Academic Guide

The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies' Academic Guide contains all the rules and policies pertaining to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. Adherence to these rules is of utmost importance for the effective functioning/operation of programs and for guiding and monitoring the progress of students. The integrity of the process is at stake. The major goal of this guide is to establish minimum academic standards for all graduate programs at the University of Manitoba and to clearly articulate administrative requirements for all aspects of graduate programs that fall within the Faculty’s jurisdiction. It is the responsibility of students and the department/unit offering a graduate program to read and follow the policies contained herein.

All regulations as laid out in the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Academic Guide are subject to revision by the appropriate bodies of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. This compendium is presented as the most recent set of regulations as a guideline for students and staff. Individual departments/units may have additional regulations that supplement these general regulations. All such supplementary procedures and regulations must be approved as specified by the By-Laws of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, be published and available to students, and kept on record in the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Office.

Preface

The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies is a pan-University faculty responsible for overseeing the administration of all graduate programs at the University of Manitoba. The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies Academic Guide contains all the rules and policies pertaining to the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. These regulations apply to all graduate students in all programs in all academic units. Adherence to these rules is of utmost importance for the effective functioning/operation of programs and for guiding and monitoring the progress of students. It is the responsibility of students, members of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, and the department/unit offering a graduate program to read and follow the policies contained herein.

For those programs that are administered through a Faculty, College or School (as opposed to a Department) the term “Department” should be substituted by “Unit” within this document (i.e., Department Head becomes Unit Head.)

Definitions

The “Dean, Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies” shall be taken to mean the Dean, Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies or designate.

“Unit” shall be taken to mean the academic unit where the graduate student is pursuing their studies. Generally, this is the department. For Faculty-based programs, the Dean or Director is the de facto Head of the unit. The term “unit” shall also include School(s) or College(s) of Faculties within the University. The Dean of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies is the de facto Head of interdisciplinary programs administered by the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. The Head of any unit may designate any of their responsibilities in this policy to another member of the unit (e.g., Graduate Chair). When that designation is made, the Graduate Chair will be the primary contact for the graduate program.

“Master’s student” shall be taken to mean an individual pursuing a Master’s degree. This individual is considered a student up until successful completion of their Master’s degree, after which they are a graduate of the Master’s program.

“Ph.D. candidate” or “doctoral candidate” shall be taken to mean an individual who is pursuing a Ph.D. degree and who has passed all required candidacy examinations. Prior to achieving these milestones, the individual is considered a “Ph.D. student” or “doctoral student.”

“Good Academic Standing” shall include, but is not limited to, the regulations contained in sections “Academic Performance” and “Performance Related to Coursework” of this Guide without exceeding the time permitted to complete a program.  Conversely, examples of  “Not Good Academic Standing” shall include, but are not limited to: Two consecutive “Student Does Not Meet Expectations for Academic Progress” Progress Report ratings, one  (1) “Unsatisfactory Academic Progress” Progress Report rating, exceeding the allowable credit hours of failed grades, having a degree GPA below 3.0, failure of two Candidacy Exam attempts, failure of two attempts to pass the thesis, having received a Required to Withdraw decision.