Things to do before your first day of classes

• Check out Waterloo Grad Ready.

Take advantage of the opportunity to get involved, so you are well prepared and ready to begin your studies on the first day of classes.

• Update your Quest account with your personal and local banking information.

Quest is the University of Waterloo's student information system. It allows you to:

• create your class schedule
• manage your fees and financial aid
• view your student records
• manage your graduation
• set your computer system settings

Personal information, including your local address and mobile phone number, enables us to stay in touch and keep you apprised of important details related to your education.

Ensure that Quest includes your local contact information, including phone number, email address and residential address.

Learn more about updating your personal information in Quest.

Tip: This is the best way to ensure you get timely information about your studies. Skipping this important step may leave you without important details that are crucial to your success.

Tip: In case you missed it – update your local contact information.

Local banking information permits the convenient deposit of money that you qualify to receive, like refunds, graduate research studentships and teaching assistant paycheques, into your bank account. Update your banking information in Quest.

Learn more about adding banking information to your Quest account.

Tip: If your Quest account does not include your local banking information, cheques for funds you qualify to receive will be sent to the local mailing address you have entered into Quest. Ensure that your local mailing address in Quest is current.

• If you are an International student, provide a valid Study Permit to Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs (GSPA).

Shortly after enrolment, you will receive from GSPA an e-mail with instructions that explain how to upload your study permit.

Tip: You may upload either a PDF or an image taken from your smart phone of your Study Permit. 

• Review the Degree Requirements for your Chemical Engineering program in the Graduate Studies Academic Calendar. 

• Choose your courses and add them via Quest.

During the first three weeks of term, you must add graduate courses using Quest, the University of Waterloo's online student information system.

After the first three weeks of term, you may add or drop a course only by petition using the Drop/Add form and only under exceptional circumstances with the signature of the instructor, your supervisor, the CHE Graduate Studies Manager and the Faculty of Engineering’s Associate Dean (Graduate Studies). Course Drop and Course Add deadlines are posted in Quest and the Graduate Studies Calendar’s Calendar of Events and Academic Deadlines.

Choose your graduate Chemical Engineering courses from the 600- and 700- level series. Depending on your program, you may be required to take certain courses in your first or subsequent term(s), as specified in the contract letter or by your supervisor(s). Visit the Course Information – Graduate Schedule of Classeson the University of Waterloo website for course numbers, timetables and other details.

If you want to take a course offered by a different department, you may require a permission number in order to add that course via Quest. Ask the course instructor for a permission number.  

You may add only graduate level courses online using Quest. 500-level courses appear on the Undergraduate Schedule of classes. To register into one, please see the Che Grad Manager to get a permission number.

If you are taking a course  for Audit (A) or Extra to Degree (X) these may be added only via a hardcopy Course Drop/Add Form. 

Print the form and use it to obtain the signature(s) of the instructor(s) and your supervisor before returning the form to the department’s Graduate Studies Manager, who will obtain an approval signature from the department’s Associate Chair, Graduate Studies and forward the form to GSPA to enrol you in the course.

Note: You are officially enrolled only after you have paid your tuition fees and added approved courses online using Quest.  

Mandatory Safety Courses

Once you have set up your WatIAM use ID and are matriculated you can complete the mandatory online safety training courses and the Academic Integrity Module (AIM). These are mandatory for ALL students.

1. SO1001-Employee Safety Orientation

2. SO1081-Workplace Violence Awareness

3. SO2017-WHMIS 2015

4. Accessibility Training Module

Please note: If you will be requiring a lab key, you will need to find out from your supervisor what additional safety training is required. The additional training must be completed well before being assigned a lab key.

• Get organized for the first week of classes.

Office Space

• To obtain office space and access your supervisor’s lab, meet with your supervisor, who will explain to you the process for being assigned a space and acquiring a key. 

Note: Office space is not guaranteed, but full-time MASc and PhD on-campus students will be provided with a desk when one is available. Part-time, inactive and off-campus students are not eligible for office space.

Mailboxes

• Locate your mailbox in the Chemical Engineering Graduate Student Lounge (E6 5028). 

Your mail will be delivered to your mailboxes. You are responsible for checking your mailbox frequently. 

Note: This mailbox is intended for your academic-related correspondence only. Personal mail, packages and shipments should not be sent to this mailbox.

WatCards 

• Get a WatCard.

You need a WatCard  to access many facilities and services on and off campus. Use it to buy food, pay for photocopying, and access libraries and computer labs, among other things. See WatCard website for details. 

Pick up your WatCard at the WatCard Office located in the Student Life Centre’s Campus Tech Store (SLC 0107).

Tip: Bring photo identification with you.

Tip: You can use your WatCard as a bus pass. Check out theGraduate Student Association’s Bus Pass – GRT Upass page.           

Parking Services

• If you require parking, contact Parking Services in the General Service Complex, GSC 1112, or Ext. 33100 to arrange it.

For information on parking lots and cost of parking, please visit the UW Parking Services website. 

• Consider if you would like to take on a teaching assistantship.

Each term, the Department of Chemical Engineering hires dozens of graduate students as teaching assistants to support the teaching, tutoring and marking of undergraduate courses.

To be considered for a TA role, graduate students must meet these specific departmental requirements:

• Obtain written permission, in an email preferably, from your supervisor.
• Be classified as a regular student. (Probationary and transitional students must re-classify for this status.)
• Attend ExpecTAtions, a two-day workshop that prepares Waterloo Engineering students to undertake a teaching assistantship. It is normally held once during the fall term and once during the spring term.

Tip: If you want to TA, register for ExpecTAtions early to avoid disappointment. Spaces are limited.

Teaching Assistantships (TA) are considered jobs. Payments are processed by the Human Resources Payroll department and are made by direct deposit to your bank account on the last Friday of each month. If you are hired as a TA, Human Resources will send instructions on how to update your banking information in Workday to enable direct deposit of your employment earnings into your bank account.

Tip: For more information about teaching assistantships, including how you can be considered for this job, please see the department’s Employment Information page and consult the department’s TA Manual.

• Review your insurance requirements.

Graduate students are automatically enrolled in a supplementary health and dental plan that provides more coverage than provincial insurance. See the Graduate Student Association’s Health and Dental Plans page for more details.

Any graduate student with comparable health and dental coverage can opt out of the StudentCare plan during the Change-of-Coverage Period at the beginning of the term. To opt out of the StudentCare insurance:

1. Navigate to the StudentCare website: www.studentcare.ca
2. From the List of student associations, select ‘University of Waterloo graduate students, GSA.’
3. In the column on the right, scroll to the “Coverage/opt outs’ link near the middle of the page, which gives you a link to opt out of the plan online.

Note: Regardless of your opt-out status, you will be charged a fee on your statement each term. However, those who do opt out will be issued a refund cheque each term.

Note: The University Health Insurance Plan (UHIP) is mandatory for all international students.