Faculty Guide to Teaching

Graduate Supervisor Resources and Expectations

General Regulations, Supervision, Graduate Grading Guidelines

• The supervision and mentorship of graduate students is an important component of your teaching role at the graduate level. Much of this mentorship will take place outside the classroom. You will be mentoring students to transform from consumers of knowledge to creators of knowledge, and potential future scholars and colleagues.
• Setting clear expectations for how you and your students will collaborate on research projects, how you will provide feedback, collaborate on publications, manage intellectual property and authorship, and work with your TAs in their teaching roles are critical in establishing a great working relationship with your graduate students.
• Each faculty will have specific expectations and guidelines related to supervision. Be sure to consult your department and faculty for details.

Graduate Supervision Resources:

Sample supervisory agreement

• Consider creating a supervisory agreement to set expectations. A template is available on the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies website here: https://www.sfu.ca/gradstudies/graduate-students/managing-your-program/supervision.html

List of student responsibilities in the supervisory relationship: https://www.sfu.ca/gradstudies/graduate-students/your-role/student-responsibilities.html

Supervision strategies

• Nature’s Guide for Mentors (Science): https://www.nature.com/articles/447791a