appointment: 2 per day and 3 per week
    • Grammar/Supported Self-Editing appointment: 2 per day and 3 per week
    • Academic Writing appointment: 1 per day and 2 per week
  • Graduate-Level Writing appointments: 1 per day or week

Our online system allows students to book, cancel, and reschedule sessions.Students are required to cancel an upcoming session at least 2-hours in advance.

If a student cancels their registration with less than the minimum of 2-hours notice, is late by more than 5-minutes, or misses the session, it will count towards a missed/late cancellation. 

Two (2) missed or late cancellation sessions will result in an account being blocked and any future SLS registrations are automatically cancelled from the account. There is no guarantee that sessions will be available after the account is reinstated.

If a student is late by more than 5-minutes for a workshop/event, their session will be offered to a student on the waiting list in priority sequence. If a student is late by more than 5-minutes for an appointment, our staff will not be able to conduct the session in order to maintain the quality of service.

Process for accounts blocked after two (2) missed/late cancellation of appointments or workshops. 

The following is the procedure you can follow in appealing your first blocked account status.