Forms and Guides

Graduate students must maintain continuous registration and pay fees in each successive term from initial registration until all requirements for the degree are completed. "Registration" may include a course or other degree requirements, such as Qualifying/Comprehansive Examination or Thesis. For those students registering for course work in the summer term, registering in any of the various sessions offered by the Graduate Programs Office satisfies this requirement.

Tuition Fees, for students not receiving funding that fully covers their tuition, ancillary or other related fees (e.g. UHIP), are payable at the start of each of the three terms: fall, winter, summer, and consecutively every term until degree requirements are complete. Fees owing will be posted to the enrolled student's Student Centre. Students are responsible for paying fees each term by the advertised due date; failure to do this will result in a late payment fee. Failure to pay tuition will result in withdrawal from the program. For more information, see the SGPS Fees and Tuition page. 

Students for all graduate degree programs must complete their program requirements within a maximum time period. Please note that the following chart shows typical completion times, as well as maximum completion times.

Please also see the School of Graduate & Postdoctor Studies' Program Regulations - Section 3 of Graduate Regulations:

The program specifies milestones for satisfactory progress towards the degree (e.g. a minimum average, a minimum grade for a course, etc.) and ensures that students are aware of these in a timely fashion through the Program's website or by other means.

A grade of Incomplete is not supported in any course and will only be approved in exceptional circumstances. An INC can only be carried for one term before the course is deemed a Failure.

The program may require students to withdraw if they fail to meet the following standards:

• Students must maintain a cumulative average of at least 70% calculated each term over all courses taken for credit, with no grade less than 60%. In the case of failing grades given for Scholastic Offences, only the Vice-Provost (Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies) can withdraw a student; see Section 11.
• Students must make satisfactory progress towards the degree according to milestones set by the program.

The Vice-Provost (Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies) may grant a leave of absence for pregnancy/parental, medical or compassionate grounds normally to a maximum of three terms or 12 months, on the recommendation of the Graduate Program.

While on leave, students are expected to be away from normal activities as graduate students (e.g. attending classes, conducting research). However, students and supervisors may negotiate ongoing communication during this period.

The start of the leave may begin at any point in the term; normally the leave will coincide with the start of the term and must end at the end of the term. Students are advised to consult with their graduate program to make special arrangements especially if taking courses during this period.

Because the successful completion of each course is required to progress into the next course, students who require a Leave of Absence, course withdrawal, or fail a course, will be required to take a  Leave of Absence until the prerequisite course is offered again with the next cohort.

Requests for Leave of Absence are completed on-line on the School of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies' website by logging into the Graduate Student Web Services Portal.

More information about Leaves of Absence can be found on the SGPS Leave of Absence website, which also links to the relevant regulations (Section 4.06).

Withdrawal from a program can occur in two ways.

To request a voluntary withdrawal, a student must provide formal, written notification to the program. Requests for Voluntary Withdrawal are completed on-line on the School of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies' website by login into the Graduate Student Web Services Portal. Assuming the student is in good standing at the time of withdrawal, he/she will be invited to reapply to the program. If the student does so within a two-year period of withdrawing, the Graduate Programs & Research Office will normally recommend that advanced standing be given for all courses completed at the time of withdrawal. If the student reapplies after this two year period, he/she applies and goes through the same competitive process as first-time applicants. Normally, advanced standing would only be recommended for up to two half or one full course. Please contact the Graduate Programs Office for information and assistance with reapplication procedures following a voluntary withdrawal.

Alternatively, the Graduate Programs Office or the School of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies can withdraw a student for failure to meet admission conditions, progression requirements, specified deadlines for completion, or failure to pay fees. Graduate students are expected to meet progression requirements in a timely fashion according to milestones specified by the program concerned. If the Associate Dean (Graduate Programs) and/or Thesis/Master's Research Project Supervisor judge that progress in scholarly work or research is unsatisfactory, a student may be required to withdraw at any time. In addition, all graduate students must maintain at least a 70% averaged over all courses of the degree program with no grade less than 60%. A student who fails to achieve this standard will be considered as not making satisfactory progress towards the degree.

Once withdrawn from a program (and the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies), the person withdrawn is no longer a student and may not attend classes, receive supervision, or have access to any resources of the University.

According to the Academic Handbook, "Each student granted admission to Western must be proficient in spoken and written English. Students must demonstrate the ability to write clearly and correctly. Work presented in English in any subject at any level, which shows a lack of proficiency in English and is, therefore, unacceptable for academic credit, will either be failed or, at the discretion of the instructor, returned to the student for revision to a literate level. To foster competence in the use of the English language within their own discipline, all instructors will take proficiency in English into account in the assignment of grades."

A student who, after admission, shows an inadequate command of spoken or written English must improve his or her proficiency to the satisfaction of the graduate program or department.

Full-time students can take up to three half courses per term.

At the time of admission, students will be assigned to their Thesis Supervisor, if applicable. This information will be shared in the offer of admission letter that is sent from the Graduate Programs Office. It is important to connect with your Thesis Supervisor early on and to maintain frequent communication throughout your studies.

Within any one thesis or project, consistency of style is expected. Further, the thesis must adhere to the guidelines as outlined in the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Thesis Regulation Guide.

Style Manuals: Each instructor and Thesis Supervisor offers advice on selecting an appropriate style manual. Commonly used manuals include:

American Psychological Association (2001). Publication manual (6th ed.). Washington, DC: Author.

Barzun, J., & Graff, H. F. (1992). The modern researcher (5th ed.). New York: Harcourt, Brace & World.

Fowler, H. R., & Aaron, J. E. (1989). The Little, Brown handbook (4th ed.). Toronto: Little, Brown.

Messenger, W. E., & DeBruyn, J. (1986). The Canadian writer's handbook (2nd ed.). Scarborough: Prentice-Hall.

Turabian, K. L. (1996). A manual for writers of term papers, theses, and dissertations (6th ed.). Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

STUDENTS ARE ENCOURAGED TO CONSIDER THE PREPARATION OF THEIR RESEARCH (IN WHOLE OR IN PART) FOR PUBLICATION IN EITHER SCHOLARLY OR PROFESSIONAL JOURNALS.

Graduate students must maintain continuous registration and pay fees in each successive term from initial registration until all requirements for the degree are completed. "Registration" may include a course or other degree requirements, such as Independent Proposal Preparation, Internship, Master's Research Project or Thesis (Master's students); or Qualifying/Comprehensive Exam or Thesis (Doctoral students). For those students registering for course work in the summer term, registering in any of the various sessions offered by the Graduate Programs Office satisfies this requirement.

Tuition Fees, for students not receiving funding that fully covers their tuition, ancillary or other related fees (e.g. UHIP), are payable at the start of each of the three terms: fall, winter, summer, and consecutively every term until degree requirements are complete. Students receive notification via their Western email accounts once tuition amounts have been posted in the Student Centre. Students are responsible for paying fees each term by the advertised due date; failure to do this will result in a late payment fee. Failure to pay tuition will result in withdrawal from the program. For more information, see the SGPS Fees and Tuition page.

Students for all graduate degree programs must complete their program requirements within a maximum time period. The following chart shows maximum and typical completion times.  Please note that this is based on a student’s starting status of full or part time and does not change if a student changes his/her status throughout the program.

Note: Leave(s) of Absence are not counted when calculating maximum time to completion terms.

Please also see the School of Graduate & Postdoctor Studies' Program Regulations - Section 3.

The program specifies milestones for satisfactory progress towards the degree (e.g. a minimum average, a minimum grade for a course, etc.) and ensures that students are aware of these in a timely fashion through Program's website or by other means.

Graduate faculty must provide students with timely feedback on courses, examinations, or other requirements.

The program may require students to withdraw if they fail to meet the following standards:

• Students must maintain a cumulative average of at least 70% calculated each term over all courses taken for credit, with no grade less than 60%. In the case of failing grades given for Scholastic Offences, only the Vice-Provost (Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies) can withdraw a student; see Section 11.
• Students must make satisfactory progress towards the degree according to milestones set by the program.

The Vice-Provost (Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies) may grant a leave of absence for pregnancy/parental, medical or compassionate grounds normally to a maximum of three terms or 12 months, on the recommendation of the Graduate Program.

While on leave, students are expected to be away from normal activities as graduate students (e.g. attending classes, conducting research). However, students and supervisors may negotiate ongoing communication during this period.

The start of the leave may begin at any point in the term; normally the leave will coincide with the start of the term and must end at the end of the term. Students are advised to consult with their graduate program to make special arrangements especially if taking courses during this period.

Requests for Leave of Absence are completed on-line on the School of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies' website by login into the Graduate Student Web Services Portal.

More information about Leaves of Absence can be found on the SGPS Leave of Absence website, which also links to the relevant regulations (Section 4.06)

Withdrawal from a program can occur in two ways.

To request a voluntary withdrawal, a student must provide formal, written notification to the program. Requests for Voluntary Withdrawal are completed on-line on the School of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies' website by login into the Graduate Student Web Services Portal. Assuming the student is in good standing at the time of withdrawal, he/she will be invited to reapply to the program. If the student does so within a two-year period of withdrawing, the Graduate Programs Office will normally recommend that advanced standing be given for all courses completed at the time of withdrawal. If the student reapplies after this two year period, he/she applies and goes through the same competitive process as first-time applicants. Normally, advanced standing would only be recommended for up to two half or one full course. Please contact the Graduate Programs Office for information and assistance with reapplication procedures following a voluntary withdrawal.

Alternatively, the Graduate Programs Office or the School of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies can withdraw a student for failure to meet admission conditions, progression requirements, specified deadlines for completion, or failure to pay fees. Graduate students are expected to meet progression requirements in a timely fashion according to milestones specified by the program concerned. If the Associate Dean (Graduate Programs) and/or Thesis/Master's Research Project Supervisor judge that process in scholarly work or research is unsatisfactory, a student may be required to withdraw at any time. In addition, a graduate student must maintain at least a 70% averaged over all courses of the degree program with no grade less than 60%. A student who fails to achieve this standard will be considered as not making satisfactory progress towards the degree.

Once withdrawn from a program (and the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies), the person withdrawn is no longer a student and may not attend classes, receive supervision, or have access to any resources of the University.

According to the Academic Handbook, "Each student granted admission to Western must be proficient in spoken and written English. Students must demonstrate the ability to write clearly and correctly. Work presented in English in any subject at any level, which shows a lack of proficiency in English and is, therefore, unacceptable for academic credit, will either be failed or, at the discretion of the instructor, returned to the student for revision to a literate level. To foster competence in the use of the English language within their own discipline, all instructors will take proficiency in English into account in the assignment of grades."

A student who, after admission, shows an inadequate command of spoken or written English must improve his or her proficiency to the satisfaction of the graduate program or department.

At the time of admission, MA and PhD students are assigned a member of faculty who will serve as their Supervisor. This information will be shared in the offer of admission letter that is sent from the Graduate Programs Office. It is important to connect with your Thesis Supervisor early on and to maintain frequent communication throughout your studies.

Only under extenuating circumstances, may the student or the Supervisor opt out of their supervisory arrangement prior to the completion of the student’s program.  In the unusual event that either the student or faculty member may need to have the supervisory arrangement changed, a meeting with the Associate Dean, Graduate Programs, should be arranged in the first instance by whomever (i.e. the student or faculty member) is requesting the change.  Following that meeting, the Associate Dean will make further inquiries into the matter and/or determine whether the requested change is to be approved.  The Associate Dean will ensure that both the student and Faculty member are notified of the decision within one month of the initial meeting.

For more information about the role of the research supervisor, please consult the School of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies Graduate Regulations and the Graduate Supervision Handbook.  The handbook provides in-depth advice on roles and responsibilities, communications, learning styles, time management, and many other issues.

Guides for Doctoral Theses, Master’s Theses and Master’s Research Projects are available on our web site (above). These include suggestions and requirements for using style manuals in preparing theses or Master’s Research Projects. Note that within any one thesis or project, consistency of style is expected. Further, the thesis must adhere to the guidelines as outlined in the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Graduate Regulations section 8.

Style Manuals: Each instructor and Thesis/project Supervisor offers advice on selecting an appropriate style manual. The American Psychological Association style manual is typically used at the Faculty of Education.

All research with human participants, whether it be research for a class paper or your thesis, must be approved by a Western University Research Ethics Board before the research begins

All applications for ethics approval for research with human participants must be submitted online through ROMEO (generally using the Non-Medical form) for consideration by the Non-Medical Research Ethics Board (NMREB).  The NMREB reviews all ethics applications involving human participants that include social, behavioural and cultural research in a non-clinical, non-patient-based population. As each new application is received by the NMREB, it will be assessed for level of risk and designated for delegated review (minimal risk) or for review by the Full Board. Any application that is set for delegated review will be reviewed by at least one member from the Faculty of Education.

If a student is doing research for a class paper that involves working with human subjects, the instructor will assist the student in obtaining the necessary approvals.

If a student's Thesis or Master’s Research Project (MRP) involves working with human subjects, the student must obtain ethics approval before beginning their research.

Guidelines:

Office of Research Ethics

Research Ethics Board's web page

Western’s Non-Medical Research Ethics Board Guidelines and the UWO NMREB website.