Becoming and being a graduate student can be an exciting and overwhelming time, especially when you transition to a new place at the same time without your usual support network. If you are arriving from outside of Canada, it may also require you to try to get accustomed to a different set of cultural and academic practices you may not be used to.
It will be important to intentionally develop a healthy study/research/work-life balance, as being a graduate student is not only about academics. Your courses and research will be a major part of your daily routine, but health and recreation should not be neglected.
Find your Community
Who do I go to for support?
Graduate programs
Your graduate program or department is your primary point of contact from the moment you’ve accepted your offer of admission. Your graduate program office will let you know about course registration dates and processes, and facilitate requests related to grade/course changes, leave requests and more. Your department is located within a Faculty, e.g. Arts, Medicine, and therefore, you have both a graduate cohort of students and a “home” faculty on campus.
Graduate advisors
Your graduate advisor, or if you are a thesis-based student, your supervisor, will help ensure you stay on track with deadlines and continue to progress to complete your program. If conflicts arise between students and supervisors, they consult with G+PS or the Dean of the graduate program.
Graduate Studies
UBC Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (G+PS) processes admissions, award applications, and is your primary stop before graduation (thesis submission, transcripts, etc.). If you encounter any issues during your program, have trouble advancing, or experience hardship, you may reach out to your program or to the G+PS Student Academic Support team for support. They handle confidential enquiries between supervisors and students, in addition to helping students get the support they need to stay on track.
Other partners and resources on campus
There are other units on campus to support you, depending on the nature of the issue. A few of the other units you may hear about include:
- UBC Ombuds Office, an impartial and confidential resource for students to obtain assistance when they feel they have been treated unfairly in the university setting.
- UBC Equity & Inclusion Office, which offers consultation services to help members of UBC community navigate and resolve conflicts; and assists with human-rights related discrimination concerns.
- Graduate Student Society Peer Support Specialists, who provide confidential assistance to individual fellow graduate students experiencing difficulties.
- CUPE 2278, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), representing the Teaching Assistants and Graduate Teaching Assistants at UBC, among other groups. CUPE 2278 engages in bargaining and workplace advocacy with the university to fight for fair working conditions for all members.
Your responsibilities as a peer
Graduate school provides many opportunities to you and it requires you to become an active steward of your own success by deciding to actively participate, network and take accountability for your time and how you spend it. Use our Grad Game Plan Tool to help. You will need to understand your program requirements and reach out to your program directly if you are unsure about expectations, as many requirements and processes are program-specific.
Learn more about what to consider at each stage of your program by reviewing the Grad Game Plan!
Your responsibilities as a peer
Peer support can be a major contributor to your success. Make sure to participate in opportunities for networking with faculty and colleagues, within your program and department as well as across academic disciplines, that you can potentially be working and collaborating with for many years to come.