Welcome Message from the President
Our University of Calgary community welcomes you to begin — or continue — your post-secondary journey on our campuses: a hub of transformative teaching, learning, research, arts and athletics. We believe that our curious, nimble and future-focused community is the best place to Start Something. What that something is, will be up to you, but here is some food for thought.
Last year, UCalgary launched its 2023-2030 strategic plan, Ahead of Tomorrow to focus its energy on specific goals that will add value to your university education. Based on our unique approach to teaching and learning, research excellence, community partnership, and campus operations, this strategic plan and our foundational commitments together lay a mosaic for the future.
1. Increase access to impactful and future-focused education
2. Harness the power of research and innovation to tackle society’s biggest challenges
3. Locate community at the centre of all we do
4. Make our processes clearer, simpler and better than any other university
For students, this means that your UCalgary experience will equip you to meet the challenges of today and tomorrow. We aim to focus your talent and ambition through our lens of entrepreneurial thinking, which involves taking initiative, exchanging knowledge across disciplines, learning from experience and resourcefully engaging with the world. We deliver and promote programs which encourage entrepreneurial thinking across the university, and our students graduate with these strengths that enrich their lives and enhance society in every aspect.
We also want UCalgary students to make the most of their university experience by taking advantage of opportunities to engage in research: summer studentships, research positions on campus, internships, international experiences, challenges and hackathons that will push their limits. By embedding research opportunities in all student learning, we are helping students apply their academic knowledge beyond the classrooms, to create novel solutions to real-world issues.
All of this progress would not have been possible without the support of the people of Calgary, who fought and won the right to have their own autonomous university in 1966. The same passion and commitment shown by our home city is reciprocated by the University of Calgary. To reach our Ahead of Tomorrow goals, we are deepening our external engagement to help the people of our communities shine brighter via expanded credits, scholarships and incentives for community-focused work.
Finally, the prerequisites, bureaucracy, processes and rules of post-secondary education have been an obstacle for far too long. UCalgary aims to change that by simplifying our processes and adding more flexibility, so you will spend less time completing forms and more time enjoying campus life.
Even better, you will find campus services and supports easier and faster to access than ever before.
Now, it’s time to dive in and explore all the facets of your academic program, both within and beyond your faculty. Best wishes to you all for a very successful 2024-25 academic year.
Sincerely,
Ed McCauley, PhD, FRSC
President and Vice-Chancellor
Welcome to Graduate Studies from the Provost
Greetings!
On behalf of the University of Calgary, I would like to congratulate you as you start a new year in your graduate academic pursuits. You are an important part of creating our vibrant community; we are better because of our more than 7,500 graduate students across more than 70 graduate programs.
Our academic community, like our city, is made up of people like you with big ideas and the drive to make them happen. Collaboration, innovation and hard work, along with scholars like you, are reflective of the critical part we play in the success of our city, province, country, and the world. As a graduate student you are emerging as a scholar, on a path of discovery to turn challenges into opportunities and improve the world and its societies. The impact of your work exemplifies the importance of graduate education, and of research-intensive universities.
You have chosen a fantastic place to further your education. At our foundation are commitments to reconciliation and ii’taa’poh’to’p, our Indigenous strategy; to equity, diversity, and inclusion; and to students and the student experience. These are part of our ongoing work as one of Canada’s top research institutions. The University of Calgary is Canada’s entrepreneurial university – where innovative and creative thinking, along with transdisciplinary excellence, empowers us to tackle society’s biggest challenges, and supports our student body in writing its own future.
The University of Calgary has a commitment to graduate education that features signature programs and access to experiential learning opportunities. We welcome you to a campus that supports you as you develop the skills and knowledge necessary to excel in your chosen field.
Finally, graduate education provides the opportunity to deepen your knowledge in areas you are passionate about, and it is important to recognize that you are not alone in your efforts. Together we are better. We hope that you will make the most of your time with us, and make use of the many programs and services available from the Faculty of Graduate Studies, the Graduate Students' Association, and the university to support you. And if there is more we can do to support you, I hope you will speak up and let us know.
I wish you great success in all you do.
Dr. Penny Werthner
Interim Provost and Vice-President (Academic)
Message from the Dean of Graduate Studies
As a new academic year begins, I welcome both new and returning graduate students to the University of Calgary. Each of you are valued members of our University’s community as students, researchers, scholars and teachers. We are committed to providing you the training and support you need to be successful, whether that be in the laboratory, the classroom or the community. As a vibrant and growing research-intensive institution, the University of Calgary is committed to training the next generation of scholars, professionals and thought-leaders.
Many resources are available to you during your graduate education. The faculty members in your program, notably your supervisors and instructors, should provide mentorship both in the substance of your area of study and in your development as a professional and scholar in your field. The Graduate Students’ Association, the Student Success Centre, Career Services, the Wellness Centre, and the My GradSkills program among others, provide a wide range of services and support for graduate students over the course of their degree programs. I encourage you to familiarize yourself with these resources and make use of the assistance they can provide.
The Faculty of Graduate Studies provides leadership and support for excellence in graduate education. We are the faculty of registration for all graduate students; we also set admission and program standards, administer approximately $30 million annually in financial awards for graduate study, and promote uniform standards of excellence across programs.
You can contact us with questions about registration, fees, and scholarships, or to clarify the regulations contained in this Calendar. Students enrolled in thesis-based programs will complete their degree program by depositing their thesis with us. Please visit our offices (McKimmie Tower, 2nd Floor ) or contact us by telephone (403.220.4938) or e-mail (graduate@ucalgary.ca), and check our website for useful information (grad.ucalgary.ca).
This Calendar provides important information regarding the regulations of the University and of your program. It is your responsibility to know and comply with the relevant regulations. Being familiar with the material contained in the Calendar will also assist you in setting a timetable for moving successfully through your program. The online Calendar found at https://calendar.ucalgary.ca/ is the official version.
Any student may choose to remain with the regulations as they were upon her or his entering the program, but we anticipate that changes in subsequent editions will always improve the graduate program, and therefore will be to the student’s advantage.
I wish you every success in your studies in the coming year.
Dr. Tara Beattie
Vice Provost and Dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies