Student supervision

Graduate student supervision is performed by university members with a graduate faculty appointment in the program.

Each master’s and doctoral student has a faculty advisor or research supervisor to provide guidance throughout the program. In programs that do not require a thesis, project or major paper, the student is guided by a faculty advisor throughout the program.

A student registered in a program that requires a thesis, project or major paper may initially have a faculty advisor but will be assigned a research supervisor when the student begins their research. In some cases, a student may have co-supervisors, with the terms established through an agreement for co-supervision and made clear at the outset to all involved.

Faculty advisor appointment

The graduate program director is responsible for assigning faculty advisors.

Faculty advisor responsibilities

The faculty advisor is a member of the student’s home faculty and holds a graduate faculty appointment. The main responsibilities of the faculty advisor include the following:

Consult with the student, recommend a program of study and submit it to the graduate program director for approval.
Help the student choose an appropriate area of research, if applicable.
Ensure that the student understands all degree requirements and regulations, as well as applicable policies.
Be knowledgeable about, and inform the student of, key deadlines and related information.
Be reasonably available to the student to discuss the program of study, as well as any academic concerns.
If requested, advise the student on academic or personal student services or resources.
Monitor the student’s academic progress.

Research supervisor appointment

The relationship between the student and the research supervisor is most important to the student’s successful completion of a graduate degree. The graduate program director will seek input from the student before assigning a research supervisor(s).

All research supervisors must hold a graduate, associate graduate or emeritus/emerita graduate faculty appointment to the program in which they are supervising. Faculty members with a graduate faculty appointment may sole-supervise, whereas those with an associate or emeritus/emerita graduate faculty appointment may only co-supervise. See graduate faculty appointments for details.

All research supervisory appointments must be approved by the dean of the home faculty in which the student is registered. In extraordinary circumstances, research supervisory appointments may be approved on an individual basis by the Dean of Graduate Studies.

Before approving the appointment of a research supervisor, the dean should give careful consideration to the faculty member’s research activities, supervisory experience and training, previous performance in graduate student supervision, the number of graduate students already being supervised, any imminence of leave (i.e., research, maternity or administrative) or retirement and any other relevant factors.

Since continuity of supervision is important in all graduate work, a change of research supervisor may be made only for strong reasons and after extensive consultation with all involved. A request for a change may come from the student, the research supervisor, the graduate program director or the dean. It should normally be sent, in writing, to the graduate program director accompanied by the reasons for the proposed change. If the home faculty dean concurs with the request, the recommendation for change should be sent to the Dean of Graduate Studies for final approval.

Research supervisor responsibilities

Specific responsibilities of the research supervisor include the following:

Be sufficiently familiar with the field of research to provide guidance and/or be willing to gain that familiarity before agreeing to act as a research supervisor.
Be accessible to the student for consultation and discussion of the student’s academic progress and research.
Help the student select and plan a suitable, timely and manageable research topic.
Co-operate with the student and graduate program director to establish a supervisory committee to convene meetings, normally at least once annually, to evaluate the student’s progress.
Respond in a timely, consistent and thorough manner to written work submitted by the student, with constructive and well-informed suggestions for improvement and continuation.
Provide a research environment that is safe, healthy, tolerant and free from harassment, discrimination and conflict.
Within the norms appropriate to the discipline, provide financial support and/or help the student obtain financial support from all reasonable sources.
Endeavour to achieve consensus and resolve differences in the best interests of all involved when there is conflicting advice, or when there are different expectations on the part of co-supervisors or members of a student’s supervisory committee.
Appropriately acknowledge the contributions of the student in presentations and published material, in many cases via joint authorship.
Be sensitive to cultural factors which may influence the individual student’s learning and research behaviour and experience.
Make arrangements for continuity of the student’s supervision before beginning an extended leave of absence.

Student responsibilities

Students have the following responsibilities:

Make a commitment and show substantial effort, initiative and dedication to gain the background knowledge and skills needed to pursue the research project successfully.
Work with their research supervisor to develop a plan and a timetable for completion of all stages of the research project and work assiduously to adhere to a schedule and to meet appropriate deadlines.
Meet regularly with their research supervisor and report fully and regularly on progress and results.
Keep their graduate program director fully informed regarding any matter relevant to their status in the program and seek advice from their research supervisor, as appropriate.
Meet agreed-upon performance standards and deadlines of funding organizations to the extent possible when financing has been provided by the university, funding agency or through a contract or grant.
Adhere to the standards of research ethics, health and safety, and respect the requirements of academic integrity, honesty and professionalism. This includes, but is not limited to, acknowledging and crediting any source of ideas, assistance, materials and/or data provided by others.

Student-research supervisor conflicts

It is the responsibility of the university and its faculties to ensure that all graduate students receive appropriate and fair supervision. Due to the nature of the relationship between the student and research supervisor, conflicts may arise. In such instances, the first step must be to attempt to resolve the conflict informally between the student and research supervisor. It is the responsibility of the graduate program director to act as a mediator.

A student who believes the conflict has not been resolved should contact the dean of the student’s home faculty. If the conflict persists, the student may pursue appropriate resolution through the Dean of Graduate Studies.

Conflict of interest in supervision

The university’s conflict of interest in research policy states: “Conflict of interest may take various forms and may arise in various contexts. Broadly speaking, a conflict of interest will exist whenever a university member has an interest that adversely affects or provides an incentive to affect the member’s conduct of [their] university activities.”

When a faculty member chooses to supervise a graduate student, they should be aware of the university’s conflict of interest in research policy and must disclose any conflict of interest or perceived conflict of interest to the Dean of Graduate Studies.

The conflict of interest in research policy can be found in the university’s policy library.