Most New Year’s resolutions include a makeover of eating or exercise habits, but it’s also a great time for a makeover of students’ academic habits.

At the start of a new year “you’re automatically given a fresh start,” said Reed Hilton-Eddy, a learning skills strategist at the Ryerson University Learning Success Centre. “It’s both literally and figuratively a new year, with the start of a new semester, so it’s a great time for making changes to academic habits and making some new goals.

If you’re not where you want to be (academically), you have to examine where you want to be and what it is you’re doing day-to-day that is helping or hindering your success academically,” said Hilton-Eddy.

For students such as Andrew Jennings, 18, who are starting the New Year on academic probation, setting goals is especially important. “It’s a real wake-up call,” said the business management student. “This is the last step before the real world, and you don’t want to mess it up.”

Jennings’ academic resolutions for the New Year include attending every class and putting aside time to read texts. He also plans on using academic resources – now that he knows about them.

Students such as Jennings are generally required to attend the Learning Success Centre, located in the basement of the Victoria building, under the terms of their probationary contract, said Hilton-Eddy.

The Learning Success Centre offers 50-minute seminars on various learning skills, individual consultations with trained peers, maintains the tutor registry, has drop-in tutoring for various programs, operates learning groups and offers online tip sheets and resources.

Hilton-Eddy also suggests students contact English Language Support if their written or conversational English skills are lacking. The service is not just for students to whom English is a second language or those who didn’t speak English at home, but for anyone who is struggling with speaking or writing in English. “Even though they speak English, attending French immersion for six years may be having an impact,” she said.

As well, the Ryerson Writing Centre, located in the library, offers peer tutoring, workshops and handouts on all aspects of university-level writing.

“The moment you are struggling, get help,” said Hilton-Eddy. “Not right before the midterm when it’s a huge issue.”

These are Reed Hilton -Eddy’s top three tips for succeeding academically this year:

1) Develop effective time management skills – even though there aren’t a lot of assignments due in the first couple weeks of class. Hilton-Eddy said it is important to be aware of how you are spending your time. “It is really easy to sit down after class intending to watch half an hour of television and get up five hours later,” she said. If the traditional time management of using an agenda book is not for you, there are many other methods that can be found online, said Hilton-Eddy.

2) Work on setting priorities and goals – If you don’t know what your goals are, it makes it pretty difficult to determine what it is going to take to get there, said Hilton-Eddy. “Sometimes, there are weeks when everything is due at the same time,” she said. “You need to prioritize whether you really need that cup of coffee with your friend, or if your time could be better spent.”

3) Determine your learning style – online questionnaires can help you determine the way that you most effectively take in and process information. “If you discover that you don’t use auditory skills, but you’re a visual learner, maybe you need to go from using notes to diagrams,” said Hilton-Eddy. “Use that information to your advantage.” One of the most popular tests of learning styles is Felder's.