Structure, Governance and Committees of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies is administered by a dean who serves as chairperson of the Graduate Faculty Council. This Council has five (5) standing committees: the Graduate Admissions Committee, the Graduate Awards Committee, the NSERC Graduate Scholarship Selection Committee, the SSHRC Graduate Scholarship Selection Committee and the Graduate Student Appeals Committee.
The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies administers the policies of the Senate as they pertain to graduate studies. The Graduate Faculty Council is responsible for establishing the policies of the faculty as recommended to it by the departments in the faculties of Arts, Music, Science, Social Work, by the School of Business and Economics, by the Brantford campus, and by Waterloo Lutheran Seminary. The administration of all policies and procedures within the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and of all matters pertaining to admission, programs of study, and comprehensive, thesis and dissertation examinations, is the responsibility of the university Graduate Studies Office.
There are five standing committees of Graduate Faculty Council:
- the Graduate Admissions Committee
- the Graduate Awards Committee
- the NSERC Graduate Scholarships Selection Committee
- the SSHRC Graduate Scholarship Selection Committee
- the Graduate Student Appeals Committee
- Graduate Admissions Committee
- Graduate Awards Committee
- NSERC Graduate Scholarship Selection Committee
- SSHRC Graduate Scholarship Selection Committee
- Graduate Student Appeals Committee
Responsibilities: To advise the Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies on recommendations for admission to graduate programs on applications which are considered as "alternate admissions"(i.e., applicants who do not cleanly meet the admission requirements of the university or of the program).
Membership: The Committee consists of five faculty holding Regular Membership on the Graduate Faculty, elected by Council from the divisional councils, and the Manager of Graduate Administration (non-voting). No divisional council will have representation for more than 3 consecutive years. The Committee is chaired by the Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
Committee Membership 2012-2013
- Carolyn Arnason, Music (to September 2014)
- Ignacio Castillo, SBE (to September 2013)
- Paula Fletcher (Kinesiology), Science (to September 2014)
- David Smith (History), Arts (to September 2013)
- Andrew Welsh (Criminology), Brantford (to September 2014)
Responsibilities: To make recommendations to the Dean of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies regarding the endowed scholarships, medals for academic excellence and other scholarships (e.g., Trudeau Foundation, Mackenzie King), other than those funded by the federal granting agencies. This Committee may also provide consultation and direction to students and their academic units on issues regarding these scholarships.
Membership: The Committee consists of five faculty holding Regular Membership on the Graduate Faculty, elected by Council from the divisional councils, including Waterloo Lutheran Seminary. Faculty are not eligible to serve on this Committee while holding an appointment as a Graduate Co-ordinator. No divisional council will have representation for more than 3 consecutive years. The Dean or delegate will serve as Chairperson; the Manager of Graduate Administration will serve as Secretary (ex-officio).
Committee Membership, 2012-2013
- Chris Alksnis, Brantford (to September 2013)
- Azim Essaji, SBE (to September 2013)
- Tim Hegedus, WLS (to September 2014)
- Renee MacPhee (Kinesiology), Science (to September 2014)
- Joel Weadge (Biology), Science (to September 2014)
Responsibilities: To review and select the top applications for the NSERC PGS/CGS competition.
Membership: The Committee will consist of six NSERC-eligible tenured faculty. The membership shall include one member from School of Business and Economics, one from Faculty of Arts and four members from the Faculty of Science. The Dean or delegate will serve as Chairperson, and the Manager of Graduate Administration will serve as Secretary (ex-officio).
Committee Membership, 2012-2013
- Jennifer Baltzer (Biology), Science (to September 2013)
- Vladimir Kitaev (Chemistry), Science (to September 2014)
- Peruvemba Ravi (Business), SBE (to September 2013)
- Peter Tiidus (Kinesiology), Science (to September 2014)
- Brent Wolfe (Geography), Arts (to September 2013)
- Kaiming Zhao (Mathematics), Science (to September 2014)
Responsibilities: To review and select the top applications for the SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship/CGS Scholarship for Doctoral students, and the SSHRC CGS Award for Master's students.
Membership: The Committee will include four members from social science disciplines and two members from humanities disciplines. The Associate Dean or delegate will serve as Chairperson, and the Manager of Graduate Administration will serve as Secretary (ex-officio).
Committee Membership, 2012-2013
- Laurie Barclay (Business), SBE (to September 2013)
- Mark Eys (Kinesiology), Science (to September 2014)
- Christian Jordan (Psychology), Science (to September 2013)
- Magnus Mfoafo-M'Carthy, FSW (to September 2014)
- Amy Milne-Smith (History), Arts (to September 2014)
- Robin Waugh (English), Arts (to September 2014)
Responsibilities: Normally, the Graduate Student Appeals Committee (SAC) is the first level of appeal for graduate students of decisions that affect their academic standing and the Senate SAC is the second and final level of appeal (there are different procedures in matters concerning academic misconduct; see WLU policy 12.2: Student Code of Conduct and Discipline). The Petitions Policy for Graduate Students is found in the Graduate Calendar.
The Graduate SAC will consider and decide all petitions within six (6) weeks of the filing of the petitions.
Membership: The committee shall consist of 6 members. Members shall include:
- the Dean (or designate) of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (who will chair the committee and be non-voting except in the case of a tied vote)
- 3 graduate students (from 3 different Faculties, elected from the graduate student body)
- 3 faculty members (from 3 different Faculties, all with graduate faculty status, elected by Graduate Faculty Council)
- the manager of graduate administration (or designate) (non-voting, recorder of minutes)
Normally, the chair will be the Dean (or designate).
Committee Membership, 2012-2013
- Tim Hegedus, WLS (to September 2014)
- David Lewis (student rep; Business), SBE (to September 2014)
- Judith Nicholson (Comm Studies), Arts (to September 2014)
- Scott Smith (Chemistry), Science (to September 2013)
- Eric Theriault (student rep; Psychology), Science (to September 2013)
- Alicia Wilkinson (student rep), FSW (to September 2014)
