Faculty and Staff Resources
The resources found here are specific to the office of Graduate Science Education at the Cumming School of Medicine. These documents relate to policies and procedures that are in addition to the Faculty of Graduate Studies requirements.
Questions, comments or concerns should be addressed to your Graduate Program Administrator, Graduate Program Director or the Associate Dean of Graduate Science Education.
How to Request Supervisory Status
Please forward an up-to-date CV (which includes information about your previous supervisory and examiner experience) to the relevant program's Graduate Program Administrator (GPA) to assist you with the application process.
Once you have been approved for supervisory privileges, you will be invited to attend the FGS workshop for new supervisors. Attendance at this workshop is required before you can start supervising graduate students.
Note: If you already hold supervisory status in a different graduate program you won't need to attend the FGS workshop again.
Supervision Policies & Resources
CSM Graduate Supervision Policy
Remote Supervision
Guidelines for Effective Remote Supervision
Remote Supervision of Graduate Students (presentation)
Policy-Media Recording in Learning Environments
Learn more about the policy for recording in the classroom using the link below.
Safe Reporting Policy
Learn more about policies on safe reporting.
GSE Student Handbook
This handbook combines all the programs into one document. Common requirements are listed first and program specific requirements are contained within appendices. Updated April 2023
There will be a supervisor handbook available at some point in the near future.
Instructors | Academic Calendar
This links to the University Calendar which includes the start and end dates of courses for the upcoming terms, including university closure dates (statutory holidays and mid-term breaks) as well as the examination dates.
Directed Studies Course Information
Looking to set up a Directed Studies course for your student? Please click on the button below to visit our Directed Studies course page to find information on the set up process and deadlines for each term.
Writing Effective Scholarship Reference Letters
Scholarship reference letters are critical for the success of a student’s application. Dr. David Hansen has a few tips to share with supervisors for how to write effective scholarship reference letters.
Neutral Chair Guidelines
These Neutral Chair Guidelines provide consistency in the examination process across Graduate Science Education (GSE) programs and are to be used by the Neutral Chair during graduate science examinations. Last updated: November 2021
If your PhD student began their program after September 2015 or if your Master's student transferred to the PhD after that date, they will fall under the new CSM Candidacy Process.
The GSE Office holds regular Supervisor Candidacy workshops each year
We will be providing training for those with supervisory privileges in the MDCH program. Supervisors are encouraged to attend all session either in-person, via Adobe Connect or watching recordings of the session. If you have specific questions, please contact chsgrad@ucalgary.ca
*Please note - the information in these sessions is targeted towards the MDCH program only.
Supervisory Workshop (August 30, 2017) | Recorded Session (TBA) |
Supervisors are to submit two forms to chsgrad@ucalgary.ca by December 1st for the following Fall intake.
Admission to Candidacy (MDCH Program)
Please note that the deadlines differ slightly depending on if you have transferred from a MSc program to a PhD program, or if you are in the MDCH program. Please contact your Graduate Program Administrator if you have any questions about the Admission to Candidacy process.
Exam/Evaluation Set up is the responsibility of the Supervisor in consultation with the student and committee.
As per the Candidacy section in the Graduate Calendar and subject to any extension allowances, doctoral students must complete all candidacy requirements within 28 months of first registration in the doctoral program. Those students who have transferred from a master’s program must complete all candidacy requirements within 36 months of the first registration in that master’s program.
Review the policy for Candidacy effective September 2018 and take a look at the CHS Candidacy Timeline for an overview of the process.
All doctoral students in MDCH must successfully complete the following components prior to being admitted to candidacy:
- All course requirements (to be completed before the Field of Study Exam);
- Have applied for research ethics approval-if needed;
- Research Integrity Day (to be completed within first year);
- Written Thesis Proposal;
- Concept Map and Reading List;
- Written Field of Study (FoS) Examination; and
- Oral Field of Study (FoS) Examination.
Forms
1. Proposal Approval Meeting Set up form - due to GPA no later than 4 weeks before the meeting
2. Reading List and Concept Map form- (includes concept map and reading list) - This information is to be sent by the supervisor to the GPA no later than 25 months in program (33 months for MSc-PhD transfer students)
3. Questions and Exam set up form - due to GPA directly from Supervisor no later than 8 weeks before the Field of Study exam
Writing and Defense of Thesis
Supervisors are responsible for setting up their students' examinations. Please see information on the requirements below.
The Permission to Write form is no longer required, and has been replaced by the *NEW* Supervisory Committee Meeting Progress Report Form. Discussions about your thesis research requirements should be ongoing with your supervisor and committee, and these discussions should include agreement on a reasonable endpoint for your experimental work and/or data collection. It is important to begin drafting components of your thesis document early in your degree to position yourself to produce a strong final version for your defense.
For instructions on preparing your thesis and submitting it, refer to the Thesis Section on the Faculty of Graduate Studies website. Thesis templates can also be found there.
Defense Set up is the responsibility of the Supervisor in consultation with the student and committee.
Please note that, as of September 1, 2021, exams may be held in person, remotely, or in a hybrid format.
The oral defense of your thesis is an FGS requirement. Please review the Examinations section on the FGS website for full details on the policy and rules for examinations. You will need to ensure that your thesis is ready to send to your examiners at least 3 weeks in advance of the exam date.
To set up your thesis defense the following need to be completed:
MSc:
- Research Integrity Day
- Sex and Gender Module completion (students who started Summer 2020 to present)
- Courses required for degree completed meeting the minimum 3.0 gpa requirement
- Supervisor/Committee indication that thesis is ready to defend
- Submission by the Supervisor of Request to Set Up MSc Thesis Defense Form (minimum of six weeks prior to proposed defense date)
If any of the above are not complete you will not be approved to move forward to defense.
Note: The six-week deadline to submit the set up package is a firm deadline.
PhD:
- Research Integrity Day
- Sex and Gender Module completion (students who started Summer 2020 to present)
- Courses required for degree completed meeting the minimum 3.0 gpa requirement
- Candidacy Examination Successfully Completed
- Supervisor/Committee indication that thesis is ready to defend
- Submission by the Supervisor of Request to Set Up PhD Thesis Defense Form (minimum of eight weeks prior to proposed defense date)
If any of the above are not complete you will not be approved to move forward to defense.
Note: The eight-week deadline to submit the set up package is a firm deadline.