Guidelines for the awarding of financial support to graduate students

  1. Allocation of funds to Academic Units from the School of Graduate Studies
    1. Funds from the budget of the School of Graduate Studies will be allocated to academic units on an annual basis for the support of their graduate students.
    2. Recommendations for the awarding of these funds must be forwarded to the School of Graduate Studies for approval and disbursement according to the following procedures.
  2. Procedures for the allocation of SGS funds to students
    1. Only full-time students are eligible for any type of financial award. A full time graduate student cannot commit more than twenty-four hours per week to employment. Any changes in a student's registration status will normally be made for a minimum of one semester. Normally, only one such change in status will be permitted in any one semester.
    2. Funds allocated by the School are to be awarded on the basis of academic merit. In the case of students holding degrees from North American universities, eligibility will normally be restricted to those with an overall average of 75% in all courses attempted (excluding those in the first year of an undergraduate programme). An equivalent level of performance will be required for students holding degrees from other universities.
    3. All financial awards will normally be offered to the student at the time of admission. Awards will normally be made for a one year period, and may be renewed for one additional year in the case of a Master's candidate, and two additional years in the case of a Doctoral candidate.
    4. Master's students funded by the School of Graduate Studies, who transfer to a Doctoral program, in accordance with General Regulation A.2.a), shall receive the standard baseline differential support awarded to Master's vs. Doctoral students currently in place in the student's home department or program, backdated to the commencement date of his/her Master's program. The cost will be attributed to the relevant School of Graduate Studies baseline funding.
    5. When special individual circumstances warrant, a one-time lump sum payment may be made to a student at any time.
    6. Funds from the School's allocation to an academic unit may not be used to extend the period of financial support beyond the periods outlined above for any student who was the recipient of a major scholarship or award, except as outlined in II(vii) below.
    7. In exceptional cases requests for funding not in accordance with items ii)-v) may be considered. A period of supplementary funding beyond that specified in item iii) will not normally exceed one semester. A request may also be made for a one-semester period of support from the School of Graduate Studies funds for students previously supported by a major scholarship or award.
    8. An academic unit may request the re-allocation of funds originally set aside for a student who fails to begin their programme, but the recommendation for such a re-allocation must be received by the School on or before the 1st of October, February, or June, as appropriate. Such re-allocation shall be governed by 2.ii and, normally, shall only take effect at the beginning of next semester.
    9. Students who have been awarded an external scholarship valued at more than $10,000 normally may not receive more than $3,000 in additional support drawn from the allocation made by the School of Graduate Studies to the academic unit.
  3. Administration of graduate student support (regardless of source).
    1. Recommendations for adjustments to the level or source(s) of bi-weekly funding received by any student must be submitted to the School of Graduate Studies prior to the beginning of the semester in which these changes will take effect.
    2. When special individual circumstances warrant, lump sum payments from sources other than the SGS allocation may be made at any time.
    3. When funding for a student is renewed for the second year of a Master's programme, or the second or third year of a Doctoral programme, the level of funding will normally be at least equal to that received from the University and administered by the School in the initial year of the programme.
  4. Graduate Assistantships
    1. Graduate assistantships are an integral part of graduate student funding. The remuneration for GA duties forms a portion of the student's financial support, and is awarded and paid on a semester basis. The duties to be performed by a student holding an appointment as a GA will be assigned by the academic unit. Students holding GA appointments are expected to perform 56 hours of work per unit (i.e. an average of four hours per week over a 14 week semester), and the remuneration for each unit will be $750. No student may be awarded more than 8 GA units in any given year from the School of Graduate Studies allocation.. Required duties may include assisting in research and/or teaching, including marking of assignments, invigilation of examinations, or laboratory demonstration.
February, 1999