New Graduate Program Directors Orientation Meeting

1
New Graduate Program Directors Orientation
Meeting

• Fall 2003

2
A Lot to Discuss

• Working Together Roles and Duties of Graduate
  Program Directors, the Dean and Associate Dean
• Deadlines
• Admissions
• Conflict Resolution
• FAQs/Information Sources

• Supervision
• Funding
• Retention
• Research Integrity and Responsibility
• Intellectual Property
• Postdocs
• Career development

3
Expectations

• GPDs and Graduate Program Secretaries will attend
  GPSO and Deans meetings
• GPDs will report back to the department on
  meetings
• GPDs will initiate activities in the department
  to address issues

4
Role/Duties of Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral
Studies

• Oversee GPSO
• Develop Graduate and Postdoc Policy
• Develop Performance Indicators
• External Relations

• Develop processes to improve
• Grad and postdoc education and funding
• Supervisory process
• Recruitment initiatives
• Fellowship availability

5
Role/Duties of Associate Dean of Graduate and
Postdoctoral Studies

• Disciplinary Officer for graduate students and
  postdocs
• Help departments with students in serious
  difficulty and problematic supervisory situations

• Develop processes to improve
• Fellowship processes
• Supervisory processes
• Conflict resolution processes

6
How is this done?

• Committees (GPSC,RPC, SCTP, APPC, UCSSA, UAC,
  CSA, Critical Incidents)
• Workshops/Info Sessions/Materials
• Interactions with Students/Departments

• Meeting with GPSO personnel
• Generating data with University Planning Office

7
Role of the Graduate Program Director

• Communication link between departments and the
  Deans Office and GSPO
  
  e-mail pathways and website
• With GPS, instruct students re procedures
  policies
• Interpret GPS policies guidelines for the
  department
• Mediate in problematic supervisory situations

8
Expectations for the Graduate Program Director

• Know the universitys policies procedures
  (general information booklet and green book)
• Know the departments written policies (handbook)
• Inform students professors of policies
  procedures and funding possibilities

• Inform students professors of your role as
  mediator of pathways for resolving conflict
• Inform students professors of supervisory
  processes practices
• Attend meetings information workshops on
  graduate education

9
Deadlines
Fall Winter Summer Applications March
1 Nov. 1 Feb. 1 Admissions
Foreign May March Canadian June Registra
tion New Students August December April St
atistics September RECU Mid Feb. End
June End October
Registration Returning StudentsMarch to
July All Returning students must register
annually until graduation The only exception is
students in thesis program who submit their
thesis to the Thesis Office by the end of August
and who were registered the previous year. These
students are not required to register for the
following year, but they may choose to register.
10
Deadline Issues

• University deadlines from within the automated
  Student Record System
• MINERVA
• class roll generation
• submission of marks
• Deadlines from other offices government
• Missing a deadline often results in the need for
  manual processing

• Difficulties associated with manual processing
• time consuming
• delay of other processes
• prone to error
• costly
• Student is responsible for his/her own record
• Faculty deadlines regulations are in the
  General Information Booklet and on the web

11
Admissions

• Use our Viewbook for your admissions packages and
  recruitment efforts
• Admissions letters require careful wording See
  Dos and Donts

12
Pathways for Conflict Resolution

• Sensible Admissions
• Clear university departmental policies
• Explicit procedures policies
• students professors
• GPS re procedures
• policies

• Departmental problem solving
• University problem solving

13
Departmental Problem Solving

• Supervisor
• Supervisor Student
• GPD
• GPD Supervisor
• GPD Student
• GPD Supervisor Student
• Chair
• Chair Supervisor
• Chair Student
• Chair Supervisor Student

14
University Problem Solving

• Student ? Ombudsperson ? Assoc. Dean
• ? GDP
• ? Supervisor
• Student ? Assoc. Dean ? GPD ? as above
• ? Supervisor ? as above
• ? Critical ? as below
• Incidents
• Committee
• Chair/GPD ? Assoc. Dean ? Critical Incidents
• Committee/Mental Health
• leaves
• discipline
• hospitalization
• arrests

15
Frequently Asked Questions by New GPDs Readings
16
The GREAT NEW Website

• Designed to give FULL information
• Encourage its use
• Please give us suggestions
• Barbara.Whiston_at_McGill.Ca
• http//www.mcgill.ca/gps
• We still answer the telephone [phone]

17
New Information

• Smooth Sailing A Guide to Navigating Graduate
  Studies at McGill
• A Guidebook on Graduate Student Funding
• Guidelines for Postdocs and Departments

18
Graduate Student Orientation

• http//www.mcgill.ca/gps
• Information for New Students
• Take Our Orientation Tour
• A Mandatory Event
• Lighten It Up

19
Supervision

• Encourage all new professors to attend the
  workshops announced on the listserv 2x/year
• Distribute Tips in the Department
• Share new CGS booklet on mentoring

20
Hot GPS Topics at McGill

• Graduate Student Funding
• Graduate Retention
• Annual Progress Tracking
• Integrity and Responsible Conduct of Research
• Intellectual Property
• Postdoctoral Issues
• Career Placement

21
Graduate Funding

• Be sure to attend the Fall workshops on graduate
  fellowships that pertain to your disciplinary
  area
• There are both provincial and federal fellowships
  for graduate students and postdocs
• Canada Graduate Scholarships-new federal
  fellowships _at_ 17.5 K and 35K for 3 years
• See our new funding guidebook on the web

22
Graduate Funding -2

• NB
• Graduate fellowships and stipends paid from
  grants are tax-exempt in Quebec RA salaries are
  not. PAY STIPENDS WHEN POSSIBLE
• Stipend money from a grant for work on
  research in the area of the students thesis
• RA salary money from a grant for work not in
  the area of a students thesis work

23
McGills Situation

• Increased funds from the operating budget go to
  the McGill Graduate Studies Fellowships
  (MGSF5000)
• - number of fellowship holders
• - availability of fellowships in the
  discipline
• - number of international students

24
McGills Situation-2

• Guaranteed Funding is strongly encouraged but not
  mandatory for all units
• Only take the number of students you can properly
  fund
• Largest single source of funding is from
  professors grants
• (30 FACSCI)
• Beware of other universities press releases

25
Differential Fee Waivers (dfw)

• Differential Fee Waivers come from the Quebec
  government
• - 10 international students
• -117 for all graduate students at McGill
• -MGSFs are almost the same as dfws they can
  be used for international students

26
Retention A Canadian Study

• A study of the 1992 cohort by the G10
• 3 factors
• Graduation rates
• Time to completion
• Time to Leaving

27
Percent Graduated PhD

• They represent the averages from the 3
  universities with the minimum, median, and
  maximum rates
• Some rates are shockingly low

28
PhD Time to Completion (in semesters)

• They represent the averages from the 3
  universities with the minimum, median, and
  maximum rates
• Medians are highest in Humanities and Social
  Sciences

29
PhD Time to Leaving(in semesters)

• They represent the averages from the 3
  universities with the minimum, median, and
  maximum rates
• Some times to leaving are extremely long

30
Percent of Total Dropouts - All
DisciplinesDoctoral
31
Improvement is Necessary

• Mandatory Annual Progress Tracking Procedure is
  under approval by the Senate Await notification
  on the listserv
• Advisory/Supervisory Committees are very
  important
• See Approaches to Attrition. Discuss them in the
  department

32
Integrity

• Make sure your students understand plagiarism
• A definition to share is at http//www.mcgill.ca/i
  ntegrity/studentguide
• It can have grave consequences at the graduate
  level
• Report suspected plagiarism to the Associate Dean
  (GPS)

33
Responsible Conduct of Research

• Make sure your graduate students know about
• Ethical approval for human subjects research
• Animal care workshops
• Bio-hazardous and radioactive materials workshops
• Consider including it in the research methods
  course

34
Intellectual Property

• Make sure you and your students read our
  intellectual property policy (red book) and
  discuss it
• Make sure students working with non-university
  partners sign an NUP agreement with that partner
• Watch for announcement on the listserv (see Jim
  Nemes)
• Make sure you and your student read the
  universitys authorship policy (red book) and
  discuss it

35
Postdoctoral Issues -1

• The federal research councils will pay for
  mandatory extended insurance for postdocs
• All postdocs are members of PGSS
• PGSS insurance is mandatory
• Encourage your professors to request funding for
  the insurance of their postdocs

36
Postdoctoral Issues-2

• Rules for postdoc registration are set by the MEQ
  for 5 years, no more than 5 years after the PhD
• See MEQ website at http//www.meq.gouv.qc.ca
• After time limits postdocs must leave or be
  converted to Research Associates (an employment
  category with benefits and immigration and time
  implications)

37
Postdoctoral Issues -3

• A letter of agreement for postdoctoral
  education is now necessary for registration
• -template is on the website at
  http//www.mcgill.ca/gps/postdoc (under
  information guidelines for postdocs)
• Postdocs should not teach more than one course a
  year
• Postdocs need to pay for student services

38
Postdoctoral Issues - 4

• International postdocs have tax exemptions for
  75 of their fellowship
• Fellowships are tax exempt salaries are not
• See the government website http//www.meq.gouv.qc.
  ca/ens-sup/ens-univ/recherche-univ.asp

39
Career and Placement Opportunities

• CAPS has a graduate career counselor
• Departmental Activities
• Individual consultations
• university wide workshops on careers in and
  outside of academia
• ENCOURAGE YOUR STUDENTS TO USE THE SERVICE AND
  REQUEST DEPARTMENTAL SESSIONS
• (Tel [phone])