The evolution of Student Life and Learning Support

Part of ensuring students succeed in university is creating opportunities for connection so they can achieve their vision of success in and out of the classroom.

Student Life and Learning Support (SLLS) in the Department of Student Affairs places this goal at the centre of their work. Originally built as two separate units, they merged into one unit in 2019 as a way to combine the efforts of supporting students’ academic and personal development. 

“Our goal as student affairs educators is to always put the students first in all our student success initiatives,” said Jen Gonzales, executive director, Student Affairs. “The life of a student has lots of peaks and valleys - creating a unit that supports the whole student life cycle, including warm referrals to other campus supports as they progress on their journey, ensures their experience is holistic, connective and creates conditions for students to be successful.” 

Student Life and Learning Support houses four main units: Student Life and Campus Engagement; International Student Support; Learning Support; and Tri-Mentoring Program. Their areas of support range from social events and the international student experience to tutoring, peer mentorship and orientation.

Soon after the two areas merged, Kait Taylor-Asquini stepped into the role of SLLS director in January 2020 and wasted no time bringing the two sides together, opening lines of communication and investing in team building as a way to shift the traditional culture of student life and learning support. 

“Historically, student life is often viewed as the event and party planners on campus - we wanted to change that narrative, focusing on the development of the whole student through an intentionally designed curriculum,” Taylor-Asquini said. “Our team came together and we provided opportunities for folks to share their work with their colleagues across Student Life and Learning Support. As the team learned more about the work happening in SLLS, it provided an organic approach to conversations about collaborative opportunities and integrative approaches to student support.”

It all started with a curriculum

The creation of the SLLS curriculum, Road Through Ryerson: Student Experience Guide, helped reimagine programming, and focused on the outcomes of experiences for students and how they contributed to the development of the whole student. 

“Creating those exceptional, transformative experiences for students through intentional activity outside of the classroom - international student support, orientation, mentoring - all of these different pieces contribute to the whole student experience,” Taylor-Asquini said. “Holistic development in the university setting is really about educators seeing students as whole people and working together to meet student needs in an expansive way.”

Taylor-Asquini adds that moving to the fourth floor of the Student Learning Centre also helped bridge the gap between student life and learning support programming initiatives. Sharing one space together made community-building more accessible to students.

As a meeting of minds was starting to take place in SLLS, facilitators in Learning Support also started to learn more about students and discover that low grades or poor academic skills weren’t always a result of students not applying themselves academically. Krystal Valentine, manager, Student Learning and Academic Engagement, says while students may come in for math or writing support, they sometimes reveal personal details about themselves that shines a light on broader issues at play.

“Our programming is created in a way that helps students build their identity as learners. Not in a cookie-cutter way, but rather to help them meet their goals and provide transferable skills that can be applied both academically and socially,” Valentine said. “In working with students, we often learn about external factors that affect their school life: working two jobs while going to school, not getting enough sleep because of a stressful home situation. The greater our knowledge as learning support professionals about the holistic student experience, the better we can refer students to programs and services that expand their support system beyond tutoring and study skills workshops.”

Customized support

Following a one size does not fit all philosophy has helped SLLS create supports that are unique to students’ lives and prioritizes equity-deserving students. Tri-Mentoring was founded on the premise of connecting first-generation and racialized students with mentors as they navigated university life. The addition of Mofi Badmos as the first Black student support facilitator in February 2022 allowed TMP to expand their programming for Black-identified students. Student Life and Campus Engagement, which organizes orientation and year-round community-building events, launched the first Black Student Experience (external link)  and International Student Experience (external link)  at Orientation in September 2021 as a way to cater to these specific student communities.

Learning Support is also working on building out supports for equity-deserving students and students with diverse needs. They have launched Study Link, an academic support group for racialized women and non-binary graduate students. 

“Considering student input and feedback, and utilizing the experiences of our diverse staff in SLLS, we’re focused on providing supportive experiences and programming that creates space and community for equity-deserving students,” Taylor-Asquini said. “We know that students come to the university every day with diverse experiences and backgrounds, and we’re focused on creating pathways to resources so that students are defining their own meaning of success, and contributing to their journey of realizing their potential.”

For more information about Student Life and Learning Support, please visit their website and follow them on Instagram @ryersonslls (external link) .