This section provides information on the administration of UBC awards made on the recommendation of a graduate program, department, or Faculty. To find awards recommended by your program, department, or Faculty, visit the searchable awards database administered by the Student Financial Assistance and Awards office. Most of these awards are funded by alumni, members of the community, foundations, organizations and corporations who have made generous donations to the University.

Eligibility

The terms of eligibility for each award are described in the calendar award description. The award descriptions and values are subject to change from year to year; therefore it is important that graduate programs and students select the correct award session when verifying the terms and amounts of a particular award.

Graduate Awards

Award descriptions which state "...in consultation with the Faculty of Graduate Studies" are restricted to graduate students. These awards are assigned by the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

Open Awards

Award descriptions which state "... in the case of graduate students, the award is made in consultation with the Faculty of Graduate Studies" are open to both undergraduate and graduate UBC students. These awards are assigned by the Student Financial Assistance and Awards office; however, graduate student recommendations for these awards must first be sent to the Faculty of Graduate Studies for review.

Recommendation Procedures

Submitting Recommendations

To recommend a student for an award, programs, departments, or Faculties need to:

• provide award information to students  and/or to faculty members to solicit applications or nominations
• collect data on eligible award candidates
• review and select students for recommendation
• ensure that the recommended student is registered
• complete the University Award Recommendation Form for each fellowship, scholarship, or award recommendation
• forward the University Award Recommendation Form for fellowships, scholarships and awards to the Faculty of Graduate Studies, by July 15; forward University Award Recommendation Form for prizes and medals by June 3 to the Faculty of Graduate Studies.

A Few Notes About Deadlines

Award recommendations (except for prizes and medals) should be submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies by July 15. This ensures that awards are assigned early in Term 1 of the winter session. By doing so:

• award payments are disbursed to students early in the academic year, when most academic-related costs are incurred
• students' tax commitments for these awards are distributed over two calendar years, instead of one calendar year
• award payments are committed to students before any re-capitalization of award funds is carried out in the spring

Award recommendations received after the deadlines listed above will be accepted and assigned in the order they were received. Considerable delays between when the recommendation is received by the Faculty of Graduate Studies, and when the award is assigned on SIS are likely in the fall term, due to the high volume of work generated by the annual Affiliated Fellowships competition.

Processing Recommendations

Once we receive the award recommendation form, we will:

• review it and ensure that the student qualifies according to the terms of the award and Senate Regulations Governing University Awards
• if the student is eligible:
  • assign the award on SIS, or
  • forward the University Award Recommendation Form to the Student Financial Assistance and Awards office, for awards which are assigned by that office
• advise the recommending unit if the recommendation cannot be processed, and request additional information
• send an official Notice of Award to the student via the Student Services Centre. Notice of Award provides information about the award and payment method.
• In cases where the student completes or withdraws from grad program before the end of the current session, we will coordinate the pro-ration of the award with the recommending unit.

Current student section of this website has further information about accepting SSC awards, payment plans, etc.