Student seminar policy and procedures

Seminar Presentation

1. Delivering a seminar is part of the degree requirements for all MASc and PhD candidates. It is the student's responsibility to make sure that their degree requirements have been met by the time limit of their program.
   1. Delivering a seminar is not a requirement for MEng students. However, they are invited to present a seminar during the annual Systems Design Engineering (SYDE) Graduate Symposium (see the Graduate Symposium section for more details) or other advertised events.
2. For a seminar to count towards a student's degree requirements, it must be publicly attended and advertised by the department.
   1. Seminars presented during the annual Graduate Symposium will count towards the degree requirements.
      1. On occasion, the department may advertise additional events where presenting will fulfill the seminar presentation event.
   2. Students also have the option of presenting their seminar individually. In this case, the seminar must be administered by the student's supervisor(s) and advertised by the department.
      1. Seminars can be held in-person, online, or in a hybrid format.

3. After the student's seminar is complete, a Milestone Completion form (PDF) must be completed by the student, signed by the supervisor(s), and returned to the Graduate Coordinator.

Seminar Attendance

1. Attending seminars is part of the degree requirements for all MASc and PhD candidates admitted in Spring 2019 or later. Students should refer to the Graduate Studies Academic Calendar for their program and the term they were admitted to confirm the number of seminars they must attend (previous terms can be found in the Archives).
   1. It is the student's responsibility to report the seminars they attended each term in their term activity report.
   2. In order to be eligible for a Teaching Assistantship (TA) position each term, students must be in good academic standing, including being on-track with their Seminar Attendance milestone. Any student who has not attended an average number of seminars appropriate to their current completed term count must be prepared to provide justification for the deficit and a plan to make it up in future terms to remain eligible for a TA position.
2. For a seminar to count for the seminar attendance milestone, it must be a University of Waterloo seminar that is scheduled in advance, is open for all faculty and students to attend, and is appropriate to the student's field of study (as confirmed by the student’s supervisor).
   1. Supervisors will confirm the appropriateness of a seminar by approving the student's seminar list in their portion of the term activity report.
   2. MASc and PhD research seminars, comprehensive examinations, and PhD thesis defenses all count towards the attendance milestone.
   3. The department will typically offer one attendance credit per department-run event (one per session for the Graduate Symposium). Event announcements will include whether an event counts toward the milestone and for how many credits.
3. When the seminar attendance milestone is complete, a Milestone Completion form (PDF) must be completed by the student, signed by the supervisor(s), and returned to the Graduate Coordinator. This can only be done during the student's final term and is typically done after the thesis has been submitted for display.

In order to earn the seminar attendance milestone, the department records (taken from the Term Activity Report) should show that the student has attended at least the minimum required number of seminars per the regulations on the applicable academic calendar.

MASc candidates are expected to present their seminar during their final three terms.

The candidate's MASc thesis committee membership should be established by the candidate in conjunction with their supervisor(s) at least two weeks prior to their seminar date. The candidate should invite their supervisor(s) and committee members to attend their seminar. The supervisor(s) and committee members are strongly encouraged to attend, but their presence is not mandatory.

 MASc thesis committee membership guidelines

Students can find the required composition of their thesis committee within their appropriate academic calendar. The Department of Systems Design Engineering recommends the following composition:

• The candidate's supervisor(s)
• At least one faculty member from within the Department of Systems Design Engineering
• At least one faculty member from outside the Department of Systems Design Engineering whose expertise can support the evaluation of the Master's thesis

Additionally, as per the Faculty of Engineering's committee membership guidelines, no more than one adjunct faculty member (including Professors Emeriti) may serve on the examining committee.

PhD candidates are expected to present their seminar during their final three terms.  

The PhD candidate should invite their supervisor(s) and all members of their comprehensive examination committee to attend their seminar. The supervisor(s) and committee members are strongly encouraged to attend, but their presence is not mandatory.

Committee members previously selected for the comprehensive exam will remain the same for the seminar and the candidate's final thesis defense.

For a seminar to count towards the presentation milestone, it must be advertised by the department. 

If the student is presenting their seminar at an event administered by their supervisor(s), the student must complete the Notice of Event form when they have confirmed all of the details of their seminar (i.e., if a room is required for an in-person event, the room must be booked first: students can use the SYDE Room Bookings to request a SYDE-owned room).

After the Notice of Event form is completed, the department will advertise the event on the department website and forward a notice to the SYDE graduate student mailing lists. When completing the Notice of Event form, please ensure that all information is confirmed and accurate, and that students will be able to access your event.

The SYDE Graduate Symposium is held in early April each year. The Symposium provides students with an opportunity to showcase their research, practice their presentation skills, and learn about their fellow students’ research.

 All SYDE graduate students will receive an invitation during the Winter term to register to present at the Symposium. Interested students will need to provide an abstract describing the material they intend to present. Faculty members will review the abstracts and provide feedback to students before the Symposium.

Presenting at the Symposium is not a requirement for any student, but it is a great opportunity to gain experience with technical presentations and full-day academic events in a low-pressure environment. Current faculty members will also be present to learn and provide feedback. We invite all SYDE graduate students to take part.

• MASc and PhD students within their final year can present their thesis research to complete their seminar presentation milestone
• MASc and PhD students who are not in their final year yet can present on their current research
• MEng students can present on a course project they undertook during the course of their studies 

After the registration period ends and presenters have a chance to review the feedback on their abstracts and make revisions, a book of abstracts and a schedule will be posted to the department website and circulated via email along with registration instructions for the Symposium.