Questions and answers

Supervisors are not obliged to write letters of reference. However, it is generally assumed that your supervisor is the person who knows your work the best and it would normally be expected that he or she would be supporting your application with a letter for reference. Consequently, not having a letter from your supervisor may be perceived as a warning signal to assessors.

Further advice: This discussion may provide you with your supervisor’s assessment of your abilities and achievement. There may be reasons why a supervisor would not provide a reference letter. For example, the supervisor may feel that she or he has not been given enough lead time to write a proper letter or he or she may feel that the scholarship or job is an inappropriate fit for you.

On the other hand, you may discover that your supervisor feels that he or she cannot write a letter that presents a positive view of your academic accomplishments; if that were the case, it would be worthwhile to ask the supervisor what you can do so he/she can write you a positive letter in the future.

However, the discussion may reveal problems he or she feels about the quality of your work or the supervisory relationship and, in consequence, you may want to consider changing supervisors. (See the question on changing supervisors below.)

Further advice: As someone supervising your research and helping you to complete your degree, your supervisor can always provide advice on your academic career. She or he, therefore, could advise you on

• Whether a TA  would be beneficial to your educational experience and training
• Whether the time taken away from your research is worth the training and experience of teaching (There can be different answers to this question depending on your discipline, year, etc.)
• Whether there will be financial consequences if the teaching assistantship is part of the package of funding that you receive

Next steps: You may want to discuss this issue with someone besides your supervisor or to get a second opinion on his or her advice. If so, consider one of the following:

• An advisor (separate from your supervisor), if your program has assigned one to you
• A member of your Supervisory Committee, or
• The Graduate Program Director of your department, or
• The Chair of your department, or
• An Associate Dean at Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies

There is no university-wide policy that guarantees graduate student funding at McGill. Nevertheless, many individual supervisors, departments, and other units provide funding packages for graduate student support. This funding varies from department (or other academic unit) to department, and/or supervisor to supervisor, and also from student to student.

Supervisors and/or academic units enter into agreements with individual students for these funding packages. There should always be an explicit and signed written agreement between supervisor / academic unit and graduate student regarding the awarding of such packages, which includes terms and amounts. These agreements should be in place at the start of the student’s program.

Faculty members at McGill provide funds for graduate students and postdoctoral fellows primarily by two means: stipends and research assistantships.

Simply put, student stipends are fellowships; research assistantships are employment. See the Student stipends page of the Student Funding website.

According to the Student stipends page of the Student Funding website, a stipend is a fellowship paid to a student from a professor’s grant to assist him or her “in qualifying for a degree or other scholastic recognition in the field in which the research is being carried on.”

The supervisor (and/or academic unit) must honour the funding agreement as long as you are still registered in the program.

The supervisory relationship is built upon responsibilities from both parties. In any professional relationship there must be an understanding about what each party expects from the other, including the modification or dissolution of the relationship. Either party may feel that the relationship is not conducive to smooth progress towards the degree. At that point there needs to be a frank discussion about what modifications or alternatives to the relationship could be considered.

Sometimes, a change in supervisor may be beneficial to both parties. If you are considering a change in supervisor, you should consult with him or her if possible, but be sure to seek the advice of your Graduate Program Director soon. The Chair of your department or the Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) within your faculty or at Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies may also be helpful in identifying and securing a new supervisor, and in mediating any concerns that sometimes arise during the transition (e.g., with how funding will change or to what extent already completed research may be shared). Changes in supervision should accord with the guidelines on graduate student advising and supervision on the University Regulations and Resources website.

When a student is having difficulties, it is all the more important that the new supervisor is not only someone with whom the student feels more comfortable personally but also that the new supervisor is appropriately placed to supervise the research. Depending on the student’s stage within the program, a change of supervisor may require a change in the topic or plan for the research. Throughout the process, it is critical to keep all parties informed of the actions under way. The process should be completed as quickly as possible to reduce delays in research progress and associated worries.

Further advice: You should consider options such as:

• Adding members to the supervisory committee
• Adding a co-supervisor if one is available

The thesis is a public document and, once submitted for the degree, exists in the public domain. It is “published” in electronic form in eScholarship McGill and also in Library and Archives Canada. Thesis submission requirements include the signing a non-exclusive license that covers this publication. The copyright for the thesis remains with the author. For certain reasons, theses may be withheld from publication for no more than one year. See the Final thesis submission page of the GPS website for details.