A MESSAGE FROM THE SCIENCE HEAD SOPH ALIISA (YIP!)
Hi Class of 2028 - welcome to the Faculty of Science Soph Team page! On behalf of myself and the rest of the Head Soph Team, I want to welcome you all to Western University and be there alongside you for your first year journey. The five of us have worked incredibly hard over the past 10 months to ensure you have a seamless transition to university and to prepare you with the support you need for your first year. We’ve been working to ensure that you have a smooth transition, and continue to feel supported throughout the year by our Science Faculty Sophs, who have been working so hard and have been trained to understand how to support you to their best ability. We are committed and dedicated to being here for you in any way we can!
I’m sure you’ve wondered what our role is and how we will continue to be there for you throughout the year after O-Week. The Science Sophs are a group of upper year Faculty Orientation Volunteers and we are your first point of contact when arriving at Western. We are constantly on the grounds during Orientation Week and are there to help ease into school by bringing you out to events and connecting you with others in your faculty. We are trained to support you and to help you if you ever need anything. Another highlight in Orientation Week is Faculty Day, run by the Science Sophs so you can gain insight on some important aspects that will prepare you for your first week of school, including campus tours, professor panels, and presentations.
Throughout the year, we are here to support you with academic resources, we are your mentors and we are your friends! We are a team of 100 Sophs, where each one is placed in a particular residence building or OC group with a number of first years assigned to them. We are all in Science, so we all have the ability to speak from first-hand experience or relay you to somebody else who has gone through the courses and resources that you may have questions about.
Faculty Sophs will often come visit and drop by to check-in on you in your residences, or organize study sessions to make sure everything is going well and that you are adjusting well to school. But that being said - you can always reach out to your Soph for any questions you may have, you don’t have to wait until you run into them. You can reach out for things such as tips on how to do well in certain courses, ways to get more involved in extra-curricular activities, advice on handling the transition, any burning questions, and pretty much anything else you would want to know about Western or the Faculty of Science. Again - we are your connections to whatever you may need on campus so if you need something and don’t know where to go to get it, chances are your Soph can tell you!
One big piece of advice we would like to give you is to remain as open-minded as possible and take advantage of all the opportunities that will be coming your way. School certainly gets busy, and it can definitely be overwhelming at times. Make sure that you lean on your Soph and use your resources to the best of your abilities, your Soph and the Soph Team are here to help you with this difficult transition into this unfamiliar environment.
We hope that this information helps you out and that the Sophs have been able to help out wherever they can. Our contact information is outlined on this page as well so please don’t hesitate to reach out if any of you ever have questions about how to get involved in Orientation or if you have any feedback for us! Make sure to check back here often for updates from the Science Soph Team regarding upcoming events or important dates! Follow us on all our social media platforms to really keep up to date with what we are doing throughout the year! Have an amazing year!
Yours truly,
Aliisa, Alexia, Trevor, Elia, and Ryan.
(Science Head Soph Team)
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
OWL Brightspace is Western’s online learning management system, with each of your courses having a separate tab on the homepage. Within each course tab, you will find the course syllabus, posted lectures, readings, etc. This is where some profs may post online quizzes, assignments, important announcements, and also your grades for labs, assignments, and exams. You will likely end up using it almost every single day, so we encourage you to check it out even before courses start at https://westernu.brightspace.com/d2l/home in order to become comfortable with it. Make sure to check out the course syllabus and any announcements your profs have before classes start!
WHAT IS OWL Brightspace?
A course syllabus is a crucial document that you will get for each of your courses. It outlines your professors’ contact information, office hours, course content, course materials, assessment breakdowns, lab/tutorial information, and midterm dates - just to name a few. We cannot stress enough how important it is to read the course syllabus for each of your courses before classes start, or at the very least, within the next few days.
What is the course syllabus?
1. Email: Emailing your prof can be stressful, but sometimes it’s necessary, such as when you need exam accommodations. There are specific protocols for emailing professors in terms of the format, what to include, and when it is appropriate to email them. For example, some profs tell you not to email them about course content questions because there are teaching assistants (TAs) to handle them. This is all outlined in the course syllabus, which is another reason why it’s so important to read that document as soon as possible. Finally make sure to address them correctly e.g. Dear Dr. or Dear Professor.
2. Office hours: Office hours are a great opportunity to develop a relationship with your professors, which can often be tough with such big class sizes. You can go discuss any questions you have about course content, how to succeed in their course, or even just get general advice from them. The vast majority of profs genuinely enjoy talking to students, so we really encourage giving it a try. We know how intimidating it can be, but feel free to grab a friend and go together.
How do I contact the professor?
When you look at your textbook list on Student Center, some books will be required and others will be suggested. We recommend you look at your course syllabus before buying anything because sometimes profs say that the textbook is actually optional, or that you can buy used ones or previous editions. However, lab books need to be bought new from the bookstore, so there’s no getting around that. Profs usually talk about which books you need in the first class, so don’t feel pressured to buy every “required” textbook right away - we recommend waiting until the first class to find out details!
Do I need to buy my textbooks?
Labs are designed to let you apply your knowledge from lectures into practical experiments, whereas tutorials will often be used for Q&As with teaching assistants (TAs), and learning skills development. It’s important to remember that, unlike lectures, if you are more than 5 minutes late for a lab, you won’t be let in. Labs and tutorials usually don’t start until the second or third week of classes, but check your course syllabus/OWL announcements to be sure.
What is a tutorial/lab and when do they start?
Classes at Western always start on the half hour, and will usually end ten minutes early to give you enough time to walk to your next class - so no need to stress if you have back-to-back classes. For example, your lecture at 9:30 will likely end at 10:20 so that you can make it to your 10:30 class. As well, labs and tutorials are often scheduled on an alternating basis, which means that you’ll have a lab one week, a tutorial the next week, a lab the following week, etc. This may seem kind of confusing, but it is very clearly outlined in your course syllabus, so make sure to check that out!
How do schedules work?
If you need to miss a lab because you’re sick, or for compassionate reasons, the protocol for what to do is explained, in detail, in your course syllabus. You will have to submit a form (found on the Science Academic Counselling website), and some kind of documentation to Academic Counselling, and if approved, the lab will likely not count. As long as you follow the instructions in the course syllabus, everything will be okay! However, if you just forgot or slept in, you can try to talk to your professor about it, but there’s often not much they can do for you. You can also use your Self-Report tool, for which you have one-per-semester - check academic counselling for more information on this tool!
What happens when I miss a lab?
There are so many study spots on campus, but common ones are residence study rooms, Taylor Library (located in the Natural Sciences Centre), and Weldon Library (near the University Community Centre). If you ever need help finding a library or study spot, just ask your soph! You can even just grab some friends and try to explore new study spots across campus.
Where are the study spots?
The short answer is: you can use whatever works best for you. Some people prefer printing out lecture slides and writing notes on them, but many prefer typing them out because it is faster. It might also depend on which class it is (e.g. written notes may be better for math courses). What matters is that you’re engaged in the lecture and not just writing down what the prof says word-for-word, so find what works best for you!
What do I use to take notes?
You can add and drop courses online on your Student Centre page. The deadline to add/drop/swap any second-term courses is January 14, 2025, and the deadline to drop second-term courses online without academic penalty is March 31, 2025. When adding or dropping courses, make sure to consider which courses you need for your program by consulting the Academic Calendar online, which also has all the important dates you will need. As well, it never hurts to book an appointment with Academic Counselling if you’re unsure about anything in this process!
How to add/drop courses?
Recording lectures can be very helpful, especially if you tend to lose focus in class. However, you must ask your prof for permission first because their lectures are considered their intellectual property, and often contain their own research. Most profs will let you record them if you ask, and some will even record and post them for you on OWL!
Can I record lectures?
Western provides a plethora of resources for course help; there are peer-mentorship groups, office hours, teaching assistants, and learning skill workshops - just to name a few. Because the resources available often depend on the course, a good starting point is to ask one of your sophs because they will have a good understanding of the various resources available. It can sometimes be difficult to ask for help, but sophs are solely here to support you, and will be more than happy to point you in the right direction.
Where do I go if I’m struggling with a course?
Science & Basic Medical Sciences Academic Counselling is your go-to place for academic advising, questions about your program/degree/courses, counselling, and help for moving examinations! They are located in room 280 in the North Campus Building (NCB). They can also be reached by their email (scibmsac@uwo.ca) or by phone (519-661-3040). Make sure you include your student number in any emails or messages you leave them! Check out more info on their website: https://www.uwo.ca/sci/counselling/index.html