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Registration

Graduate academia at Western operates on a three term annual cycle.  Approximately one month prior to the upcoming term, new and continuing students are activated for that term. Your activation prepares your student record for course registration, funding, fees and various other actions that concern your attendance at Western as a graduate student.

Leave of Absence

Reference: Graduate Regulation 4.06

If you need to apply for a leave of absence due to medical, compassionate, or pregnancy/parental grounds you can do so through the secure Graduate Student Web Services Portal.
After submitting an application for leave, your request will be forwarded to your home program for approval and finally to The School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies for approval and processing. Once a decision has been made, you will receive notification via your Western e-mail address.

Part-Time Status

Reference: Graduate Regulation 4.04

Students registered part-time may take no more than two courses in a term. Undergraduate courses taken as extra courses or as degree requirements are to be included in the totals above.

Part-time registration status falls into two specific categories:
Part-time student in approved part-time program

  • Students may be admitted as part-time students in approved part-time programs as stipulated in the program's regulations. During the course of study, and with the approval of the program and SGPS, such a part-time registrant may be approved to register as a full-time student; he or she may then register as a part-time student at a later date by meeting the requirements as stipulated below. Students who begin as full-time students in programs that have an approved part-time course of study may only change to part-time registration as stipulated below.

Part-time student in full-time program

  • Part-time registration in full-time programs may be granted in exceptional circumstances and only with the approval of both the Graduate Program and the Vice-Provost (Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies). Examples of such circumstances are: admission to another full-time university program or medical or compassionate circumstances that make it impossible for the student to continue to devote full-time attention to his or her program of study. Supporting documentation must be submitted with the request for part-time status.
  • Part-time status is not to be used as a means for reducing or avoiding tuition fees. Being beyond the funding eligibility period will not, by itself, constitute grounds for a change from full-time to part-time status.

Part-time status may be granted for up to a cumulative total of three terms.
If you would like to apply for part-time status you can do so through the secure Graduate Student Web Services Portal.

Master's to Doctoral Transfer

Reference: Graduate Regulation 4.05

Programs may allow students to transfer their registration from the Master’s to the Doctoral degree within the same program, without completion of the Master’s degree. The Vice-Provost (Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies) will consider such requests on the recommendation of the student’s program.
Transfers from the Master’s to the Doctoral program must take place before the sixth term of Master's registration, unless the program’s OCGS-approved provisions state otherwise.

Collaborative Programs

A collaborative program is intended to provide an additional multidisciplinary experience for students enrolled and completing the requirements in one of a number of participating programs.

Students register in the participating degree program, and must meet the admissions requirements of that home program, and meet its degree requirements plus those of the collaborative program.

The degree conferred is that of the home program, and the completion of the collaborative program is indicated by a transcript notation and/or adjunct qualifications to the degree (e.g., MA in Political Science with Migration and Ethnic Relations).

Graduate Course Audits

Reference: Graduate Regulation 6.04

The student must declare an intention to audit a graduate course by the enrolment deadline for the term, using the Graduate Course Audit Form. The student must have the instructor’s signed approval to audit the course, as well as approval from the Supervisor (if applicable) and Graduate Chair. An Audit requires regular attendance and any other obligations as stated by the course instructor in the Comments/Expectations section of the Graduate Course Audit Form. If these requirements are not met, the audit will be removed from the student’s record at the instructor’s request.

After the enrolment deadline, a student may not make a change from auditing a course to taking it for credit, or vice versa, within a given term. A student may, in a subsequent term, enrol in a given course for credit that has previously been audited.

Graduate courses delivered online may not be audited without special permission from the program.

Undergraduate Course Enrollment

Reference: Graduate Regulation 6.07

Graduate Students may take undergraduate courses with the approval of the course instructor, the student’s supervisor (if applicable), the Graduate Chair, and the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. If the course is required for the graduate degree, there will be no additional charge. If it is not required for the degree, the graduate student will be charged, per undergraduate course. Graduate students taking undergraduate courses must follow the undergraduate regulations, as stipulated in the undergraduate calendar under “add/drop deadlines."

To register in an undergraduate course, you must use the Graduate Student Taking Undergraduate Course Form. Undergraduate courses, or combined courses in which undergraduate students predominate must be less than one-third of the student's total course requirement for the graduate degree.