Graduate Student Orientation

Department of Psychology (2013-2014)

• Who’s who in the department

• Program requirements & deadlines

• Funding– External & internal scholarships– TAships, bursaries, and $ in general

• Extensions, change in status

• Directed Studies and Independent Research

• Supervisor/Student guidelines

• Resources & Support

• Questions?

Who’s who in the department

• Dr. Anne Bowker (Chair, B552)– Instructor issues, appeals (“last resort”), contact her through her assistant,

in B552

Dr. John Zelenski (Associate Chair, A579)– TA assignments

• Dr. Michael Wohl (Graduate Supervisor B559)– To discuss progress, supervisor relations, requests for extensions

• June Callender (Dept Administrator, B553)– Keys, room bookings for data collection

• Etelle Bourassa (Graduate Administrator B557)– Etelle may well be your first contact for anything related to the program

• Jessica Palladina, (Graduate Assistant B555)– Forms, change of address, administrative support, room bookings for oral

examinations (i.e., prospectus, thesis), deposit theses

Program requirements & DeadlinesM.A. ProgramM.A. Program

• M.A. – PSYC5410 & 5411 + 1.5 credits course work (plus 2.5 credits for

thesis, which must be defended at an oral examination)

– Discuss your choice of courses with your supervisor

• Completion Deadlines– 6 terms FT (which includes Summer Terms)

– 18 terms PT

Terms of non-registration are equated to full-time registration terms when calculating the overall time to program completion.

• Conduct research in each term/year of graduate study.

Program requirementsPh.D. PsychologyPh.D. Psychology

• PSYC 5410, PSYC 5411 and 0.5 credit from:

PSYC 5401(multi-variate) or

PSYC 5412 (advanced stats), or

PSYC 5413 (workshops) – only worth 0.25 credit

• PSYC 6906 & 6907 (Pro-Seminar in Psychology I &

II; 6906 taken in Year 1 and 6907 taken in Year 2)

• Any additional concentration requirement if applicable

• Dissertation project (equivalent to 7.0 of the required

10.0 credits which must be defended at an oral

examination)

Ph.D. Program Deadlines

Completion deadlines– FT = 15 terms

– PT = 24 terms

Terms of non-registration are equated to full-time registration terms when calculating the overall time to program completion.

Prospectus deadline – FT = 7th term

– PT = 10th term

• Conduct research in each term/year of graduate study.

Basis of Evaluation

• B- or better in each course

• PSYC5410 & 5411 - not all of your time and energy

• Defense examinations – Prospectus (M.A. and Ph.D)– Thesis/Dissertation (M.A. and Ph.D)

Oral grade: Satisfactory or unsatisfactory

Thesis grade: Accepted as is

Accepted with minor revisions

Accepted with major revisions

Rejected

• Teaching Assistantships– Allocation/course assignments (Associate Chair), duration

(University policy),

• Internal scholarships– Internal scholarships on FGPA Web site

http://www5.carleton.ca/fgpa/awards-and-funding/

• Travel/Research Bursaries – Travel, research needs, see

– http://www2.carleton.ca/psychology/forms/forms-2/

Internal Funding

External Scholarships (Masters)

Tri-Council (SSHRC – NSERC – CIHR)

Deadline: Dec 1, 2013 (portal is now open)

Submit via: http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Students-Etudiants/CGSHarmonization-HarmonizationBESC_eng.asp

Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS)

Deadline: Dec 1, 2013

Submit: Dec 2 to the Psychology Department

http://gradstudents.carleton.ca/awards-and-funding/external-awards/

*Allocations to CU in is entirety: NSERC (18), CIHR (4), SSHRC (45)

Self-evaluate, discuss with supervisor, statement of interest, reference letters

External Scholarships (Doctoral)

NSERC: Deadline = Sept 30, 2013; Submit: via NSERC website

CIHR: Deadline = Oct 1, 2013; Submit: directly to agency

SSHRC: Deadline = Oct 18, 2013; Submit: via Department (B-555 Loeb)

OGS: Deadline: Dec 1, 2013 Submit: Dec 2 via Department (B-555 Loeb)

http://gradstudents.carleton.ca/awards-and-funding/external-awards/

*Self-evaluate, discuss with supervisor, statement of interest,

reference letters

Workshops:

FGPA:

•September 12, 2013 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. SA 502

•September 14, 2013 2:30 – 4:30 p.m. SA 624

•September 18, 2013 1:30 – 3:30 p.m. TB 342

• RECAP: We’ve discussed– People you’ll need to know & roles

– Requirements, deadlines, evaluation & funding

• Now we’ll consider– Extensions, exemptions, change of status

– Directed studies and independent research courses (need approval to register)

– Audit a course, courses at the U of O, undergraduate (4000-level courses) (all require approval)

– Resources available to you

Extensions?

• Apply in writing– Why exceptional circumstances– What you completed so far (be very specific)– Plan for completion (again, be specific with “deliverables” and

dates)– Letter of support from advisor (who has read & signed your

plan/timeline for completion)

• Submit to the Graduate Supervisor along with formal application form

NOTE:

Extensions are approved for exceptional circumstances (“cases”) only. “Time to degree” is an increasingly important criterion for graduate schools.

Exemptions (for 1 term only)

• Medical leave & Maternity leave – Apply in writing documenting the circumstances.

– Use the form Academic Registration Form on our Web site.

– Normally 1 term for medical and up to 3 for Mat. leave

– Consult section 8.5 regulations: Exemption from Registration

** While on exemption students will not be on campus for the

term, will not use any University facilities (that is, library,

laboratories, computer centre, etc.), or receive any supervision,

including supervision through correspondence – It will affect

funding.

Change in Status

• FT vs PT– Graduate students admitted and registered as full-time students

will be required to continue and complete their program as full-time students, and will be assessed full-time fees for the duration of their program.

Myths:

– “I’ll always get an extension”

– “Once my course work is done and I’m ‘only doing my thesis’ I can go PT”

Directed Studies and Independent Research(PSYC5900, 5901, 6900, 6901)

• Complete application form (see forms section on Web

site) and submit to Graduate Supervisor– Proposals must include a detailed description of the work to be

done including experimental design, bibliographic materials, etc. MAX 5 pages

– Application form must be approved before beginning any work on the project. You cannot register until your application has been approved. You will register only in the term when you are ready to submit your paper

• How many: limit of 2 at the Master level; no limit at the PhD level

but only 2 with the same supervisor

• Audit: Limited to a max. of 1.0 credit per program.

• Course at the U of O : Limited to max. of 1.0 credit

• Undergraduate course (MA only): 4000-level, max

of .05 credit

Approved by the Graduate Supervisor.

Apply in writing: Explain how the course contributes to

your program of study & provide the course outline

Supervisor/Student guidelines

• Long-term relationship

• Mutual respect

• Professional integrity

• Based on competence in the field

Student Responsibilities

• Know your program requirements!

• Choose a suitable research topic (which supervisor

approves as feasible)

• Work systematically within deadlines

• Be prepared for meetings with supervisor

• Submit research materials as requested

• Give serious attention to advice given

• Take into account contingencies on your supervisor’s

time that may delay feedback

Student To-Do’s Regarding Thesis

• Acknowledge the assistance provided to you by others

• Produce a thesis that meets APA/FGPA standards and

specifications

• Submit thesis to be examined by committee/examiners– abide by the procedures and judgment of examiners (appeal is

certainly possible)

What can students expect?

• To be assisted by the supervisor – in topic choice/development– to get a clear understanding of substantive and formal

requirements of a thesis

• To receive fair and thorough assessment of drafts and completed thesis

• To be permitted to seek a new supervisor if necessary

• To be protected from arbitrary changes in research direction

• To have fair and appropriate recognition of authorship in publications

What do supervisors expect?

• The student will:

– pursue the agreed upon research topic

– give serious attention to advice concerning deficiencies in the research and thesis

** Supervision can be terminated if the student is not displaying a

reasonable effort, fails to heed advice or changes thesis topic without

consent

What do supervisors expect from research produced?

• To have his or her contribution to the thesis

appropriately and clearly acknowledged

• To publish the data from the thesis.

– The data might be used as part of a larger project

*** always discuss authorship and the manner in which the data will be used before data collection begins.

Resources available to you

• Mailbox: – Full time students share a mailbox located in room B542

– Part time students share 4 mailboxes located at the bottom row of the graduate students mailboxes

• Computer lab with printers: Located in 620A Loeb

• Grad Lounge: Located in 665C Loeb

And of course….

• Look around!

Reminder: Use your Carleton account and indicate your student number for all

communications

Questions?

• What’s next this morning?

• What about this afternoon?

• Later this term?