Flexibility II: Admissions and Grade Calculation

1. Basic Procedure

1.1 CGSR will do all the GSIS data entry and production of the Letter of Offer for students from Canada and the United States. The procedure for admission of international students will remain the same.
1.2 The admission decision of the graduate program will be considered final.
1.3 The graduate program will calculate the admission average. CGSR will do random verification at first to see where more training is needed. CGSR will gladly discuss with the graduate programs any questions arising from the calculation of admission averages.
1.4 Graduate programs will need to submit all completed admission packages to CGSR. CGSR will still need all the information for data entry and to ensure the application is complete. Incomplete files will be returned to the department and will not be processed. Any issues that hold up the processing of the application will be discussed with the department and will be followed up with the appropriate training as needed.
1.5 Borderline applications should be discussed with the College (kelly.clement@usask.ca, 966-5761) before the application comes over for processing.

ENCLOSED PLEASE FIND:

▪ Completed application form
▪ Official transcripts of all University level study
▪ 3 letters of recommendation
▪ copies of required admission exam results
▪ statement for full time employees of UofS
▪ Recommendation for Graduate Scholarship Award
▪ Non-Refundable Application fee

2. Calculation of Admission Average
2.1 Conversion tables are currently being developed with SESD to come to a campus wide standard (first time in history of institution). The NSERC conversion scale will be the starting point for the new conversion tables for Canadian universities. These tables unfortunately will be not be available until December, 2005. However, an interim process will be in place to provide help with mark conversion until the campus wide scale is available.
2.2 Procedure for calculation of admission average:
2.2.1 The graduate program will calculate the admission average. CGSR will do random verification at first to see where more training is needed. CGSR will gladly discuss with the graduate programs any questions arising from the calculation of admission averages.
2.2.2 Contact CGSR if you have any questions on the level of an institution – should courses be treated as university level or not.
2.2.3 Use all courses taken – starting with the last – no matter which university.
2.2.4 Use the last 60 credit units or equivalent. For example, the U of Victoria gives a ½ course a credit weight of .5 and a full course a one credit weight. Therefore one would only calculate the last 10 credit units. It usually is about 20 courses.
2.2.4.1 For a Masters degree, take the last 60 credit units from their undergraduate program – starting with the last courses taken, no matter which institution.

2.2.4.2 For PHD students who have completed a Masters degree. Take the weighted average of the Master's degree - up to a maximum of 60 CUs.
2.2.5 Take the whole term to get the minimum of 60 credit units – do not take part of a term.
2.2.6 Do not count courses with grades of Pass, Credit, etc. or include them in the admission average. There is no reasonable way to covert.
2.2.7

Use a weighted average:

∑ Grade * Credit_Units
∑ Credit_Units
2.2.8 Calculate the weighted average in the Institution’s system before converting it to the UofS equivalent mark.
B = 70% = 3.0
2.2.9 If it is an Alpha system (A, B, C, D, E, F) and the transcripts give a range of grades that are equivalent – take the middle of the range.
B (65%-75%) therefore B=70% for calculation of average.

3. Admission Requirements and Conditions

3.1 CGSR has created a new version of form GSR 102: Recommendation of Department on Application for Admission for applications from Canada and the United States that lists the standard admission requirements and conditions: download form in PDF / RTF. For example: Before registration, the applicant must submit final transcripts showing the awarding of the **** degree from ***** University.
3.2 Please list all other conditions clearly.

4. Deferrals of Admissions

4.1 The Graduate College will process the deferral letter upon receipt of:
4.1.1 An email from the graduate chair approving such a deferral – giving the specific date the admission should be deferred to.
4.1.2 An email from the student requesting the deferral.
4.2 The graduate chair can forward the email from the student in their email to graduate studies.
4.3 The contact for a deferral of an admission is Kelly Clement, 966-2504.