Admission & Registration

The SGSPA Admission Assistants assist graduate programs in compiling a complete application package for each applicant. They work closely with graduate programs throughout the year to coordinate all of the administrative requirements in the application and admission processes.

The SGSPA Admission Assistants and the applicants and students they are responsible for, are as follows:

Tips on Application and Admission for Graduate Programs

• Provide clear information about the minimum qualifications required by applicants in order for them to be considered. These criteria should also be available on graduate program websites.
• Programs should have a clear process in place to ensure all applications are reviewed in a fair, timely and equitable manner.
• Applicants deserve to know when to expect a decision. Provide feedback to applicants as soon as possible and inform them when a decision has been made about their status. This type of timely communication prevents applicants from continuing to seek information from the program about their application.
• Offers of admission should be made as quickly as possible along with an indication of available funding. This is particularly true of applicants who are the recipients of external awards, as other universities will be competing for these top students.
• Programs evaluate all completed applications according to their own procedures and schedules and inform the SGSPA of their recommendations to offer admission, refuse, or place the decision "on hold" via the online application administrative system.
• Application deadlines vary by program as does the review process of applications. Most deadlines occur between the months of January and March each year.
• Please refer to the Office of the University Registrar for a transcript legend in order to interpret transcripts from Queen's graduates applying to Queen's graduate programs.

All graduate students must be properly registered by the relevant term deadline in order to be permitted to attend classes, access labs and research materials, receive funding and/or salary payments, and defend their thesis.

The School of Graduate Studies and Postdoctoral Affairs contacts incoming (new) students via email prior to the start of their first term with instructions, including information about registration. Returning (continuing) students are to be reminded by the department about annual deadlines and processes for registration.

The Office of the University Registrar (OUR) also contacts new and returning graduate students about annual registration, especially about fee payment deadlines and fee payment arrangements.

Registration must be renewed annually up to and including the term of completion or withdrawal.

Information for Programs about Registration for New Graduate Students

• Please direct new international students to the Queen's University International Centre (QUIC) to enroll in the University Health Insurance Plan (UHIP). This can be done prior to their arrival, but MUST be done before the student can complete registration.
• After accepting their offer of admission, new students must make their fee payment arrangements by September 1 (Fall term) and January 1 (Winter term). The details of the fee payment options and deadline dates are available from the website of the Office of the University Registrar (OUR).
• When registration is complete, students who have set up banking information will receive the direct deposit of their award payment. This payment occurs according to the schedule that students can view on the Student On-Line University System (SOLUS).
• Registration is not complete unless and until a student has made fee payment arrangements AND is registered in at least one course per each term of the academic year. The thesis (or project, essay, or report, if a Master's student) counts as a course.
• New students receive information from the OUR about obtaining their Queen's Student Photo Identification Card. The card will be available in the first week of September. .

Information for Programs about Registration for Returning Graduate Students

• Returning international graduate students must go to QUIC to update their UHIP before they register for the upcoming academic session.
• All students must clear any debt by June 15 annually in order to be registered in the upcoming academic session.
• All returning students must make their fee payment arrangements by September 1. Students with outstanding debt will not be permitted to register until the debt is settled.
• When registration is complete, returning students will receive their scheduled awards payments by direct deposit to their bank account of record.
• Registration is not complete unless and until a student has made fee payment arrangements AND is registered in at least one course per each term of the academic year. The thesis (or project, essay or report, if a Master's student) counts as a course.
• Returning students update their Queen's Student Photo Identification Card annually for validation in late August to early September.

Currently, graduate students may not self-enroll their courses via SOLUS. All graduate departments should continue to work with the Office of the University Registrar to register graduate students in courses for the full academic year.

Departments must register new graduate students in the thesis course (or project, essay, or report, if a Master's student).

Continuing graduate students will be enrolled in their thesis courses for the upcoming academic session by the OUR if they were enrolled in the thesis in the previous Summer term and if there is no block on their record due to a debt or any other matter (i.e., time limit extension required)

The OUR will enroll all new graduate students in the required course on Accessible Customer Service, AODA-800, each year.

The OUR provides information about registration for graduate students on their website.

With the exception of approved and designated part-time Master's or Graduate Diploma programs, OR unless otherwise indicated at the time of application and admission, all graduate students are accepted as full-time students in full-time graduate programs. During their degree programs, graduate students sometimes need to change their status.

Full-time Students

Full-time students should not hold paid employment of more than 10 hours per week unrelated to their research.

Full time students may be eligible for a wide range of internal and external scholarship and bursary awards including Queen's Graduate Awards (QGA), International Tuition Awards (for international students only), and NSERC, SSHRC, CIHR and Ontario Graduate Scholarships (OGS). Many external awards are restricted to Canadian citizens and landed immigrants who have held this status at least one year. Some Queen's internal awards have similar restrictions.

Teaching Assistantships (TAs) and research Assistantships (RAs) are normally assigned to full-time graduate students.

Part-time Students

Applicants may indicate they wish to be part-time students in what are normally considered to be full-time programs. This would require approval of the program and of SGSPA, except for those Master's or Graduate Diploma programs which are designated as part-time.

Part-time students normally enroll in a half-course each term except for programs whose normal course load is four or more courses per term. In those programs, part-time students can take two courses each term.

Students accepted into those Master's or Graduate Diploma programs which are designated as part-time programs can only ever be part-time students. The course load is determined by the program.

Changing Status

On occasion, students need to change their study status, from full-time to part-time, or part time to full-time, etc. Please review the regulations about changing status in the calendar of the SGSPA, on the SGSPA website, and direct students who want or need to change their registration status to those regulations.

A formal recommendation is required from the program in support of a student's request to change between full- and part-time status. These recommendations are sent forward for consideration by the SGSPA.

Inactive Students

Please review the regulations about Inactive status in the calendar of the SGSPA, on the SGSPA website, and direct students who want or need inactive status to those regulations.

Graduate students can register as inactive to discontinue studies temporarily for personal or other reasons such as parental leave or medical leave. Permission may be granted only, if on return, the student will still be able to complete the degree program requirements within the allowed time. Master's programs must be completed within five years from the time of initial registration in the program. Doctoral programs must be completed within seven years.

Students granted inactive status usually return to their studies with the status they held (e.g., full-time or part-time) before starting their leave. Term fees are waived for all students who change to inactive status due to maternity, parental leave or medical leave.

The maximum duration of the parental leave is two terms. Graduate students can apply for a leave of absence on medical grounds for one term and up to a maximum of three terms. Please inform students that they will need to provide documentation from a doctor or health practitioner to support a medical leave of absence for the duration requested.

Awards to students from the SGSPA (e.g., Dean's Awards, International Tuition Awards, named awards and Queen's Graduate Awards) will be suspended for the duration of time that the student is registered as inactive. When the student resumes their studies, the award will begin again. The period of funding eligibility is extended by the same number of terms during which the student was registered as inactive.

You should direct students holding externally funded fellowships, or other forms of support derived from sources external to the University who need inactive status, to the regulations prescribed by the granting agency concerned. Students receiving funding support from Teaching Assistantships or Research Assistantships who need inactive status should speak with their direct supervisor.

Students and departments must use the appropriate form to request a change in registration status.