Graduate Studies at Waterloo would not be the same without the hundreds of faculty and staff who support graduate students. The information below has been compiled to guide Graduate Co-ordinators, Graduate Officers/Chairs, Associate Deans, supervisors and other faculty in assisting grad students.
Help us keep track of who you are! Use the Graduate department contact change form to officially notify Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs of a change to graduate administrative staff/faculty within your department/Faculty. The form also includes information on how to gain access to Quest/Sharepoint.
- Academic reviews/new programs
- Approved Doctoral Dissertation Supervisor Status (ADDS)
- Chairing a PhD examination
- Data requests
- Graduate Studies resources website
- Graduate student communications
- Guide to Graduate Research and Supervision
- Guidelines for creating extracts of student data
- International Visiting Graduate Students (IVGS)
- Managing difficult situations
- Postdoc communications
- Program and course milestone changes
- Rooms on campus with video conference capability
- Supporting graduate students
- Taskforce on Graduate Supervision
- Verifying a University of Waterloo degree
Academic reviews/new programs
The Office of the Associate Vice-President, Academic (AVPA) and the Associate Vice-President, Graduate Studies (AVPGS) are responsible for a broad range of matters including overseeing the University of Waterloo’s Institutional Quality Assurance Process (IQAP) (PDF) and the review and approval of:
- new academic programs
- cyclical reviews
- proposals to change existing academic programs (major modifications)
- expedited reviews and
- closure of existing degrees and programs
For more information on the above topics, visit the Academic Reviews website.
Approved Doctoral Dissertation Supervisor Status (ADDS)
The Approved Doctoral Dissertation Supervisor (ADDS) status is governed by a series of regulations governing how faculty members gain the privilege of sole-supervising PhD students.
- For more information surrounding ADDS status, visit the organization of graduate studies page.
- The Centre for Teaching Excellence (CTE) and the GSPA offer a series of workshops on graduate supervision practices, primarily for those seeking Approved Doctoral Dissertation Supervision (ADDS) Status.
- Workshops are offered twice a year in the fall and winter terms. Fall term workshops include in-person components on the first and last Friday's in October. Winter term workshops inculde in-person components on the first Friday's in February and March
- For more information visit the CTE website.
Chairing a PhD Examination
For information on chairing a PhD examination, visit our Guide for chairing a PhD examination webpage.
Data requests
For any data inquiries related to Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs, please use this data request form and we will contact you within two business days for confirmation.
Graduate Studies Resources website
The Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs Resources website is a CAS-authenticated site designed specifically for graduate studies staff and faculty. It is currently under construction. Stay tuned!
Graduate student communications
GSPA communicates to graduate students using the following platforms:
- The Graduate student e-news is sent weekly to all registered graduate students. Use the Graduate student e-news submission request (web form) to contribute a submission.
- Sign up for the Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs Facebook page
- Keep up to date with Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs Twitter. @UWaterlooGSPA
- GSPA also maintains a webpage of requests for participants for graduate student research.
Guide to Graduate Research and Supervision
Guidelines for creating extracts of student data
It is important that student data is protected in compliance with appropriate legislation, regulations, and standards, as outlined in Policy 46. Visit the Guidelines for creating extracts of student data web page on the Quest website to learn more about how to appropriately manage data.