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FINANCIAL INFORMATION

Payment of Departmental Scholarship & Teaching Assistantship

The payroll for the graduate students is handled by the School of Graduate Studies as long as the student is not considered overtime.  Payday is the last Thursday of each month, except December.  The monthly payment to the graduate students will be made by direct bank deposit.  A Statement of Earnings will be mailed each month to the students usually the last Thursday of each month.  Should you have any questions concerning your monthly payment, please contact Kathy.  At this time, the Department is obliged to inform you that its policy is to not extend the Departmental Scholarship support beyond the first 20 months of a M.A.Sc.'s program.  No departmental scholarships are available for the M.Eng. Course Master's; however candidates may negotiate some support with their research supervisor(s).  Ph.D. students are expected to complete their program within 4 years of entering (from M.A.Sc. graduation, or from direct entry or from transferring from M.A.Sc. without a thesis).  The financial support ends at the end of the 4-year period, unless other arrangements are made with the research supervisor.

DIRECT DEPOSIT - Is mandatory

As a graduate student, your monthly payments will be deposited directly into your bank account.  This method of payment is mandatory.  A “Statement of Earnings”, showing details of your payment, will be mailed to you at the Chem. Eng. office.  You should obtain an application for direct deposit from http://graduate.mcmaster.ca/current-students/forms/570-student-forms.  Please arrange this immediately as failure to do so will result in considerable delay in obtaining your pay.

Calculations of Monthly Payments

The payroll system will equalize your payments over the year unless you are or will be overtime.

Incidental Fees (Admin Services, Student services, GSA Fee, GSA Insurance, Sports complex fee and HSR = $537.82 for September 2011) will ALL be deducted in September 2011. 

VACATION PAY IS INCLUDED IN THE TEACHING ASSISTANTSHIP WAGES. (Please refer to Article 19.01 in the collective agreement.)  You will NOT receive a lump sum payment at the end of the year.
OTHER DEDUCTIONS  - Please keep the following in mind

1. Tuition – Graduate Students with full support who select payroll deduction as their payment method (within the on-line payment agreement) will have fees cleared automatically throughout the year.

 NOTE:  If you are in your final year of funding and overtime, the annual tuition owed will be deducted based on the information that has been accepted and confirmed on the Payment Agreement Form you completed at the time of registration.

1. Taxes – The University is required by law to deduct Employment Insurance and Canada Pension premiums on ALL employment income.  Income tax will be assessed on ALL income (including scholarships and bursaries).  You should complete the Personal Tax Credit Return forms (TD1 and TD1ON) which may lower the rate at which you are taxed.  These forms are available on line on the School of Graduate Studies web page under forms, initiated by student.  Please return your completed forms to the Graduate Studies Office (GH-212).
2.  CUPE  - If you are receiving a Teaching Assistantship or a Research Assistantship in lieu of TA, you are a member of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, Local 3906.  Union dues are deducted in each month in which you receive TA/RA monies.
3. Dental Plan – All full-time graduate students who are receiving a TA and/or a RA in lieu of a TA of 130 hours or greater will have Dental Plan premiums  deducted each month for the full year (September to August).  Provisions for opting-out of the Dental Plan or for obtaining family coverage are covered in a separate document, CUPE Dental Plan.  Dental claim forms and opt out forms are available in PDF-format at  http://www.cupe3906.org/wordpress/benefits-forms/unit-1-benefits/dental

 

Employment Regulations

There are 3 terms in the School of Graduate Studies: Fall (September to December), Winter (January through April), and Summer (May through August).  Students who begin as full-time students are expected to remain full-time until the degree requirements are completed, or until they take up employment of more than 10 hours/week.  In the latter case, they are no longer full-time students (but continue to pay the fee schedule set out for the regular program).  Once the student has ceased full-time status, it cannot be regained unless approved by both the Department and the School of Graduate Studies. 

If a student is to be employed other than as a TA, the School of Graduate Studies should be informed in writing as to the nature of the employment, and the approval of the supervisor and the Chair is required.  The approval of the School of Graduate Studies is required if the student is to be hired for University teaching.

Discounted Fees
Only PhD students are eligible for discounted fees – MASc students are no longer eligible.  All full-time PhD students who are entering into term 13 will be automatically eligible – forms are no longer required.

SCHOLARSHIPS AND AWARDS

Recipients of graduate scholarships, prizes and fellowships are made on the basis of academic merit or other achieved merit.  Below are some of the scholarships available to students.  Details and application deadlines will be forwarded to students by e-mail.

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)

NSERC Postgraduate Scholarships are awarded through a national competition, adjudicated by scholarship committees selected by NSERC from faculty at universities across the country.  Before your application gets to NSERC, however, it goes through two stages of review within a university.  First, each department is required to rank all the applications that it will be forwarding.  Next, a University scholarships committee ranks all of the applications within the university.  Then, the applications are forwarded to NSERC along with these rankings.  The NSERC committee meshes the rankings from all of the universities.  You can see why the process takes some time, and why you need to have your application submitted to your department much sooner then the NSERC deadline.

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada Postgraduate Scholarships are tenable at McMaster University.  Please refer to the NSERC Web site at http://www.nserc.gc.ca/ for down loadable application (Form 200), Scholarships and fellowships Guide for Students. 

Canada Graduate Scholarships (CGS)

Master’s for one-year have a current value of $17,500 and Doctoral for $35,000 a year for up to 3 years.

Ontario Graduate Scholarships (OGS)

Ontario Graduate Scholarships are awarded through a provincial competition, adjudicated by panels selected by the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities from faculty at universities across the province.  Before your application reaches the Ministry, it goes through a single review within the University.  Each department is required to rank all the applications submitted by its students.  The applications and rankings are then sent to OGS by the University. 

The Province of Ontario offers scholarships (in conjunction with McMaster University) currently valued at $5,000 per term to students in or entering graduate programs.  Please refer to the OSAP website at http://osap.gov.on.ca or http://eng/not_secure/OGS.html

Ontario Graduate Scholarships in Science and Technology (OGSST)

The Ontario Government, in partnership with the private sector, rewards excellence in graduate studies in science and technology through the Ontario Graduate Scholarships in Science and Technology.  Most are currently valued at $15,000 per annum.

A full listing of awards is given in the School of Graduate Studies Calendar in section 8 (Fellowships, Scholarships, Bursaries and Other Awards).