September 19

Current Grad Students Newsletter

Graduate Student News

The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs (FGPA) distributes this newsletter to all graduate students on the first and third Wed. of every month (except during the summer). The next issue will be available on October 3. For up-to-the-minute news, follow us on Twitter @CUGradStudies or visit our website: gradstudents.carleton.ca. To comment, email us at: fgpa_newsletter@carleton.ca.

Cannabis Legislation and Carleton University

Although right now, it is illegal to buy, possess or use cannabis for anything other than authorized medical or research purposes, as of October 17, 2018 things will change. Find out how the new Cannabis Act of Ontario could affect you.

New Streamlined Process for Students to Access Counselling

Effective this fall, Health & Counselling Services is offering a new, streamlined process for students to access counselling. Find out more about this new initiative. As well, Carleton is offering some “pawsitive” support with its new dog therapy program.

Carleton Sexual Violence Policy Review Consultation

Over the course of the year, the university will be engaging the entire community in a collaborative review of its Sexual Violence Policy, which was approved in December 2016. As a first step, members of the Carleton community are encouraged to review a draft plan outlining the proposed consultation and review process and to provide feedback.

Award Deadlines

The deadline to apply for the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) for the 2019-20 academic year is November 15. If you have a student ID number and access to Carleton Central, you should use the online application in Carleton Central. All others should use the forms available on our OGS website. Deadlines for the Tri-Council and other awards are available on our awards website. Note that the NSERC PhD award deadline is September 28; the SSHRC PhD deadline is October 12 and the CIHR PhD deadline is October 1.

Final Reminder - Scholarship Balance

If you are eligible to receive a scholarship balance, you can request your balance through Carleton Central by clicking on “Refund or Scholarship Balance Request”. Depending on the amount of your scholarship balance, you will have up to four options: campus card transfer, e-transfer, cheque, or donate to Carleton. Although you can submit your request prior to the financial drop date, it will not be processed until after September 30, 2018. If you have any questions, please contact Student Accounts at: student_accounts@carleton.ca or phone 613-520-2600 ext. 3626.

Funding for Student-Run Conferences

In case you missed it, the deadline to apply for funding to support a graduate student-run conference on campus for this academic year is October 15.

Update Your Professionals Skills

Employers are looking for well-rounded employees with more than just technical job-related skills. You can enhance your skill set by registering for some of our Grad Navigate workshops. TAs please note that you can claim five hours as paid training hours.

Writing Support for Graduate Students

The Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Affairs and Writing Services are teaming up again to provide writing support to graduate students working on theses or dissertations. We plan to hold a combination of workshops, regular writing group sessions, and possibly some longer writing ‘bootcamps’ over the next two terms. We would like to ask all interested students to visit our website and fill out a questionnaire that will help us tailor the support we provide. Anyone who fills out the questionnaire will be placed on our email list and will receive announcements regarding upcoming events or other initiatives related to writing support.

Media Training and Special Workshops

University Communications is offering several media training sessions this fall. Training will be of particular interest to upper-year graduate students who are interested in learning how to discuss their research effectively in media interviews. For Senior PhD students: Shari Graydon, Founder of Informed Opinions, will present Smart Women Speaking Up on Wednesday, October 10, 2018 from 10:30 a.m. to Noon in 2017 Dunton Tower. Space is limited. For more information, and to register by October 3: Click here

Important Reminder for Teaching Assistants

This is a final reminder to create or update your TA profile. Also, as per the Collective Agreement Section 13.04 (f), TA assignment offers shall be accepted or declined within 10 working days of the date of your offer. Failure to accept your offer by this deadline without reasonable cause will constitute declining of your TAship for that term. Have questions? Visit our TA page.

Attention all TAs: Training Day is this weekend!

If you are working as a TA, you still have time to register in Carleton Central for training workshops on TA Training Day, which will take place this Saturday, September 22, from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Be sure to register to see the day’s keynote session with Dr. Janne Cleveland: Keeping The Drama On The Stage: How To Be A Compassionate TA In The #MeToo Age. For more information, and for the full workshop schedule, visit this web page.

Mandatory Safety Sessions for TAs, Contract Instructors and Lab Assistants

Carleton offers a number of health and safety courses. Some are mandatory for TAs, contract instructors and lab assistants. Visit the EHS training web page for further information and register here for upcoming in-class sessions.

GSA Welcomes You

Welcome Weeks, sponsored by the Graduate Students’ Association, continue until September 22. Also, don’t forget to subscribe to the GSA’s Grad Bulletin by going to their website.

Opting Out of the Health Plan and/or the U-Pass

HEALTH PLAN: All full-time students registered in the fall term are automatically covered by the Graduate Students’ Association medical, dental and accident insurance plan. Part-time students and dependents can join the plan for a fee. The deadline to opt in or out (with a refund) is October 5. U-PASS: If you want to opt out of the U-Pass, you must first check to see if you are eligible. The refunds are pro-rated depending on when you opt out.

Looking for a Mentor?

Applications are still being accepted until September 23 for Carleton’s Alumni Mentors Program. The program pairs students and recent graduates with alumni who are seasoned professionals in their field.

Grad Research: Why Some Social Movements Are More Successful

Social movements try to wage social change in several contexts and they use various strategies to do so. PhD student Nima Orazani is investigating which of these strategies increases the likelihood of success for social movements.

Call for Observers for the Sept. 25 BOG Meeting

The Carleton University Board of Governors will be meeting on Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2018. Observers are welcome to attend the open session but must email the University Secretary in advance. Seating is limited so it is first come-first served. Once full, there will be an opportunity to watch the meeting via live stream.

More Details →

Important Dates and Deadlines

ACADEMIC DEADLINES

September 30: Last day to withdraw from fall term and fall/winter courses with a full fee adjustment (financial withdrawal). Withdrawals after this date will create no financial change to fall term fees and will result in a permanent notation of WDN appearing on your official transcript.

October 5: Deadline to opt in or out of the GSA’s medical, dental and accident insurance plan.

October 5: December examination schedule (fall term final and fall/winter mid-terms) available online.

October 8: Statutory holiday. University closed.

October 15: Deadline to apply for funding to support a grad student-run conference on campus.

October 22-26: Fall break. Classes are suspended.

November 25: Winter term payment deadline. Click here for important payment information. Late payment charges and late registration charges applied to the student account on or after this date. Interest charges begin to accrue on January 1.

For a complete list of all official academic and financial dates and deadlines, please go to the Registrar’s website. For all financial matters, go to Student Accounts.

EVENTS/OTHER

September 19: Part-Time Job Fair

September 26-27: Grad School and Education Fair

September 27: Doing it Differently: Life After Graduation

September 27: UHIP workshop (for international students)

October 2: Workshop: Working in Canada (for international students)

October 3: Ingenious Talks: Better Roads, Fewer Potholes – The AMIR Technology

October 10: The Writing Café (for international students)

October 10: Fall Career Fair

October 10: Shari Graydon, founder of Informed Opinions, will present Smart Women Speaking Up. Register by October 3.

October 12: Warming up to Winter (for international students)

October 17: Scams and How to Protect Yourself

For information about Carleton events, go to the university events calendar.

TRAINING & CAREER WORKSHOPS

Check out media training sessions for this fall.

Click here for list of mandatory health and safety workshops

September 22: TA Training Day. Register in Carleton Central.

Grad Navigate workshops for the fall term are now posted. You can always access online training through MyGradSkills.ca. (Please note that these online training modules do not count towards paid training hours for TAs.)

AWARDS & COMPETITION DEADLINES

September 28: Deadline to apply for an NSERC doctoral award

October 1: Deadline to apply for a CIHR doctoral award

October 12: Deadline to apply for a SSHRC doctoral award

November 15: Deadline to apply for a Fulbright award

November 15: Deadline to apply for an OGS

December 1: Deadline for master’s students to apply for a Tri-Council award

July 1, 2019: Deadline to apply for a bursary from the Centre for Research and Education on Women & Work

Mitacs offers several funding opportunities for graduate students. You can apply any time, except there are two deadline dates each year for the Mitacs Elevate program. Check out:
(a) Mitacs Accelerate (Funding starts at $15,000 for research internships with industry or non-profit partners)
(b) Mitacs Elevate ($57,500 annual grant for two-year postdoctoral fellowships with industry or non-profit partners).
(c) Mitacs Globalink Research (Travel funding for research projects with international universities)
Note: For information about Carleton awards, go to our awards and funding website.

TA DEADLINES

TAs, note that your annual Training Day takes place on September 22. Register now!

The deadlines to apply for a Leave From Duties are: Dec. 31 (winter term), April 30 (summer term) and Aug. 31 (fall term) (access form via Carleton Central).

Deadlines to apply to be an “out-of-priority” TA are as follows: December 15 (Winter term), April 15 (Spring/Summer term) and August 15 (Fall/Winter term),

“Pedagogical” training hours must be completed by Nov. 30 for a fall-only TAship and by March 30 for a full academic year TAship or a winter-only TAship.

TAs – Please note that it can take up to two weeks before your attendance at workshops is recorded. You are strongly encouraged to track your progress independently of the TA Management System in order to ensure its accuracy. In the event of a discrepancy, you are responsible for ensuring your training is captured in Carleton Central.