Welcome to McGill University

Department of Integrated Studies in Education

PhD Orientation, Sept. 2014

Table of Contents

• Student Groups & Welcome Events

• Useful Links

• DISE Doctoral Program

• Co-Curricular Activities

• Funding

• Good Advice

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1. Studen

t Gro

ups &

Welc

ome Even

ts

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PGSS (Post-Graduate Students’ Society)

For all graduate students, university-wide

• organizes social events• provides financial advice • provides insurance coverage advice• is a route for participation in PGSS and university committees• has headquarters at Thomson House (second building downhill) with

social spaces and dining facilities• provides student advocacy services

Contact: http://pgss.mcgill.ca

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PGSS Orientation Events

Tuesday, Sept. 2nd

Thomson House, 3650 McTavish15:30-19:00: PGSS/McGill Orientation

19:00--: Graduate Student Meet and Greet Cocktail Event

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EGSS (Education Graduate Students’ Society)For graduate students in the Faculty of Education (DISE, ECP, KPE)

•shares insights, expertise and fellowship

•recognizes the collective voice of the graduate student body

•supplies representatives for departmental committees

•provides study spaces, a lounge in Rm. 631

•provides travel awards

•supports solidarity initiatives

•organizes the annual Graduate Student Conference (March)

President: VACANT

DISE representative to EGSS: Ashley Demartini

ashley.demartini@mail.mcgill.ca

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2. Usef

ul Links

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Common ABBREVIATIONS

• DISE = Dept. of Integrated Studies in Education• Note: this will soon be DESS: Dept. of Education, Schools & Society

• ECP = Dept. of Educational & Counselling Psychology (Faculty of Ed.)• GPS = Graduate & Post-Doctoral Studies • GPD = Graduate Program Director• GPC = Graduate Program Coordinator & Graduate Program Committee• CAPS = Career Planning Service• TLS = Teaching & Learning Services • MINERVA = student online information system• myCourses = online Learning Management System

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MCGILL Academic LINKS

• GPS policies: http://www.mcgill.ca/gps

• Faculty of Education: http://www.mcgill.ca/education/students

• DISE: http://www.mcgill.ca/edu-dise/

http://www.mcgill.ca/study/2014-2015/

• Teaching & Learning Services: http://www.mcgill.ca/tls/

• Statistical Consulting Service: http://www.math.mcgill.ca/~scs/

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MCGill Student Services

• Service Point, Enrollment Services: http://www.mcgill.ca/es/• First Year Office: http://www.mcgill.ca/firstyear/• CAPS Career Planning Service: http://www.mcgill.ca/caps• Student Legal Information Clinic: 398-6792

http://licm.mcgill.ca/site.php?lang=en&page=legalclinic• International Students Office:

http://www.mcgill.ca/internationalstudents/• IT (Computer Help Desk): 398-3398 http://www.mcgill.ca/it/• Student Financial Aid: http://www.mcgill.ca/studentaid/awards/• Student Health Services 398-6017

http://www.mcgill.ca/studenthealth/• Counselling Centre 398-3601 Mental Health 398-6019

http://www.mcgill.ca/studenthealth/information/mentalhealth

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Calendars of Key DatesFor registration, adding and dropping courses, class schedules…

•http://www.mcgill.ca/importantdates/

•http://www.mcgill.ca/students/courses/dates/

KEY REGULATIONS•http://www.mcgill.ca/gps/policies/regulations#REGULATIONS

•http://www.mcgill.ca/study/2014-2015/

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3. DIS

E Ph.D

. Pro

gram

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DISE GRADUATE STUDIES

• Chair of DISEDr. Steve Jordansteven.jordan@mcgill.ca

• PhD Graduate Program Director • Dr. Bronwen Low, Rm. 248 B/339

bronwen.low@mcgill.ca, 514 398-6399

• Graduate Program Coordinator: Mr. Michael Larivière, Rm. 244

michael.lariviere@mcgill.ca 398-1591 office hours 9-4 (4-5 with advance notice)email, telephone or show up!

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Advising: Ask the GPC first about • Program requirements

• Registration for courses

• Grades (e.g. incompletes)

• Change of program option

• Changes of status between full-time and half-time

• Leaves of absence; withdrawal

• http://www.mcgill.ca/students/records/forms

• Thesis submission (deadlines, preparation and submission guidelines) (see below)

• Michael Lariviere may be reached by email, phone or office visit. Office Hours: 9:30am-4pm TWR, 10am-4pm MF; closed 1:00-2:15pm. By arrangement between 4-5pm.

Always follow up with a confirmation email.

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Academic Integrity OutreachOnline Tutorial

• Information on critical issues of academic integrity.

• Intended to reduce the number of academic infractions.

• On your MINERVA student menu for you to do.

• At some point a hold will be put on registration if you have not done this.

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Registration & Fees

• International /ROC / Quebec Status:o International students must be full-time• STATUS: full-time / half-timeo you must be full-time to apply for external grants• RESIDENCY PERIOD: 2 years.• ADDITIONAL SESSION:

o For the PhD program you pay a third year of full-time fees prior to additional session status, which has lower fees.

o You must be registered for every single term from the time you first register until you graduate, including leaves or thesis-writing.

• http://www.mcgill.ca/student-accounts/tuition-fees• http://www.mcgill.ca/student-accounts/tuition-fees/non-tuition-charg

es• http://www.mcgill.ca/student-accounts/tuition-charges/fallwinter-ter

m-tuition-and-fees/graduate-fees

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Ph.D. in Educational Studies Program Requirements

General information: http://www.mcgill.ca/education/prospective/graduateOptions: Language Acquisition Program; Gender & Women’s Studies

•Required Courses (8 credits)•Complementary Courses (3 credits)•Elective Courses (0-12 credits)

•Candidacy Papers (formerly Comprehensive Examination) and oral defence•Thesis Proposal•Ethics review (if applicable)•Dissertation & Defence

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Required Courses (8 credits)

First year: EDEC 700 (Fall) & 702 (Winter) Proseminar in Education 1 & 2

Second year: EDEC 703 Ph.D. Colloquium EDEC 701 PhD Candidacy Papers

(Comprehensive Exam)

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Complementary Courses (min. 3 credits)

Consult with your supervisor to choose at least one of these courses.

• EDEC 705 – Advanced Research Design

• EDEC 706 – Textual Approaches to Research

• EDEC 707 – Interpretive Inquiry

• EDSL 630 – Qualitative / Ethnographic Methods

• EDEM 692 – Qualitative Research Methods

Elective courses (0-12 credits)

You are encouraged to take as many courses as you can in your first two years; this will help you in preparing your candidacy papers and your thesis proposal.

Elective courses are determined in consultation with your supervisor and Doctoral Advisory Committee. Common elective courses taken by our Ph.D. students include:•EDEM 690 Research Methods: Philosophy and Practice •EDEM 630 Qualitative/Ethnographic Methods

Students needing to take graduate courses in statistics will select from courses such as:•EDPE 575 Educational Measurement•EDPE 676 Intermediate Statistics•EDPE 682 Univariate/Multivariate Analysis

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Milestones & Time Limitations• Entering with an MA degree, you are “PhD 2”, in your first

year of the doctoral program. Entering without an MA degree, you are “PhD 1”, in your first year of the doctoral program.

• You have 6 years to finish your PhD degree, i.e. PhD 2 – PhD 7, or PhD 1 – PhD 6.

• You are expected to finish your coursework in the first two years. (Statistics courses are often taken later.)

• You are expected to defend your Candidacy Papers by the end of the summer of your second year.

• Progress Reports, signed by student and supervisor(s), are required by the end of September for all students, annually. Forms are on the DISE graduate Ph.D. site.

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MILESTONES / SCHEDULEYEAR COURSES OTHER

1 Professional SeminarVarious courses

2 Professional ColloquiumVarious courses

Candidacy Papers

3 Thesis Proposal, Ethical Review, Data Collection

4 Data Collection, Writing

5 Writing

6 Writing, Submission 22

Why time limitations?

• Train students to define objectives and meet them proficiently and efficiently.

• Our resources are limited.

• government funding for PhD students is given only in the first 3.4 years of program

• limited number and availability of faculty supervisors

• funding sources are increasingly competitive and scarce

• Your resources are limited.

• Balancing act with family, finances, health and work

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Candidacy Papers(formerly Comprehensive Examinations)

• Not comprehensive, not exams, but to determine that you are ready for dissertation research www.mcgill.ca/edu-dise/students/graduate.

• Two or three questions, agreed on by student and committee.

• In regard to your research question(s), one paper is typically “What do we know about this?” (literature review) and the other “How will I find out?” (methodology).

• You consult with supervisor while developing your responses.

• Register with Graduate Program Coordinator for the term in which you expect to defend them.

• You must defend your papers orally and pass ethical review (if applicable) before data collection.

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Candidacy Papers & Milestones

• You are expected to defend your CP by the end of your second year (i.e. August 31).

• If you successfully defend by this deadline, you receive an ABDUL ($2,000). This “All But Dissertation” award is incentive and reward for timely completion. If you do not, you won’t receive it.

• If you do not pass this milestone at the designated time, you may request an extension of one semester (i.e. Fall) citing unforeseen and extraordinary circumstances. This will require the assent of the doctoral advisory committee, the GPD and the Chair.

• If the extension deadline is not met; you will receive an Unsatisfactory progress report and a new date will be set for an interim progress report.

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PROGRESS REPORTS

• These are mandated by GPS and help us ensure that you are keeping on track.

• The first report form is a contract for the coming academic year, due by the end of September 2013.

• Subsequent report forms are due by the end of June each year.

• Progress is attested to by both student and supervisor(s).

• If a progress report is unsatisfactory, another progress report will be due 3-6 months later (determined by student, supervisor and GPD).

• Two unsatisfactory progress reports mean that the student might be asked to withdraw from the program.

• Forms are available on the DISE Graduate website. DO NOT use GPS forms.

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LEAVES OF ABSENCE

• Different types of leave, usually family, medical or employment; all require documentation.

• Note: There is no longer any “non-resident leave”• Grants and student visas do not continue during a leave.• You must be officially registered as on leave. Do not

simply disappear; you may end up not finishing, or owing lots of back fees.

• Stop the clock rather than grind to a halt!

http://www.mcgill.ca/gps/students/progress/leave-vacation

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THESIS SUBMISSION Submission Dates

Note: “Initial thesis submission” refers to official submission to Thesis Office of entire thesis as the beginning of the official examination process.

When you are getting close to submission, sit down with the GPC and go over the steps.

Plan with adequate time for review, getting signatures, etc. Do not cut the deadlines too closely!

Thesis Evaluation Status: applies to fees when the thesis evaluation process crosses two terms.

http://www.mcgill.ca/gps/thesis/guidelines/initial-submission

http://www.mcgill.ca/gps/thesis/deadlines28

Official Thesis Submission Deadlines

Initial Submission(affects fees)

Final Submission(affects grad-uation date, not flexible)

Additional Session

Thesis Evaluation

Graduation

Apr 16 – Aug 15

Aug 16 – Dec 15 Summer Fall February

Aug 16 – Dec 15

Dec 16 – Apr 15 Fall Winter June

Dec 16 – Apr 15

Apr 16 – Aug 15 Winter Summer October

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4. Co-cu

rricu

lar Acti

vities

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CO-CURRICULAR ACTIVITIES

Workshops, talks, seminars and presentations:

•Practical help in learning specific skills, from reference formatting to grant-writing.

•Opportunities for informal learning about educational activities and research in a wide variety of areas with students, faculty and educators.

Keep track of your attendance on the Co-curricular Activities Report sheet (on DISE website)

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Practical Help• SKILLSETS (GPS &TLS) http://www.mcgill.ca/gps/students/skillsets

• myRESEARCH (in the Education Library)

http://www.mcgill.ca/gps/students/skillsets/research/myresearch

• ABCs of the PhD (Faculty of Education) http://www.mcgill.ca/education/research/abc/

• DISE PhD Collaborative (Peer Support) Group

http://phdpeersupportandcollaboration.weebly.com

• Grant-Writing Support (DISE, GPS and SKILLSETS) see below

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Speaker Series

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• DISE TALKS! Students, faculty and visitors talking about their work and projects.

• “Globalization, Education and Change”: inter-disciplinary perspectives from local and international scholars and educators.

• “Meet the Neighbours”: experiences in community education, research, knowledge production and social change with community educators, organizers and practitioners

5. Funding Support

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DISE FUNDING

DISE Graduate Excellence Entrance Awards• $5,000 to all PhD 1 and 2 students entering in F13

DISE Graduate Excellence International Fee Differential• $10,000 for PhD 2-3-4 students paying international fees 2013-14

Research Assistantships• Given on entrance or later to work on a funded research project.• RA positions are posted on CAPS and must be applied for.• RA group is unionized, with a collective agreement.

Teaching Assistantships • TA positions are posted on CAPS, and must be applied for.• TA group is unionized; there is a collective agreement and a

priority pool.• Degree requirements vary for levels of courses.

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GREATS: DISE TRAVEL awards

• Helps fund cost of conferences at which you are presenting.

• Awards for 2014-15 are $500 for North America and $800 elsewhere. Conferences in Montreal are usually $250.

• Preference given to those applicants who did not receive an award the previous year

• Application details s to be found on the form at http://www.mcgill.ca/dise/grad/phdedstud

Deadlines:

May 1 (for travel from April 1 to June 30)

July 1 (for travel from July 1 August 31)

September 1 (for travel from September 1 to December 31)

January 1 (for travel from Jan 1 to March 31)

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Graduate Travel Fellowships: • Awards for travel NOT to conferences, e.g. research site, data

collection, special summer course • Amount of individual awards depends on number of

applicants.• Preference given to those applicants who did not receive an

award the previous year• Same application deadlines as for GREAT award• Form also found on DISE website

EGSS Travel Fellowships: • $250 (N.Am.) or $500 (outside N.Am.) for conference

presentation • number of awards as funding permits • deadlines to apply on EGSS website

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DISE and Faculty Awardshttp://www.mcgill.ca/education/students/graduate/awards

Notifications of award deadlines will be sent to you by email.

DISE Awards: 1 PhD and 1 MA award each; application dates in Winter

Community Engagement Award Educator Practitioner-Researcher AwardInnovative Dissemination of Research Award

Faculty of Education Awards: A variety of awards of varying amounts • Two application sessions, in Fall and Winter terms.

EGSS Fellowships: two $500 MA awards and two $1,000 PhD awards.

• Based on research and professional excellence, and need. • Deadline usually in April.

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GRANTS: external

Information on external and internal grants and awards:

http://www.mcgill.ca/gps/students/fellowships

SSHRC: www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/ [must go through Dept.]

FQRSC: http://www.fqrsc.gouv.qc.ca/fr/accueil.php

Although forms change slightly from year to year, the basic sections remain the same. You can get a head-start on your drafts by using the most recent forms on these sites.

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Grant-Writing SUPPORT: Start now!

DISE Sessions:

• Grant Writing Workshop (offered by Prof. Zanazanian), August 25th, 2014).

• Grant Writing Boot Camp Part 1 Sept. 12, 1-3:30 pm, rm 233

• Grant Writing Boot Camp Part 1 Sept. 19, 1-2:30 pm, rm 233

GPS: tips on preparing applications at http://www.mcgill.ca/gps/funding/students-postdocs/preparing

SKILLSETS: Webinar: Applying for a SSHRC doctoral award Sept. 9, 2014, register online at https://www.mcgill.ca/gps/funding/students-postdocs/workshops

Would you fund it?/ Would you fund it now? See website for dates

WATCH YOUR EMAIL FOR TIMES AND PLACES! REGISTER EARLY!

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6. Good A

dvice!

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Words to the Wise…• Communicate with us only via your official McGill student

email address. Always include your student number.• Pay attention to your email messages. • Check your advising transcript regularly on MINERVA• Check your physical mailbox, 2nd floor inner corridor, often. • Make sure your current coordinates and bank account

information are up-to-date on MINERVA.• Register on time. Respect deadlines. Allow time for

signatures. Allow time for unforeseen unknowns.• Double-check conflicting advice!• You must be officially registered for ALL semesters, even

on leave. Do not disappear.• Use the assistance available before you really need it.• Take advantage of McGill and community resources. They

are for YOU!42