Funding
Doctoral Level Students
Domestic and International
Funding is available for four years. Research monies may also be available from the Supervisor. If you are awarded a major external scholarship, the financial package will change. You and your supervisor are both encouraged and expected to seek external funding through scholarship applications to those competitions for which you are eligible.
Master's Level Students
Domestic
Funding is available for two years. Research monies may also be available from the Supervisor. If you are awarded a major external scholarship, the financial package will change. You and your supervisor are both encouraged and expected to seek external funding through scholarship applications to those competitions for which you are eligible.
International
Outstanding international Masters students will be offered a Teaching Assistantship, plus departmental funding to help offset tuition fees. Funding is available for two years. Research monies may also be available from the Supervisor. If you are awarded a major external scholarship, the financial package will change. You and your supervisor are both encouraged and expected to seek external funding through scholarship applications to those competitions for which you are eligible. As an international student, you are ineligible to apply to many of the standard Canadian funding agencies. Consequently, we strongly encourage you to seek transferable scholarships in your own country and any appropriate international funding agencies. You are required to pay tuition fees at the international rate.
Funding is outlined in your letter of offer. Please note that where budgets permit, the department will make every effort to provide a full scholarship to offset tuition fees. All graduate students are both encouraged and expected to seek external funding through scholarship applications to those agencies for which they are eligible (e.g. OGS, CIHR, SSHRC or NSERC). Please see the fellowships/scholarships page and the SGPS website for this and other relevant information. External scholarship holders normally receive an option of a teaching assistantship and some university scholarship support in addition to their external scholarship.
In practice, only those students eligible for funding are admitted and are thus guaranteed a minimum level of funding per annum from any number of sources. The difference between guaranteed domestic and international funding reflects the difference in fees paid by each. Some students also receive summer funding support from the Supervisor.
In exceptional cases, very strong Masters students may be considered for promotion to the PhD without completing the Masters degree.
Teaching Assistants
Graduate students are offered a Teaching Assistantship as part of their funding arrangement. There is a wide array of teaching assistant duties which vary by course and range from lab demonstration, to tutorial facilitation, to marking.
Employment and Duties
Employment of Teaching Assistants is covered by the current Collective Agreement between the University and the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC). The PSAC-UWO Local is the official representative of the Teaching Assistants. The Collective Agreement sets out all conditions of employment, including grievance procedures. The Union is responsible for identifying its representatives within academic units. Within the Geography and Environment Department, the Graduate Chair and Department Chair are the designated representatives of the University. Copies of the Collective Agreement are distributed by the GTA Union to all Teaching Assistants. Appeals and grievances on TA matters are covered by the Collective Agreement, not the academic appeals process - see the Graduate Teaching Assistants Union website.
TA Assignments
The assigning of Teaching Assistants is the responsibility of the Graduate Chair with assistance from the Graduate Administrator. The Graduate Chair solicits TA requirements for Fall term courses from faculty members in the Summer, and Winter term courses in the Fall. Graduate students are asked to express preferences for TA assignments as well. We do our best to fulfill requests. A final list of assignments is prepared and distributed by the beginning of each term. TA Duties Specification Agreements (DSA) are completed and signed by the instructor and TA. In addition, all TAs are required to sign a TA contract. TA's and Instructors are to meet mid-term to ensure ample hours are remaining to fulfill any remaining TA responsibilities.
TA Training and Advice
First year TAs receive assistance with teaching skills through two TA seminar days provided by the Centre for Teaching and Learning. There are also TA Training Program weekend courses and an International TA Training Program. Information on these can be found on the Teaching Support Centre webpages. A much more extensive course on teaching for graduate students is offered by the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (SGPS 9500 – The Theory and Practice of University Teaching).
Awards for TA Excellence
E.G. Pleva Award
The E.G. Pleva Prize for Excellence as a Graduate Teaching Assistant in the Geography and Environment Department is awarded for distinguished contributions to teaching in the department. Two awards of approximately $300.00 are made each year. Nominees must be distinguished in assistance to students, faculty or staff, in instruction, marking or guidance, often above and beyond the normal expectations of a teaching assistant. The Awards will be made annually in June at the end of the teaching year. Winners are determined from results of Teaching Assistant Evaluation forms which are administered in all undergraduate courses which have a TA assigned to them.
Society of Graduate Students Teaching Award
This is an annual campus-wide competition. Nomination forms and information are available from the SOGS website: http://www.sogs.ca
