D.1 General principles of SGS fellowships

School of Graduate Studies baseline funds for the awarding of SGS fellowships are

allocated to academic units at MUN by the Dean of Graduate Studies on a fiscal-year (April 1- March 31) basis for the support of graduate students according to the “Guidelines for the Awarding of SGS Fellowships to Graduate Students” (http://www.mun.ca/sgs/support_guidelines.pdf).

The School of Graduate Studies does not specify minimum levels of financial support for graduate students in various academic units at MUN. Rather, individual academic units within MUN design funding norms that combine School of Graduate Studies fellowship support with other sources (external or internal scholarship, research assistantship paid by the supervisor’s grant or contract, etc.) in order to achieve financial packages that reflect estimated cost of living in St. John’s. The policy for using SGS fellowships to support graduate students in the Environmental Science Program is established by the Board of Study.

Recommendation for awarding a SGS fellowship must be forwarded to the School of Graduate Studies for approval and disbursement according to the criteria and procedures below:

i.Student eligibility criteria - Students must be registered as full time in a baseline- supported master’s or doctoral program in order to receive a School of Graduate Studies fellowship. (Note: M.Env.Sci. students are not eligible for SGS baseline funding.)

ii.Academic standard- On admission, students holding degrees from North American universities must normally have an overall average of 75% in all courses attempted (excluding those in the first year of an undergraduate program but including post baccalaureate courses).

iii.Time in program – M.Sc. students must be within the first 24 program-months of the M.Sc. program, excluding any leave period. Ph.D. students must be within the first 48 program-months of the PhD program, excluding any leave period.

A student who was the recipient of a external fellowship or scholarship, and as a result was ineligible for a SGS fellowship (see School of Graduate Studies Fellowship Limitations section at http://www.mun.ca/sgs/support_guidelines.pdf may be recommended in exceptional circumstances for a SGS fellowship for one semester beyond the periods outlined above.

D.2 Teaching assistantships

All graduate students (M.Env.Sci., M.Sc. and PhD students) in the Environmental

Science program can apply in the supervisor’s home department for teaching assistantships, in the same manner as other graduate students in that department. Students may apply for teaching assistantships which are allocated in units of $975 at

present. Each TA unit is the teaching of one laboratory slot, plus preparation and marking for one semester (approximately 56 hours). Allocations of up to 4 TAs per year (for a

total of approximately $3,900) to a graduate student are permitted.

D.3 Minimum financial support of M.Sc. and PhD students in Environmental

Science

Currently, the Board of Studyhas set $16,500 per annum as a guideline for minimum

financial support of a M.Sc. student, and $17,500 per annum for minimum support for a PhD student. This support is sought for two years for the M.Sc. program and four years for the PhD program. However, funding is only guaranteed for one year at a time.

Funding beyond this one year time-frame is at the discretion of those providing the funds. Still, financial support to a graduate student should not be withdrawn for trivial reasons. University fellowship monies terminate after two years for M.Sc. students and after four years for PhD students.

The Board of Study currently recommends SGS baseline fellowship fundingat $7,000 per annum for M.Sc. students and $8,000 per annum for PhD students. The SGS fellowship should be supplementedby a research assistantshipfrom the supervisor and teaching assistantshipsto attain the guideline minimum financial support level.

Date: 2016-03-03; view: 785