{"id":65644,"date":"2020-05-04T14:09:26","date_gmt":"2020-05-04T18:09:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/?p=65644"},"modified":"2020-05-05T14:19:02","modified_gmt":"2020-05-05T18:19:02","slug":"academic-options-available-for-research-based-graduate-students","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/2020\/05\/academic-options-available-for-research-based-graduate-students\/","title":{"rendered":"Academic options available for research-based graduate students"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Brock University now has a plan in place to support its graduate students who are facing an extraordinary situation due to the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>Brock\u2019s Senate approved the plan last week that will provide research-based grad students with a variety of flexible options that will allow them to successfully complete their programs in a timely manner, while respecting that academic requirements remain in place.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEarly on when the COVID pandemic broke and the University decided to go all online, we realized it would also impact research-based students,\u201d said Diane Dupont, Interim Dean of the Faculty of Graduate Studies. \u201cWe were concerned about the implications for them. At the end of the day, our goal is for students to get a fulfilling research experience, for them to graduate in a timely fashion and with projects that they can be proud of.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The first step in supporting those students came a number a weeks ago when all thesis defences moved online.<\/p>\n<p>From there, the Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS) started examining what the best options would be that still fall in line with academic requirements and standards.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere are different accommodations depending upon where a student is in terms of progressing through their degree and whether their program is course-based or research-based,\u201d Dupont said. \u201cThere are various options that assist students who have recently started their degree or those who are near to finishing their program.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Graduate Students\u2019 Association (GSA) President Christopher Yendt said he\u2019s pleased the options have been approved.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey represent an important first step in offering greater flexibility and options for students completing their degrees,\u201d he said. \u201cThe GSA maintains a strong\u00a0relationship with FGS and is committed to further partnership as we advocate for\u00a0members and ensure additional issues and concerns are continually addressed as we move forward through this period of uncertainty.\u201d<strong>\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In addition to defences and regular academic meetings now being fully virtual for all domestic and international students, the options available to grad students include:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Student remains enrolled in their program (the preferred option for domestic and international students early in their program).<\/li>\n<li>Student is provided an \u2018early\u2019 Final Stage Status (an option for domestic and international students later in their program who have completed 75 per cent of the first draft of their thesis and all course work.)<\/li>\n<li>Student takes an inactive term. While not preferred, this may be essential for a student who cannot substantively advance in their program through the Spring 2020 term. It is important to note that this option is available for international students on a student permit.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>In all cases, the first step in deciding the next course of action is for grad students to meet (virtually) with their graduate program director (GPD) or supervisor.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re giving supervisors and GPDs the tools to make it easier for them to work individually with each student and map out what is best for them,\u201d Dupont said. \u201cThey\u2019re the ones who can make the best assessment in each student\u2019s case.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>That advice was echoed by Yendt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt is important students consult with their supervisors, GPDs and the Faculty of Graduate Studies to ensure they are fully informed as to the impacts of the various accommodations available to them,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Brock\u2019s Senate approved the plan last week that will provide research-based grad students with a variety of flexible options that will allow them to successfully complete their programs in a timely manner, while respecting that academic requirements remain in place.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":61235,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[36,39,40,7,3319,4052,188,55,37,41,1,5,38],"tags":[159,8543,3622,607,147,3325],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65644"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=65644"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":65645,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/65644\/revisions\/65645"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/61235"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=65644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=65644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/brocku.ca\/brock-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=65644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}