External Review of the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research (FGSR)

Since fall of 2022, the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research (FGSR) has been engaged in an external review of its structure, policies, processes, and role at the university. The review, the first in 15 years, stemmed from community input and the need to engage in a more fulsome examination of the role of graduate administration in our restructured university. Graduate students and postdoctoral fellows are at the heart of this university, and our ability to better attract and support outstanding grad students and PDFs will be critical to the future success of the U of A.

Cheryl Misak (University of Toronto), Fahim Quadir (Queen’s University) and Robin Yates (University of Calgary) were invited to U of A to conduct an external review, meet with stakeholders and examine FGSR's current structure and function. In addition to interviewing stakeholders across the institution, the reviewers also considered the University of Alberta’s history and background, as well as the recent changes resulting from SET and the college model.

Based on this work, the reviewers have provided the U of A with recommendations for refining FGSR that will help the U of A to become a leader in the graduate student experience and postdoctoral research support.

READ THE EXTERNAL REVIEW

Key Changes

The external review reaffirms the importance of a strong, central FGSR responsible for university-wide policies and initiatives. The review also recommends that FGSR needs to undergo continuous improvements aimed at streamlining its processes and improving services for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows while effectively partnering with and supporting faculty and staff.

Some of the report’s key recommendations include:

• Developing a comprehensive plan to define the roles and responsibilities of Colleges, Faculties and FGSR
• Changing the name from FGSR to the Faculty of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies
• Undertaking a formal review of all FGSR’s policies, procedures and communication practices
• Forming a task force dedicated to developing a shared agenda on funding
• Establishing a Strategic Graduate Enrolment Management Group
• Positioning FGSR to lead a formal collaborative group focused on graduate program creation and development

What's Next

Parts of this transformation are already underway. Some of the immediate areas of focus include:

• Identifying professional development activities for postdoctoral fellows, including a formal supervisory development training program
• Accelerating the transition to the SLATE student records management system, a new admissions system for graduate admissions, which will enable other process improvements in grad administration
• Working on a system for admitting exceptional applicants faster
• Revising and clearly defining acceptable thesis formats

Progress from these changes will continually be shared as this transformation moves forward.

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Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research Unit Review Update

May 2024

This table has column and row headers. Along the top, the headers are What's Done and What's Next. Down the left side, the headers headers are as follow: Name Change, Administrative Process (Admissions), Post-Doctoral Office, Minimum Funding Guarantee, Governance / Policy Review, Graduate Examinations, Enrolment Management, Program Development, Communications, Administrative Process (Program Progression), Administrative Process (Awards and Scholarship), Systems Optimization, Digital Transformation, Partnership Engagement, EDI and Indigenization, Thesis Format, Professional Development.

	What’s Done	What’s Next
Name Change	Governance Outline document created; pathway refined Consultation and approval Update faculty name in the University Calendar, in admissions offer letters and across the GPS website	Rebranding Update faculty name in recruitment materials, on signage and across the U of A website
Administrative Process: Admissions	Recurring team process review meetings. Revamp the Deferrals Process; roll out to Administrators Review potential ideas for expedited Admissions processes Review and streamline required documentation for applicants (not requiring notarized and password protected documents) Inventory of multilingual capabilities of team members, as related to applicant documents and assessment	Explore Certificate Pathways and required documentation Review conditional admissions categories and processes (including GPA, ELP, documents) Conditional admissions policy language moving through governance
Postdoctoral Office	Hold Professional Development (PD) Onboarding Session Invited to Supervisor Training and GTL Modules Create Postdoctoral Digest Associate Dean named Director of Postdoctoral Fellows Administer of Collective Agreement and exceptions processes Approve new Postdoctoral Coordinator position	Develop targeted PD opportunities for postdoctoral fellows Fill the postdoctoral Coordinator position Incorporate faculty name change  Gather resources for postdoctoral fellow Supervisory Guidelines Participate in PDFA bargaining; highlighting areas that we’ve seen that may compliment the CA Update policies relating to postdoctoral fellow categories
Minimum Guaranteed Funding	Draft Operating Standard Establish high-level Implementation Working Group, and hold first meeting Approve Operating Standard Consult with campus community partners	Expand the implementation group Work with partners in PAIR and ESSI to begin work on a funding dashboard Allocate and establish mechanisms for GPS funds to support funding guarantees
Governance / Policy Review	Suspend PRC for the 2023-24 year; review whether GPST suffices Expand role for Associate Deans, Grad group (previously known as GEFAC), including College ADE’s Approve Terms of Reference for the Graduate Leadership Advisory Council (GLAC) (formerly GEFAC) Calendar changes for Certificate Admissions, Maintenance of Registration	Adjust Terms of Reference (removing PRC, etc.)
Graduate Examinations	Implement policy changes available in calendar; release summary document and update forms Conclude the Thesis Coordinator Pilot project Workshop and Resources for Grad Exam Chairing (Fall 2023)	Regular workshops for Grad Exam Chairing Exploring voluntary Exam Chair Pool that would aid in emergencies and for smaller faculties
Enrolment Management	Ongoing contributions and involvement in developing the work plan consistent with the University Strategic Plan	Look at pathways to diversify graduate learner populations
Program Development	Co-chair the working group on the Strategic Plan for new course-based master's	Together with the broader IEGP work, provide recommendations related to CBM and growth and changes  in other graduate credentials
Communications	Work to develop Professional Development communications strategies Identify concerns with the website, and initiated a project for website updates Environmental scan of current website and consult users Update website content	Develop an effective change management communications plan Update site structure and top navigation menu
Administrative Process: Program Progression	Recurring team process review meetings Approve policy changes around academic probation and remediation of failed grades	Academic Probation timelines and processes; communicate and implement changes to policy Potential to update the Leave of Absence categories, policies and processes
Administrative Process: Awards & Scholarship	Continuing review of processes and awards gaps Transfer of UAlberta North Awards to FGSR	Continue to develop resources for department administrators
Systems Optimization	Hire SLATE Project Manager; documented high level requirements; develop Project Charter (scoping document); create steering and advisory committees Develop WaitWell and begin project work toward implementation in October 2023 (virtual queuing system for in person and virtual student visits) Implement FreshService, contact form for student facing communications Move FGSR Business Analysis to SLATE project for additional support	Move SLATE Project in to Phase 2 Add faculty-level subject matter expert to the SLATE team in June 2024
Digital Transformation	Revamp Department Signing Authority Form: streamline, remove requirement of physical signatures, introduce ease of Google Form	Form Digitization Project: testing Program Progression forms. Expect rollout of first group of digitized forms in April 2024
Partnership Engagement	FGSR Staff Retreat focusing on Unit Review Recommendations UCalgary Field Trip with the intention of learning about the processes and pieces that have worked well for their Faculty of Graduate Studies GPAC Retreat focusing on building a graduate administrators community Colleges: recurring meetings between FGSR and College ADs Education; recurring meetings between Faculty General Manager and College General Managers	Explore potential community building events Planning 2nd annual GPAC retreat
EDI & Indigenization	Review rubric for Equity Oriented forms review Ongoing deliberate EDI and Indigeneity lens on new program development and graduate program quality assurance reviews Explore an Indigenous Specialist position in the Admission/Program Progression areas Review Awards and Scholarship funding and adjudication with an eye to EDI and Indigenization (ie. introduction of an award for part-time Indigenous students)	Changes to forms based on rubric Engage with the campus-wide affirmed name project
Thesis Format	Create policy changes and streamline guidelines and example documents for thesis formatting, including guidelines for non-traditional thesis	Move policy changes through governance
Professional Development	Ongoing updates to Ethics and Academic Citizenship (INTD 710/720) to allow all students to meet their ethics requirement Ongoing updates to in person, virtual, and online programming and materials, including Indigenization of Individual Development Plan for students to meet PD requirement French translation of INTD 710/720 online course Offering specific PD sessions for FNMI students	Update calendar language for PD requirement Create a Leadership module for PD training Create the next level of Community Engagement training