Graduate Nursing Student Handbook

PhD students and MN Thesis based students require a Supervisory Committee. The committee normally will consist of a Supervisor and two additional faculty members. If there is a co-supervisor, two additional members are still required.

Students/Supervisors are required to complete the Appointment of Supervisory Committee form within 3 months of starting their program.

DN students require a Supervisory Committee. The committee will normally consist of an assigned faculty supervisor, and at least two additional academic members from relevant faculties/institutions. The workplace mentor will be a non-voting member of the committee. 

Master of Nursing Course based students require a committee for their project. The Master of Nursing Course based committee will consist of 3 members:

• Student's Supervisor (Chair),
• 1 Doctoral prepared member from the faculty,
• 1 Master's prepared member from the project setting, agency. 

Graduate students are expected to meet with their supervisor on a regular basis.

Students are expected to take minutes at all meetings, to be forwarded to your supervisor and committee (and any other attendees) within 48 hours of the meeting for their approval. The meeting minutes should then be sent to nursgrad@ucalgary.ca within 5 days of the meeting, indicating whether or not they have been approved.

Cancelled meetings should also be documented.

See Agenda Template
See Meeting Minutes Template 

Complete the 2 mandatory checklists within the first two months of working with your supervisor and submit them to your graduate program administrator.

1. Expectations
2. Intellectual Property

Refer back to them regularly to stay on track and to maintain a healthy and productive student/supervisor relationship.

It is recommended that the documents be reviewed by the Student and Supervisor on a regular basis. 

The Faculty of Graduate Studies provides resources regarding the expectations of a graduate student and of a supervisor. Please review the Student/Supervisor expectations.

In rare circumstances, a change of supervisor may be required.

Changing your supervisor may lead to a change in your thesis topic, funding, access to research data, and may affect your publications.

Prior to requesting a change of supervisor, please contact the Nursing Graduate office or the Nursing Associate Dean, Graduate Programs. Each request is handled on a case by case basis.

Review the information on the Faculty of Graduate Studies website for more info.

The Annual Progress Report (APR) is a tool for MN Thesis-based, DN and PhD students and supervisor to monitor progress.

Annual Progress Report is an annual requirement that must be completed in May to detail/review your past work and set goals for the future year.

MN Thesis-based and PhD students must complete a Proposed Course Progression Form at the start of their program. It is important to make a solid plan for the completion of all course work to ensure that students will complete their program in a timely manner.

Graduate-level nursing courses for each term are available for you to view through your Student Centre.

B- is the minimum passing grade for any one course; however, an overall GPA of at least 3.00 (B) must be maintained in each year of the program. If, after consulting the department and Supervisory committee concerned, the Faculty decides that a student is not making satisfactory progress in either course work or research, the student may be required to withdraw.

Please refer to the Graduate Calendar which outlines the process and timeline for appeals. 

All University of Calgary students must use their @ucalgary.ca email address for all university business. Once you create your email account, your contact information will be automatically updated to your official @ucalgary.ca address.  Remember to check your @ucalgary.ca email regularly for course, program and advisory related correspondence. Communication from the university will be sent only to this address.

For support with your UCalgary IT account and IT resources, such as password resets, multifactor authentication, D2L and Office 365, connect IT Support, part of UService.

To successfully engage in learning experiences at the University of Calgary, students taking online, remote and blended courses are required to have reliable access to the following technology:

• A computer with a supported operating system, as well as the latest security, and malware updates.
• A current and updated web browser. 
• Webcam (built-in or external).
• Microphone and speaker (built-in or external), or headset with microphone.
• Current antivirus and/or firewall software enabled.
• Broadband internet connection.

The Academic Schedule in Graduate Studies Calendar is the go-to place for important dates.

Frequently used forms and documents can be located on this page.

Master of Nursing Thesis-based, PhD & DN students are automatically registered as full-time students regardless of how quickly they move through their degree program.

If a Change of Status is required, it must occur on the anniversary of the student's initial registration by completing a Change of Status form. 

Students must be aware of the Academic Integrity webpage on the Faculty of Graduate Studies website.

Effective Fall 2023 all incoming students are required to complete the following D2L modules:

• Graduate Student Orientation (GradO)
• Academic Integrity Orientation

Courses will be will be in your D2L at start of the semester. 

Students must create their UCalgary IT account in order to be added to the D2L site

A Change of Course Registration form is required to add/drop after the deadline or to enrol in a course offered by another faculty or department.

If an extension is required beyond the end of term, a deferral of term work form must be completed. Deferrals are granted at the discretion of the faculty member offering the course and with the approval of the associate dean for no longer than 30 days after the last day of the term.

Graduate students wanting to change programs (e.g. from thesis-based to PhD or part-time to full-time) must first consult with their supervisor.

A change in program may result in a change in tuition fees.

A Change of Program Request form must be submitted to the Undergraduate & Graduate Programs Office at nursgrad@ucalgary.ca. 

Should a student require additional time to complete their program, they must consult with their supervisor. The student and supervisor must work together to make a formal request by submitting a Program/Candidacy Extension Request form to the Undergraduate & Graduate Programs Office.

Students may request a Leave of Absence (LOA) as a service request through their Student Centre. Additional information regarding eligibility, as well as impacts on funding and program progression, is available from the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

Students must complete a Voluntary Withdrawal Service Request via their Student Centre if they wish to withdraw from their graduate program. 

More information about voluntary and involuntary withdrawals is available from the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

Graduate students may be approved to take a course at another university, with the approval of their supervisor and the Faculty of Nursing Associate Dean Graduate Programs. 

The formal request requires completion of a Western Dean's Agreement form. Tuition and general fees at the University of Calgary and applicable general fees at the host institution must be paid. The student is responsible for contacting the host university for information on their fees and deadlines.

To ensure Nursing students follow documentation standards and guidelines which align with the College of Registered Nurses of Alberta (CRNA), please review the Student Signature on Documentation Policy.

Current nursing students and alumni may require documents verifying their nursing education, including concepts covered and theory, clinical and lab hours. The Graduate Programs Office can assist you with having these documents prepared.

All thesis-based students must activate their registration annually even if they are not taking courses.

It is the student's responsibility to activate their registration and ensure they meet graduation requirements. Instructions for activating/initializing registration are available on the Faculty of Graduate Studies website.

For students in the Graduate Certificates, Master of Nursing - Course Based, and Doctor of Nursing, as well as Master of Nursing - Thesis Based and PhD students taking courses, the Undergraduate & Graduate Programs Office will register you into your required courses. 

Thesis-based students who have completed all of their required coursework will need to activate their registration each term. 

Full-time students will automatically incur fees for Health & Dental Plan available through the Graduate Students' Association. Students with other benefit coverage may choose to opt-out.

UCalgary offers a payment plan which allows students to pay tuition and fees in installments over the term, rather than all at once. 

When commencing your graduate program, make sure you understand your tuition and general fees, and learn which awards you are eligible for.

Your T4A and other tax forms are available for download through your Student Centre. 

The Graduate Student Association has a section on their website regarding Financial Support & Awards. 

Graduate Nursing Students are encouraged to submit an application to the Program Recommended Awards. Awards are available to students enrolled in full-time studies unless otherwise indicated in the Terms of Reference.

Applications open March 1st each year, with a closing date of April 30th.

The PRAs are disbursed in the Fall term.

The Graduate Award Competition (GAC) encompasses a broad range of awards funded by donors and the University of Calgary.

GAC competition opens November 1. Deadlines to submit award applications are set individually. To confirm the deadline for your program, check your GAC online application or contact our the Graduate Programs Office. Late applications will not be accepted

Note: GAC awards are open to research-based students only.

There are a number of external funding opportunities for students. Students are encouraged to seek out these opportunities, including federal scholarships such as the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) and Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) scholarships.

The Faculty of Grad Studies awards website lists federal, provincial, UofC, Indigenous and other external awards. Students can search the Graduate Awards Database for specific criteria (e.g. doctoral) and/or keywords (e.g. nursing). 

The Faculty of Nursing may offer a limited number of Graduate Assistant Teaching (GAT) positions each term. Students will receive an email with instructions on how to apply for a GAT. 

Students may be offered a Graduate Assistant Research (GAR) position and be paid from the research accounts held by university faculty members. The rate of pay varies and earnings are treated as employment income and thus subject to tax. See the GSA/UCalgary Collective Agreement for details.

Students are also encouraged to seek out external funding opportunities for Registered Nurses, including but not limited to Alberta Registered Nurses Educational Trust and the Canadian Nurses Foundation.

All student funding is paid through direct deposit. Students must enter their banking information into their Student Centre.

Students are required to attend Connect Days.  Students who do not attend Connect Days may be asked to withdraw from the course. 

Students will take one course each semester over four standard semesters (Fall, Winter, Spring, Summer.)

You must successfully complete the previous course with B- or higher grade to progress to the next course.

Each graduate certificate in Advanced Nursing Practice is part-time and takes one year to complete.

The maximum completion time for each graduate certificate is two years.

The maximum completion time for the Laddered Certificate Pathway to the MN course-based degree is six years.

The Faculty of Graduate Studies provides extensive information regarding the requirements for completing a thesis. This link also provides information on Academic Integrity, Intellectual Property, Copyright, and the Examination Regulations. 

Students who wish to proceed with a Manuscript-based Thesis along with their supervisor and supervisory committee members should plan early on in their program and carefully review the guidelines. 

Publication is an expectation in research intensive universities. In research intensive universities, Nursing Graduate Students need to be brought into an ethos of making publication a priority in their program. In the response to recommendations from the 2014 Unit Review, the Faculty of Nursing undertook the development of a policy to guide Faculty and Students related to authorship on publications.

Writing Support offers creative coaching to help you become a more effective communicator.

MN students must have their proposal approved by the Supervisory Committee and the appropriate ethics review board. All members of the Supervisory Committee must have reviewed and approved the student's draft thesis document before an examination can be scheduled. 

Taylor Family Digital Library

Graduate Nurse Resources Training

Dr. Alix Hayden, Nursing Librarian

Whether you are in the planning stages or the conducting stages of your research, the library has resources and services that will be useful to you throughout the research life-cycle. Some of these resources or services are available on the website.
 

Doctoral students must have their research proposals approved in principle by their supervisory committee prior to candidacy. Students must receive formal approval of their research proposals from the supervisory committee before proceeding to ethical review and implementation of the project. The examination has a written and an oral component.

Please see the links to the Faculty of Nursing Candidacy Regulations as well as information on the Faculty of Graduate Studies website on Exams and Candidacy.

Following successful completion of candidacy students must receive ethics approval. Students must receive formal approval of their research proposals from the supervisory committee before proceeding to ethics review and implementation of the project. The Research Office in the Faculty of Nursing will help you with your ethics application.

Taylor Family Digital Library

Graduate Nurse Resources Training

Dr. Alix Hayden, Nursing Librarian

Whether you are in the planning stages or the conducting stages of your research, the library has resources and services that will be useful to you throughout the research life-cycle. Some of these resources or services are available on the website.

All members of the Supervisory Committee must have reviewed and approved the student's draft thesis document before an examination can be scheduled. 

The supervisor is responsible for making arrangements for your final thesis defence. The Graduate Programs Office must receive the examination information from the supervisor a minimum of 8 weeks prior to the oral examination date. 

If the oral examination (PhD, DN, MNTB) is preceded by a separate public presentation, this information must be provided to the Nursing Graduate Office with the submission of the exam time frame form. This arrangement must be communicated to the examination committee members.

A list of all proposed attendees must be submitted to the Graduate Programs Office a minimum of one week prior to the examination.

* Only applicable to students prior to Fall 2021.

All members of the MN course-based Project Committee must have reviewed and approved the student's project document before an examination can be scheduled. 

The final oral examination for MN course-based students is a presentation/oral defence of the student’s scholarly project. The exam will be scheduled by the student's supervisor after the student has completed all coursework and has received the final grade for NURS 634. 

Following the successful final defense of the thesis, and after completing all required revisions to the thesis, the student is responsible for completing and submitting the required paperwork to the Faculty of Graduate Studies. Once those documents have been submitted and approved, the student will be able to submit the final thesis to The Vault.

* Only applicable to students prior to Fall 2021.

Following the successful completion of the Course-based Project Oral Presentation, the Graduate Programs Office will submit a "Completion of Course-based Program" form to the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

Students are responsible for applying to graduate prior to the deadline or they remain as a registered student and are required to pay applicable tuition and general fees. 

Once you have a confirmed examination date you should apply to graduate.

Students who have completed their program can generate a Letter of Degree Completion from the Student Centre if they have been cleared for graduation and their account is in good financial standing. These letters are a means for the student to provide proof of degree completion before they have received their parchment and final transcripts.

A directory of student services available at the University of Calgary, including:

• Career Services
• Faith and Spirituality Centre
• International Student Services
• Centre for Career & Personal Development
• Writing Symbols Lodge
• Peer Helpers Office
• Scholars Academy
• Student Accessibility Services
• Student Non-Academic Misconduct Policy
• Student Ombuds Office
• Student Success Centre
• Student Wellness Services
• Welcome Centre
• Women’s Resource Centre

Wellness Services offer a variety of one-time and ongoing mental health services, which can be accessed by students. More information is available here.

The Faculty of Nursing has a Mental Health and Wellness Clinic available to students, staff and faculty, which is staffed by a Nurse Practitioner (NP). Individual and group workshops and services are available. 

Knowing how to effectively and efficiently find quality information is not only relevant to academic purposes (i.e. assignments and research papers); it is also essential for nursing practice. The University Library offers a wide variety of services, facilities and information resources to assist you with your research and practice information needs.

Please note, the Nursing collection is housed in the Health Sciences Library located in the Health Sciences Centre, near Foothills Hospital. For assistance with your research or accessing resources, please contact the Nursing Librarian, Dr. Alix Hayden, at ahayden@ucalgary.ca. 

The Student Success Centre is available to support you in your personal, academic, and career success. From when you first arrive at the University of Calgary through to when you graduate, the Student Success Centre provides services and programs to ensure that you make the most of your time at the University of Calgary. The following programs and services are available to ALL undergraduate students:

• Writing Support tutors are available by appointment for all students wanting to learn strategies to write more effectively and gain a better understanding of how to improve their written assignments. Writing workshops are also held in the fall and winter semesters.
• Leadership Programs are offered by way of the University of Calgary Leadership Program (UCL) providing training in personal, team and community leadership and the Emerging Leaders Program designed for first-year students.
• Student Success Workshops are offered throughout the fall and winter semesters covering a variety of topics to help support your academic success.
• Career Planning and Coaching Services are available through personal one-on-one planning/coaching sessions with Career Development Specialists and informative workshops on relevant topics are also available.
• Orientation and First Year Experience Programs help to ease the transition for new students to the U of C and sets you on the right path.

The Undergraduate Nursing Society (UNS) is a student organization offering leadership and participatory opportunities with members chosen/elected by their peers. UNS endeavours to enrich the lives of nursing students professionally, academically and socially through a variety of initiatives including faculty, university and community volunteerism, fundraising for causes inside and outside the faculty and events. The UNS plays a vital role in communication to nursing students across all years of the undergraduate program.

Groups that fall under UNS include the Nursing Inclusivity Committee and the peer mentorship team. As well, the faculty’s online program, NurseMentor, is open to undergraduate nursing students who wish to have additional support from a UCalgary Nursing alumni mentor. Additional information about this program can be found at: nursing.ucalgary.ca/alumni/nursementor

UNS executive members sit on a number of faculty committees, providing opportunities to learn – and potentially have a say - about the governance of the Faculty. All students are encouraged to become involved in any way that is comfortable: email is checked on a regular basis at uns@ucalgary.ca and participation in any form is always welcome.

The Nursing Graduate Students' Association (NGSA) is a student-led volunteer association which aims to connect and empower graduate nursing students through services, leadership, and professional development. 

Our role is to foster a supportive community of nursing graduate students through:

• providing opportunities for professional development
• promoting social interaction and collaboration among graduate students, faculty, and community members
• representing the interests of nursing graduate students to the Graduate Students Association (GSA)

Undergraduate students are represented by the University of Calgary's Students' Union (SU). The SU manages the MacEwan Student Centre (Mac Hall) and a number of resources, as well as student clubs and acts as a voice for undergraduate students. They have many different ways for students to get involved on campus.

Graduate students are represented by the Graduate Students' Association. The GSA acts as the collective voice for graduate students on campus, including representing academically-employed graduate students in labour relations. The GSA offers workshops, events and other resources to support graduate students both academically and professionally.