New Year, New You

Let’s Begin 2018 in a Fresh Direction

Ring in the new year by joining our on- and off-campus extra-curricular classes and social events. Exercise your body, mind and soul, embrace your potential for interpersonal and intellectual growth, or realize whatever your new year’s resolution may be. This is your opportunity to learn or experience something new in 2018.

Check out our upcoming classes and events below:

Get a Head Start on New Year’s Resolution

Spaces Fill Up Fast! Register Now!

Relax and relieve those pesky academic stress.
Sign up and unwind once a week:

Flow Yoga – Come away with a good workout & a yoga experience through uninterrupted routine that moves from pose to pose

Yin Yoga – Hold poses longer with the aim to increase flexibility and encourage a feeling of release and letting go

Yoga (Off-Campus) – Even off-campus UBC grad students can get bendy & relieve stress too with this class in the VGH area

Zumba – Shake away life’s heavy demands through dance and aerobic movements choreographed to energetic music

Ski, Snowboard, or Want to Learn?

A full day of snow, slopes and good times

Join fellow graduate students as we head to Whistler, BC, with packages to suit all tastes and budgets. Not the sporty type? There is the iconic Peak2Peak Gondola Experience, snowshoeing, sleigh rides, tubing, great shopping and restaurants to name a few things

Info & Sign Up  

Parlez-vous français?

Want to Learn French?

French classes are back for Winter Term 2. Advance your French proficiency with one of these courses:

French 101 (Off-Campus) – Learn to speak basic French in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere through this interactive class combined with one-on-one lessons

French 101: Part 2 – A continuation of French 101 from Fall 2017 with basic French grammar and vocabulary, or a refresher before French 102

French 102 – Advance to the next level and continue to learn to speak French through this interactive class combined with one-on-one lessons

French 102 (Off-Campus) – If you know basic French, advance to the next level through this interactive class combined with one-on-one lessons

Cheers to New Friends & Great Drinks

January 5, 7pm

Eat, drink and be merry (or just come & make new friends!) before diving into Winter Term 2. Enjoy $15 Special burger and beer combo $3 Highball Fridays for all grad students

Read more

Next GSS Council Meeting

January 18, 2018, 5:30pm

Michael Kingsmill Forum (4/F of The Nest)

The GSS represents and advocates for fellow graduate students at UBC Vancouver. Learn more on what we do for you at our monthly meeting

I hope you enjoyed a break over the holiday season.  Graduate Pathways to Success workshops resume this month with registration now open for: 

Practical Tips for Growing your Network (with Dr. Jenn Gardy)

Thu, Jan 18, 9:30 AM– 12 PM @ Michael Smith Laboratories

Register at: www.grad.ubc.ca/about-us/events/16610-practical-tips-growing-your-network

 

Visit community.grad.ubc.ca for other opportunities including:

Attend UBC’s 2018 Student Leadership Conference, Jan 13 | community.grad.ubc.ca/forum/4199

Webinar on Upgrading your LinkedIn profile, Jan 18 | community.grad.ubc.ca/forum/4232  

Leveraging Your Science Degree webinar, Feb 22 | community.grad.ubc.ca/forum/4233 

New Graduate Orientation will take place on Jan 4^th, followed by the GSS Welcome Back Social on Jan 5^th, and Orientation to the Library on Jan 9^th. Event details can be found at: orientation.grad.ubc.ca/events/event/ . 

Happy New Year,

Jacqui.

Jacqui Brinkman
Manager, Graduate Pathways to Success Program
Office of the Dean | Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies
The University of British Columbia | Vancouver Campus
170 – 6371 Crescent Road | Vancouver BC | V6T 1Z2 Canada
Phone 604 827 4578 | Fax 604 822 5802
jacqui.brinkman@ubc.ca | @ubcgradschool
https://www.grad.ubc.ca/

There is a new initiative at UBC to train graduate students to teach as instructors in science undergraduate classes. This Centre for the Integration of Research, Teaching, and Learning (CIRTL) at UBC offers students a certification as a CIRTL Associate, Practitioner, or Scholar which can boost your CV.

To become a CIRTL Associate, you can participate in our Foundations of Pedagogy course. The course is non-credit and free of charge. At the end of the one-term course, you will be able to use concepts in evidence-based teaching to effectively teach a lesson in a STEM undergraduate classroom, with emphasis on alignment of learning objectives, activities, and assessment.

Schedule:

Tuesdays, 2 pm – 4 pm, January 09, 2018 – March 06, 2018 (no course during reading week).

Koerner Library, RM216

More information and sign-up:

http://cirtl.ubc.ca/get-involved/foundations-of-pedagogy/

Questions:

If you have any question about this course or CIRTL, please contact cirtl.info@ubc.ca

Sincerely,

Lacey Samuels

CIRTL co-leader

Prof. A. Lacey Samuels

Department of Botany

University of British Columbia

Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 1Z4

 

phone: (604) 822-5469

CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC CGS Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplements – 3rd intake for 2017-2018

The Canada Graduate Scholarships – Michael Smith Foreign Study Supplement (CGS-MSFSS) Program supports high-calibre graduate students in building global linkages and international networks through the pursuit of exceptional research experiences at research institutions abroad. By accessing international scientific research and training, CGS-MSFSS recipients contribute to strengthening the potential for collaboration between Canadian and foreign institutions.

The Tri-Agency has launched a third intake for the 2017-2018 competition with the intention of awarding the remaining supplements from the two previous intakes. CIHR has sufficient funds for approximately 25 awards, NSERC has sufficient funds for approximately 18 awards, and SSHRC has sufficient funds for approximately 13 awards. Eligible applications will be accepted on a first come, first served basis. Complete and eligible applications will be forwarded to the funding agencies as they are received by the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.

Applicant eligibility: Open to Canadian citizens or permanent residents who hold a Vanier CGS or a Tri-Agency Canada Graduate Scholarship (CGS) at the Master’s or doctoral level. Please note that international students who hold a Vanier CGS are not eligible for this award.

Award value: Up to CAD $6,000 for three to six months

Applicant deadline: First come, first served – Applicants are encouraged to submit their applications well in advance of the deadline: 4:00 p.m. on Friday, 26 January 2018.

For details about this competition, please see: https://www.grad.ubc.ca/awards/canada-graduate-scholarship-michael-smith-foreign-study-supplement-3rd-call

Deferred Standing 

As you know, there is a campus-wide policy on Deferred standing in coursework: 

UBC Calendar – Campus-wide Policies and Regulations: http://www.calendar.ubc.ca/vancouver/index.cfm?tree=3,42,97,0

 

There has been no change in this policy.  

G+PS has seen an increase in the number of  students who have been given an extension to time to complete course requirements without formal Deferred standing. In some cases the outstanding requirements have not been completed, and the missing grades have not been noticed until final checking before graduation. Such a situation can be very difficult to resolve, particularly if the instructor is no longer available either to provide a grade on work that was completed or to review the student’s submission of the outstanding material to complete the course. This can have serious consequences for a student who is expecting to graduate. 

In order to prevent such occurrences, we will be offering more support to programs to identify students who have missing grades and who may need Deferred standing. One month after the end of each term, we will run a report that identifies students with missing grades, and will inform graduate programs. The programs can then contact their students and the course instructors to determine whether the students still have work to complete and whether Deferred standing is appropriate. Programs follow up with G+PS and either request Deferred standing or enter a grade for the work the student has completed. 

If the program decides to request Deferred standing, the instructor must provide an interim grade that will be entered in the student’s record in addition to SD (for Deferred standing). This ensures that if the instructor is no longer at UBC when the SD is completed, another faculty member can grade the remaining work and calculate a total grade using the interim grade.   

Please see Deferred Standing in the Policies and Procedures section of the G+PS website for details on the procedure for requesting Deferred standing.

The form for requesting Deferred standing has been updated to clarify this procedure. 

Please don’t hesitate to contact me (max.read@ubc.ca) if you have questions. 

Kind regards, 

Max 

Max Read
Associate Director, Student Academic Services
Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies | Office of the Dean and Vice-Provost
The University of British Columbia | Vancouver Campus
170-6371 Crescent Road | Vancouver BC | V6T 1Z2 Canada
Phone 604 822 0283
max.read@ubc.ca | http://www.grad.ubc.ca