The purpose of the MRM Handbook is to provide guidelines to assist both students and faculty ensure that Master’s research projects and theses are completed successfully, within a reasonable time, and with a rigorous standard of quality. The Handbook includes current information on the different streams of the MRM program, the policy for acquiring a course waiver, and establishing your research committee.
Policies & Handbooks
MRM Student Handbook
REM PhD Student Handbook
The Ph.D. handbook contains the Policies and Procedures regarding the REM Ph.D. program. REM’s policies and Procedures conform to the more general SFU Policies. Policies and Procedures relevant to Ph.D. programs at SFU are managed by the Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (GPS). The purpose of this document is summarize the Policies and Procedures that are specific to the REM Ph.D. program. In case of any conflict between these REM procedures and the overall SFU regulations, the University regulations have precedence.
Transfer Credits
REM students may not transfer credits earned at another institution to count towards their degree in REM with the exception of the Western Deans’ Agreement and a Course Waiver. Courses taken as part of a qualifying year or as a non-degree seeking student cannot be counted towards the required course work for the M.R.M. degree.
Western Deans’ Agreement
Western Canadian Deans’ Agreement allows graduate students to take graduate courses at participating universities in Western Canada. Graduate students from SFU are required to pay tuition fees to Simon Fraser University only and do not have to pay additional tuition fees at the host university. REM students can receive transfer credits for courses from participating universities. However, SFU will only recognize a minimum grade of B for transfer credit. The grade achieved will not be included in your SFU GPA. WDA application form.
Supervisory Committee
University Regulations require that a student's committee be formed within the first year of their program. Not all members of the supervisory committee need to be appointed at the same time. Forms for getting the approval of a committee, or making changes to an existing committee are on the GPS website. For more details about the composition and responsibilities of a supervisory commitee, see the appropriate section of the student handbooks.
Gradaute Progress Reports
Graduate progress reports are generated through goSFU. It is an iterative process, but the file is retained year-over-year, so your initial data entry just needs to be updated. While it is possible to complete a Graduate Progress Report without speaking directly to your Supervisor, it is expected that the Supervisor will meet with the student to review progress prior to submitting comments unless there are extenuating circumstances. Students see the GPR three times: The first time to complete your records and then two more times to acknowledge you have seen the comments. As this forms part of your permanent student file, you are entitled to see what is being said about you, so please respond to all reminder emails about the GPR until it is showing as complete. It should take no more than six weeks to complete the entire GPR process.
REM Policy on Extension of Time Limits for Completion of Graduate Degrees
The SFU Graduate General Regulations set out time limits for graduate students to complete all of the requirements for their degree program. Students may apply for an extension if they need more time to complete (Regulation 1.12.1). The REM Policy on Extension of Time Limits for Completion of Graduate Degrees sets out the criteria that will be used by the REM graduate program chair in evaluating applications to extend the time for completion of a REM graduate degree.
New IP course for faculty and graduate students in Environment
A new short training course is now live on Canvas: there are two versions (click to join): the “Intellectual Property Overview” (for faculty) and the “Intellectual Property Primer” (for graduate students). It provides a summary of the various types of IP and explains SFU’s R30.03 IP Policy. Easily completed in less than an hour, the content was developed by SFU’s IP Counsel and Director of the Technology Licensing Office, Kam Sembi.
It is vitally important that graduate students and their supervisors share a common understanding of IP terms and concepts and how they relate to SFU’s Intellectual Property Policy in order to avoid misunderstandings. To facilitate this, the Dean of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies has developed an IP Acknowledgement Agreement that students and their supervisors are to complete and sign. The IP Course introduces the document and provides the necessary background to help understand what you are agreeing to.
In Environment, the IP course and Agreement are highly recommended for graduate students and their supervisors.