Learn
Overview
CGMS offers skills-based workshops for graduate students and faculty focused on understanding and resolving interpersonal challenges within supervisory relationships. Workshops may be booked by individual units, faculty groups, student associations, and other organizations, or you may RSVP to join a standing workshop offered by CGMS through the School of Graduate Studies. Please review the workshop list below for descriptions, dates, and registration information for our standing workshops. To book a workshop for your group, please contact us by email at cgms@utoronto.ca.
SGS Coffee Chats
SGS Coffee Chats for Faculty is a new series designed for reflection, connection, and shared growth in graduate supervision. Open to faculty at any career stage who supervise students in a research-stream program, this initiative blends storytelling, guided discussion, and collegial exchange to strengthen both technical and human aspects of mentorship. Learn more about SGS Coffee Chats for Faculty.
Faculty workshops (Winter 2026)
Facilitated by Aziza Kajan, Director, Centre for Graduate Mentorship and Supervision.
Managing boundaries and expectations is integral to a successful graduate supervisory relationship. Knowing how, and when, to communicate what we expect from someone can help mitigate future misunderstandings. Establishing professional, academic, and personal boundaries and expectations helps the supervisory relationship feel more predictable, trustworthy, and consistent.
This workshop will be comprised of case studies and reflective group discussions. We will also spend time highlighting interpersonal approaches and practical skills to help you establish boundaries and expectations within the supervisory relationship.
This workshop will be offered virtually on Tuesday January 27 from 12:00 – 1:30 PM ET: REGISTER HERE
If you are a member of a faculty group and would like us to come to you, please email us at cgms@utoronto.ca.
Facilitated by Aziza Kajan, Director, Centre for Graduate Mentorship and Supervision.
Communication is an important element to developing a successful supervisory relationship, and faculty supervisors often express difficulty in understanding what is required to communicate effectively with their graduate students. The Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER) offers an evidence-based curricula to address various aspects of supervision and researcher training, ranging from technical and academically oriented skill development to interpersonal capacity building.
The CGMS will be facilitating the “Maintaining Effective Communication” curriculum as part of our fall programming. In this workshop, faculty participants can expect to learn how to do the following:
“1. Provide constructive feedback
2. Communicate effectively across diverse dimensions including varied backgrounds, disciplines, generations, ethnicities, positions of power, etc.
3. Identify different communication styles
4. Engage in active listening
5. Use multiple strategies for improving communication (in person, at a distance, across multiple mentors, and within proper personal boundaries)”
This workshop is appropriate for faculty at any stage in their supervision but may be most helpful for early career faculty. We encourage participants to come prepared to engage in activities including self-reflection and group discussion. If you would like to read more about the CIMER project and the materials that will be used, you can read more here: https://cimerproject.org/
This workshop will be offered virtually on Tuesday March 24 from 12:00 – 2:00 PM ET: REGISTER HERE
If you are a member of a faculty group and would like us to come to you, please email us at cgms@utoronto.ca.
Thank you to our Fall 2025 cohort! We will be offering this workshop again in the Fall 2026 term.
Facilitated by Prof John Peever, Professor, Cell & Systems Biology, and Vice-Dean, Students, School of Graduate Studies, Prof Elizabeth Page-Gould, Professor & Graduate Chair, Department of Psychology, Prof Keir Moulton, Associate Professor & Graduate Chair, Department of Linguistics, Dr. Michal Kasprzak, Assistant Director, Centre for Teaching Support & Innovation/Teaching Assistants’ Training Program, and Aziza Kajan, Director, Centre for Graduate Mentorship and Supervision.
This workshop is designed for pre-tenure faculty members and others who are new to a supervisory role at the University of Toronto. In this interactive session, you will learn:
- Key milestones and policies you need to know as a graduate supervisor
- Best practices in selecting and recruiting students, and matching research interests
- How to co-create student-centered academic plans and professional experiences
- How to document student progress and tips on providing effective feedback
- How U of T can support your development and success as a supervisor
This workshop will offer practical advice, grounded in discussion of realistic case studies of supervisory practice at the University of Toronto, and includes perspectives from peer faculty recognized for their outstanding graduate supervision.
Thank you to our Fall 2025 cohort! We will be offering this workshop again in the Fall 2026 term.
Facilitated by Dr. Pearl Levey, Accommodations Specialist for Practicums/Placements/Laboratories, Accessibility Services, Sezgi Ozel, Team Lead, Graduate and Professional Programs, Accessibility Services, Aziza Kajan, Director, Centre for Graduate Mentorship and Supervision, and Lauren Pais, Case-Coordinator, Centre for Graduate Mentorship and Supervision.
This workshop is designed to support graduate supervisors and graduate unit administrative faculty to understand the responsibilities for accessibility, accommodations and supporting students with disabilities in graduate research programs. In this session, you will gain insight into the accommodation process from start to finish including:
- The impact of our own biases and misunderstandings around disabilities and accommodations
- The philosophy of accommodating in graduate school
- The legal expectations, and roles, for accommodating
- What accommodations can look like in the context of graduate supervision
- Strategies for supportive communication regarding disability within the supervisory relationship
This workshop will be facilitated by experts from the University of Toronto Accessibility Services Office who will offer practical advice and answer your questions on best practices in accommodation.
Student workshops (Winter 2026)
Facilitated by Aziza Kajan, Director, Centre for Graduate Mentorship and Supervision and Lauren Pais, Case Coordinator, Centre for Graduate Mentorship and Supervision.
The SGS Supervision Guidelines is a document that will help you as a graduate student understand best practices in graduate supervision. Join us for this overview of the Supervision Guidelines including an overview of the roles and responsibilities of students, supervisors, and committee members. We will reflect on different supervisory styles, provide a summary of the SGS regulations for making satisfactory progress and maintaining good academic standing, and discuss steps for what to do if you need academic accommodations. Participants will be provided with scenarios for discussion and problem-solving.
This workshop will be offered virtually on Friday January 9 from 12:00 – 1:30 PM ET: REGISTER HERE
If you are a member of a student group and would like us to come to you, please email us at cgms@utoronto.ca.
Facilitated by Aziza Kajan, Director, Centre for Graduate Mentorship and Supervision, Lauren Pais, Case Coordinator, Centre for Graduate Mentorship and Supervision.
Is there something you would like to say to a supervisor or colleague, and you are struggling to find a way to say it? Do you find it challenging to have an uncomfortable conversation? In this workshop, we will discuss what is meant by a courageous conversation, and where these conversations fit in the supervisory relationship. This workshop will be comprised of case studies and reflective group discussions; we gently request you attend with an openness to engage in group dialogue. We will also spend time highlighting interpersonal approaches and skills to help you have these conversations.
This workshop will be offered virtually on Friday March 6 from 12:00 – 1:30 PM ET: REGISTER HERE
If you are a member of a student group and would like us to come to you, please email us at cgms@utoronto.ca.
Past events
CGMS participated in a number of graduate student orientations and faculty meetings in 2025. We enjoyed meeting you!
Please feel welcome to invite us to attend a future faculty / staff meeting, student orientation / group meeting, etc., to provide a 10–15 minute introduction of the CGMS service. For further details and scheduling a visit, contact us at cgms@utoronto.ca.
- Best Practices for a Successful Supervisory Relationship: Student Workshop (August 26, 2025, 12:00 PM – 1:30 PM ET)
- How to Succeed as a Graduate Supervisor: Faculty Workshop (October 8, 2025, 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM ET)
- Accessibility, Accommodations, and Graduate Supervision: Faculty Workshop (October 15, 2025, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM ET)
- Having Courageous Conversations: Student Workshop (October 16, 2025, 3:00 PM – 4:30 PM ET)
- Communicating Boundaries and Expectations in the Supervisory Relationship: Faculty Workshop (November 5, 2025, 12:00 PM – 1:00 PM ET)
- Communicating Boundaries and Expectations in the Supervisory Relationship: Faculty Workshop (March, 7, 2025, 11:00 AM – 1:00 PM ET)
- Having Courageous Conversations: Student Workshop (February 13, 2025, 3:00-5:00 PM ET)
- Best Practices and Recommendations for Developing and Maintaining a Successful Supervisory Relationship: Student Workshop (February 4, 2025, 3:00–5:00 PM ET)
- Best Practices and Recommendations for Developing and Maintaining a Successful Supervisory Relationship: Student Workshop (October 1, 2024, 3:00–5:00 PM ET)
- How to Succeed as a Graduate Supervisor: Faculty Workshop (October 16, 2024, 1:00–3:00 PM ET)
- Having Courageous Conversations: Student Workshop (October 22, 2024, 10:00 AM–12:00 PM ET)
- How to Give More Effective Writing Feedback to Graduate Students: Faculty Workshop (November 7, 2024, 12:00–1:30 PM ET)
- Communicating Boundaries and Expectations in the Supervisory Relationship: Faculty Workshop (November 20, 2024, 1:30–3:00 PM ET)
- Accessibility, Accommodations, and Graduate Supervision: Faculty Workshop (November 27, 2024, 11:00 AM–1:00 PM ET)
- Managing Interpersonal Challenges in the Supervisory Relationship: Faculty Workshop (February 6, 2024, 10:00 AM–12:00 PM ET)
- Managing Interpersonal Challenges in the Supervisory Relationship: Student Workshop (January 30, 2024, 10:00 AM–12:00 PM ET)
- Understanding Conflict: Faculty Workshop (November 24, 2023, 3:30–5:00 PM ET)
- Understanding Conflict: Student Workshop (November 16, 2023, 3:30–5:00 PM ET)
- Having Difficult Conversations: Faculty Workshop (October 17, 2023, 3:30–5:00 PM ET)
- Having Difficult Conversations: Student Workshop (October 12, 2023, 3:30–5:00 PM ET)