Student Payments

For the purposes of Cumming School of Medicine graduate students there is no difference. Both are paid as scholarship so are considered T4A income and therefore not eligible for statutory deductions like income tax, employment insurance or worker’s compensation.

STIPEND:  Payment of the guaranteed funding provided to graduate students from a supervisor's existing grant.  This often occurs until a student is able to apply for/obtain direct funding.

SCHOLARSHIP:  Payment of funds awarded to a student by an external granting agency.  The majority of these awards are processed by the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

There are very few external awards that are not processed by the Faculty of Graduate Studies. Please make sure to double check with them prior to processing an award payment through Graduate Science Education.

All graduate student stipend payment requests will be processed using the student stipend payment form via SharePoint (Job Aid):

• Master's student stipend
• Doctorate/PhD student stipend
• One-time award being paid from a supervisor's project (not external funding)

Graduate student stipend payments occur once per month (on the 25th, or nearest business day). If you are referring to a payment that you think may have been missed on the 10th:

• When was the payment form submitted?  Did it miss a current pay cycle deadline?  If so, then the graduate student may be paid during the next pay cycle (even if it is the 10th of a month - PeopleSoft will pick up any missed retroactive payments from passed start dates);
• What is the end date on the last payment form that was submitted?  Has the payment lapsed? It is ultimately the supervisor's responsibility to track end dates and ensure payments forms are submitted according to payment deadlines;
• Is your graduate student being paid a stipend from your project? Or have they won an award?  If the payment is a stipend, then a payment form will need to be submitted.  If it is an award (e.g., CIHR, NSERC) please check with the Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS) for more information on whether or not the award is processed through their office.  Not all awards are processed through FGS, but it is imperative that this "check" is done prior to processing a payment form in order to avoid over-payment.
• Has your graduate student set up direct deposit using the Student Self Service portal in PeopleSoft? If not, there could be a cheque waiting for him/her on main campus if a payment form has already been processed. Contact HR (HR@ucalgary.ca) if this is the case.

Students are now required to set up their own banking information in the PeopleSoft using the Student Self Service portal. 

After the payment has been initiated, an automated email from PeopleSoft will be sent to the individual listed as the Project Holder with the notification "ONLINE APPROVAL REQUIRED."

REVISE PAYMENT (Includes stop payments, extensions, accounting changes, compensation changes)

• Complete the student stipend payment form include all active/current payment details
• Under Payment Details check the revision box.
• Select all appropriate change boxes.
• Enter all accounting information for the payment(s) being revised. In the comments box enter:
  • Stop Payment Revision - Comment box entry = Stop payment effective date
  • Accounting Revision - Comment box entry = Continue funding from this Account
  • Extension Revision - Comment box entry = Extend payment starting effective date
  • Compensation Revision - Comment box entry = Compensation revision starting effective date
• Submit the completed form and the payment will be revised.
• Note: All payments processed through Graduate Science Education are on a ‘go forward’ basis. If changes to a project need to be made and are backdated, you can reflect this on the form. However, you will need to request that Research Accounting completes the transfer of funds from the new project to the old project. This needs to be clearly communicated on the form (using the COMMENTS section) in order to avoid overpayment. (Job aid)

• Only payments for graduate students actively enrolled in a Cumming School of Medicine graduate program at the University of Calgary, regardless of where the supervisor's funds are held
• These include payments from a supervisor's project as outlined above.
• Payments cannot be processed beyond the date of enrolment currently reflected in the system

• The payment form will be entered for processing as per the information submitted. The system will automatically pick up that there are backdated payments and pay those on the next pay cycle
• Off-cycle payment requests are not typically done for scholarship/stipend payments when the deadline is missed; these are done for other exceptional reasons

• Yes. International students are required to provide a scanned/emailed copy of his/her study permit with the expiry date to HR (hrops@ucalgary.ca) as soon as possible for processing before a payment can be initiated.
• Note: Payments for international graduate students cannot be entered prior to the study permit start date and cannot run past the expiry date of the study permit.
• It is the responsibility of the student to track the study permit end date and ensure that any extensions required are completed prior to submitting a payment form that will exceed the current end date in the system.
• Note: International students DO NOT require a Social Insurance Number in order to be paid a stipend. However, they will need to register with the International Student Centre.

No. Paper copy forms and signatures are no longer required.  After the form is submitted, the form will be reviewed and the payment entered. The Project Holder must approve the payment online before it will be processed.

No. Once the payment has been initiated, the Project Holder only needs to approve the appointment one time according to the start and end dates submitted. 

Note: It is imperative that the supervisor keep track of the end date of these payments as they will not stop automatically should the student leave or receive an external award that is processed by the Faculty of Graduate Studies (requiring a compensation change or discontinuation).

No. However, one month prior to the end date, the student and the individual responsible for approving the stipend in PeopleSoft (i.e., usually the supervisor) will receive a reminder notification with instructions for renewing/extending the stipend past the current end date.

The CSM Funding Policy specifies the complete details regarding the allowable funding for MSc and PhD students. As well, the CSM Funding Calculator allows you to calculate the proportion of funding that is to be paid by a supervisor as a stipend in the event that a student earns a scholarship or award.