Medical graduate faculty members must be a licensed Saskatchewan physician or a clinical PhD, holding a clinical appointment in the individual’s respective health region as well as an academic appointment in a department or a division within the College of Medicine at the University of Saskatchewan. A medical graduate faculty membership is subject to the limitations outlined by The University of Saskatchewan Act with respect to the statutory definition of a faculty member and as defined by the Procedures Manual for Medical Faculty.  Graduate medical faculty members are members of graduate faculty within the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.  Appointments as graduate medical faculty within CGPS are valid for five years (July through June), renewable for as long as the member remains in good standing and active in graduate and postdoctoral studies.  CGPS graduate medical faculty wishing to be involved in the education of graduate students and/or involvement with postdoctoral fellows within a second academic unit may be recommended for a one-time appointment and/or be nominated for associate membership.

An individual who is not an employee of the University of Saskatchewan whose knowledge, expertise and skills contribute to the academic unit’s research and teaching functions with respect to graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, may be recommended for appointment as an adjunct professor (USFA collective agreement 13.1.2). Adjunct professors are members of graduate faculty within the College of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies and are encouraged to participate in the affairs of the college as appropriate. Memberships are valid for five years (July through June), renewable for as long as the member remains in good standing and active in graduate and postdoctoral studies.  (e.g. Adjunct professors usually hold a PhD and an academic appointment at another university.  Adjunct professors are also commonly employed within a government-funded laboratory or have an affiliation to USask through research collaborations.)

Professional affiliates may be self-employed, may be employed in staff positions at the university, or may be members of external organizations. These individuals will normally have valuable skills, education, and experience, without necessarily meeting criteria required for appointment in a tenure-track faculty position.  Professional affiliates cannot be research supervisors, although they are eligible to serve on graduate student advisory and examining committees and are able to teach graduate courses, when their qualifications are appropriate. Academic units may recommend individuals be appointed as professional affiliates whom they wish to have associated with their research, graduate teaching, or professional program(s). Professional affiliates are not considered members of the CGPS faculty and they shall serve without additional salary from USask.

A one-time member may be appointed to serve on a graduate student advisory committee, teach a graduate-level course or serve as an external examiner of a master student’s thesis.  At minimum, the one-time member is expected to be a subject matter expert and typically have an earned degree equivalent to or advanced beyond that sought by the student. Generally, one-time members are non-CGPS members who have specific expertise in a specialized area and wish to contribute to the program of an individual graduate student.

In no case may a non-member of the CGPS faculty serve as sole research supervisor of a graduate student. Non-members may assist with the direction of a graduate student’s research, following approval by the Dean, by being appointed as a co-supervisor. One of the co-supervisors must be a member of CGPS.  At minimum, a non-member of CGPS faculty serving as a student’s co-supervisor is expected to have expertise relevant to the research being conducted, and typically have an earned degree equivalent to that sought by the student being co-supervised.  The same expectations apply to non-members being appointed as advisory committee members and Master’s external examiners.

The Dean of the CGPS retains the authority to reject a recommendation for a non-member’s participation based upon alternative factors not indicated above.  Further, the Dean may also allow exceptions to any of the expected criteria indicated above, after considering additional factors indicated in an appeal by the Graduate Chair, Department Head or Executive Director of the unit making the recommendation.

The CGPS is dependent upon academic units for information and action in the administration of graduate programs. While the academic unit Head or Dean/Executive Director carries the responsibilities outlined below, it is traditional and preferable that these be delegated to a Graduate Committee and/or Graduate Chair. Consequently, the position of Graduate Chair is of critical importance in ensuring the success of the program and of individual students.

The nature of the responsibilities of Graduate Chairs differs between academic units. Each Graduate Chair has a formal role and responsibilities relating to the CGPS Graduate Council, including the College’s Executive, Awards, Nominations, Academic Affairs, and Programs Committees.

These guidelines are intended to enhance the effectiveness of shared efforts in graduate admissions, program administration and the general flow of information. They indicate the areas of responsibility identified as important by the CGPS for the good management of graduate programs.

The Graduate Chair normally carries out the following:

Recruitment/Selection/Admission of Graduate Students

1. Information - Responds to queries regarding graduate programs in that particular academic unit, prepares or assembles appropriate informational material, coordinates graduate recruitment activities.
2. Internal Consultation - Presides over the academic unit Graduate Affairs Committee and executes the results of its discussions and decisions.
3. Admissions - Reviews all documentation needed to consider student applications for admission to the unit, consults with appropriate staff (usually involving the Graduate Affairs Committee), forwards a recommendation for admission to the CGPS when the unit has so decided, and informs the applicant about the outcome of the application. If the unit decides negatively, the decision may be challenged to the Associate Dean (Programs) or appealed to the Graduate Academic Affairs Committee. When the unit has decided positively, the unit is encouraged to so notify the applicant. A copy of the letter must be sent to the CGPS. This notification must clearly state that the unit's recommendation is to recommend admission, but the actual admission is made by the CGPS.
4. Consults with the CGPS in all matters regarding student admissions and credentials.

Administration of Graduate Program

1. Ensures that appropriate records for each graduate student in the unit are kept.
2. Ensures that an Advisory Committee is named in a timely way for each graduate student.
3. Ensures that graduate course offerings, supervisory resources, and other facilities are adequate to meet the needs of graduate programs and submits a Program of Studies.
4. Ensures that information on student programs and progress is kept up-to-date.
5. Ensures that Advisory Committees meet at least annually with the student, with minutes and Progress Reports are entered in PAWS.
6. Takes appropriate action when there is reason to believe that students are not making satisfactory progress in their program.
7. Ensures that the student has met all program requirements before requesting approval of the external examiner for thesis dissertation defences; consults with CGPS in scheduling oral dissertation defences; submits the name of the approved university examiner for doctoral defences and arm's length examiner for master's defences; and ensures that all convocation forms are submitted in a timely way to CGPS when a student applies to graduate.
8. Is responsible for regular review of graduate course offerings; facilitates systematic graduate program review.
9. Ensures that CGPS policies, regulations, procedures, and deadlines are known by graduate students, faculty members, and staff.
10. Coordinates and deals with correspondence to and from the CGPS; advises the CGPS of any particular problems or concerns.
11. Advises the CGPS Associate Dean in matters regarding goals and objectives pertaining to the delivery of graduate programs.
12. Coordinates development of new graduate courses and programs; arranges for the revision of courses and programs as appropriate; oversees the deletion procedures for graduate courses and programs; works collaboratively with the CGPS in the implementation of Catalogue revisions; prepares necessary documentation for Special Case graduate admissions.

Scholarships/Awards [under review]

1. In consultation with the Graduate Affairs Committee, coordinates the submission of recommendations for University Graduate Scholarships to the CGPS Awards Committee.
2. Coordinates submission of graduate student scholarship and fellowship applications to external funding agencies and for all other external awards, providing information, material and advice as appropriate.
3. Administers Graduate Teaching Fellowships in collaboration with the CGPS and the academic college.
4. Graduate Chairs in academic units belonging to the Devolved Scholarship System will follow their own academic unit scholarship action plan, approved by the CGPS, as to how they are to administer their university graduate scholarship funds from the CGPS.
5. As much as possible coordinates and provides information to students and to the CGPS on all available sources of funding; works to enhance funding sources.
6. Ensures that graduate students who receive teaching/service assignments are properly supervised and that they and their supervisors are fully informed in advance about the nature of the assignments and CGPS/University policies and regulations which govern them; facilitates the offering of instructional development training to graduate students.
7. Works collaboratively with the CGPS Director of Graduate Awards and Scholarships.

General Duties

1. Facilitates and authorizes on behalf of the unit, student registration in courses and any changes in registration which conform to the student's Program of Studies.
2. Informs students regarding the policies, requirements and regulations of the CGPS and of the unit.
3. Ensures students receive ongoing research supervision, meet regularly with their supervisors, and the quality of supervision is adequate; investigates when there is reason to believe relations between students and supervisors are not satisfactory.
4. Counsels individual graduate students and engages in discussions with student organizations as appropriate, ensures necessary resources, facilities and support are available to graduate students.
5. Ensures academic unit and university policies in areas such as safety, academic integrity, sexual harassment, Intellectual Property, etc., are known by students and faculty; mediates as necessary when students, instructors, supervisors or Advisory Committees come into dispute and, if necessary, reports such occurrences to the CGPS Dean; follows through when any such matters become the subject of formal investigations or hearings.

PURPOSE: To provide guidance for the roles and responsibilities of Graduate Affairs committees in departments/schools/colleges including distribution and adjudication of scholarship and awards. A key principle with respect to scholarship and admissions is to ensure that the awarding of recruitment scholarships and funding packages are done through a robust process with more than a single person making decisions and are fully coordinated with the admission process. The following includes guidance on best practices for the full suite of responsibilities and incorporates input from the CGPS’ Graduate Academic Affairs Committee and its Awards and Scholarship Committee.

GENERAL PRINCIPLES:

• A Graduate Committee is required for every dissertation/thesis-based graduate program.
• The Graduate Committee is located either at a departmental level or college/school level. For small departments all faculty members may be defacto members or the committee may be constituted through an organized subset of departments.
• The Graduate Committee will consist of at least 3 members: the Graduate Chair, plus at least 2 other members of the department, the college, or the subset of departments in which the graduate program located. The members must be tenure-track or tenured faculty who are eligible to be on the supervisory committees of graduate students in that program.
• Each Graduate Committee member must be committed to principles of equity, diversity and inclusion.
• Where voting is required, meetings are preferred but email votes are sufficient.

GRADUATE COMMITTEE SCOPE: The Graduate Committee is responsible for the following general activities as they relate to the programs it oversees: