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Customize your learning experience in our Applied and Professional Studies, Arts and Science, and Education degree programs.
Located within driving distance of Orillia and Barrie, programs include Child and Family Studies, Culture and the Arts, Liberal Arts and teaching options.
Earn a BA (Honours) in Contemporary Studies from Laurier and a BEd from Nipissing as well as practice teach in the Public or Catholic schools near Brantford.
The University reserves the right to modify the academic programs and regulations at its discretion.
Each program sets its own admission criteria however, the School of Graduate Studies (SGS) has established the minimum admission requirements for all programs as follows:
It is understood that admission to graduate programs is limited and, therefore, applicants who meet or exceed the minimum admission requirements are not guaranteed admission.
Regular Admission:
Applications for each program are reviewed by the Program Admissions Committee (PAC). The PAC forwards a recommendation for admission to the Dean/Director of Graduate Studies or Designate. Offers of admission may have conditions attached, which may have to be met before registration is permitted. Approved applications for admission are forwarded by the Dean/Director of Graduate Studies or Designate to the Office of the Registrar. Borderline or questionable cases for admission will be dealt with by the Graduate Advisor/Faculty Graduate Chair in consultation with the Dean/Director of Graduate Studies or Designate. The decision of the Dean/Director of Graduate Studies or Designate on admissions is final and is not subject to appeal.
For programs where it is appropriate, the Dean/Director of Graduate Studies or Designate will take relevant funding considerations (such as scholarships and other forms of student financial support) into account when considering a recommendation for admission. In some programs students will not be admitted without appropriate levels of committed funding. The decision of the Dean/Director of Graduate Studies or Designate is final and is not subject to appeal.
English as a Second Language (ESL) Requirements:
Applicants whose first language is not English are required to submit the results from either the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TESL) including the Test of Written English (TWE) component or the International English Language Testing System (IELTS). This requirement may be waived for applicants who are graduates of English language universities.
The following are the minimum ESL requirements for admission to the School of Graduate Studies; in addition each program will have minimum language requirements specific to their program.
The required minimum scores must be submitted before the candidate can considered for admission. The required minimum score for the TOEFL iBT is 80 with no less than 20 in each section of the test. The required minimum score for TOEFL is 550 on the paper-based test with a minimum score of 5 on the TWE. These tests are administered by the Educational Testing Service (www.toefl.org). The required minimum score for the IELTS is an overall score of no less than 6 with no band less than 6. The test is administered by IELTS Test Centre Canada (ielts@conestogac.on.ca)
Conditional Admissions:
In exceptional circumstances, applicants may be accepted into a graduate program subject to the successful completion of conditions that are in addition to the regular admission requirements.
Offers of Admission:
Only offers of admission from the Office of the Registrar are valid. Communication with a program representative (including the Graduate Advisor / Graduate Chair) or a faculty member does not constitute an offer of admission. Nipissing University may revoke an offer of admission or cancel registration in the program if it finds that the applicant has provided false or incomplete information.
The School of Graduate Studies operates on a trimester basis, with three terms defined as: fall term (September to December); winter term (January to April); and spring/summer term (May to August). The academic year begins with a fall term followed by a winter term.
The Program of Studies shall meet program requirements as approved by Senate, and includes the required courses (including directed studies), work terms or other practice-based components, any competency exams, scholarly components, or other requirements.
For a Master of Arts and a Master of Science, each student has a Program of Studies which is prepared by the Graduate Advisor in consultation with the student, and approved by the Dean/Director of Graduate Studies or Designate. In cases of programs with a Major Research Paper / Thesis component, consultation will include the Research Supervisor. The Program of Studies must be approved before the student registers in the program, and must include a detailed schedule for progress and completion.
In the Master of Education program, each admitted student will consult with his or her Graduate Advisor regarding the required courses, elective courses, and their Program of Study. In cases of programs with a Thesis component, consultation will include the Research Supervisor. In the case of the M.Ed. program, which has multiple options for completion (Thesis, MRP and the 9-course plus Research Project and Seminar), timeline requirements for choosing a route are found in the M.Ed. handbook.
No later than the end of the first term (or equivalent for part-time students), the students shall register the title of their MRP/Thesis. The application has to be approved by their Research Supervisor and Second Reader (if applicable) before being submitted to the Dean/Director of Graduate Studies or Designate for final approval.
Individual programs may require the student to do an oral presentation as part of the MRP proposal.
For programs that require students to present their research proposals both the Research Supervisor(s) and Graduate Advisor/Chair will have to give their approval for the student to proceed with the writing of their MRP/Thesis.
One Year Programs
All full-time graduate students in a 1 year program will complete their degrees within a period of 3 consecutive terms, including spring/summer terms. The part-time equivalent is 9 terms including spring/summer terms.
Two Year Programs
All full-time graduate students in a 2-year program will normally complete their degrees within a period of 6 consecutive terms including spring/summer terms. The part-time equivalent is 18 consecutive terms, including the spring/summer terms.
Under exceptional circumstances the time to completion may be extended by the Dean/Director of Graduate Studies or Designate. All requests for extensions shall use the appropriate form and should be directed to the Graduate Advisor/Graduate Chair who will make a recommendation to the Dean/Director of Graduate Studies or Designate.
Graduate students pay all required tuition and other fees as set by Nipissing University. Such fees are set on a per term basis. Graduate students must maintain continuous registration in their program of study (unless they are granted a leave of absence) until their program is complete or until they have reached the time limits for completion of the program.
Upon recommendation of the Graduate Advisor/Graduate Chair, the Dean/Director of Graduate Studies or Designate may grant a Leave of Absence for medical reasons, maternity or paternity reasons, or where serious circumstances beyond the control of the student require them to interrupt their studies. The Dean/Director of Graduate Studies or Designate will only grant such a leave where it is deemed necessary and appropriate. A leave of absence will not normally exceed three (3) terms. Students who require a leave of absence must file the appropriate form and the supporting documents to the Dean/Director of Graduate Studies or Designate.
Students who withdraw from a graduate program are to immediately inform the Graduate Advisor / Graduate Chair and their Research Supervisor in writing, using the Voluntary Withdrawal form. Immediate notification is important since the amount and speed of possible fee reimbursement is influenced by the date of withdrawal. The Graduate Advisor / Graduate Chair will forward the withdrawal notice to the Dean/Director of Graduate Studies or Designate.
A withdrawal is not official until it has been received by the Dean/Director of Graduate Studies or Designate and the Registrar's Office. Under no circumstances will the Dean/Director of Graduate Studies or Designate back-date a withdrawal notice.
After a request to voluntarily withdraw has been processed by the Office of the Registrar, the student is then officially withdrawn and may be eligible for a credit of a portion of tuition fees to their account. In all but Thesis or MRP, a mark of “W" (Withdrawn) or "F" (Failed) may appear on a student's academic record, depending on the date that the withdrawal request has been received. In an MRP or Thesis course a mark of “W ” will appear on the student’s academic record.
Discontinuing attendance in classes, failure to submit any assignments, notification to the instructor, or stopping payment on a cheque, do not constitute official withdrawal.
The withdrawal schedule is posted before the beginning of each academic year on the Student Financial Services website.
Course withdrawals before course begins:
$100 non-refundable cancellation fee
Course withdrawals after course begins:
$200 non-refundable cancellation fee
With the exception of MRPs or Theses and courses with a Pass/Fail grade, the standardized grading system for graduate courses at Nipissing University is:
A+
90-100%
A
85-<90%
A-
80-<85%
B+
76-<80%
B
70-<76%
F
<70%
Graduate students must receive a grade of B or higher to receive credit for a course; however, each program may have further specific degree requirements.
Scholarly Content
All graduate programs at Nipissing have a defined scholarly research component, which may take the form of a Thesis, a MRP, or a Research Project and Seminar.
Where appropriate for the discipline or field, another specified activity designed to test the acquisition of analytical and interpretive skills may be used (such a series of shorter research papers within courses, an exhibit of works, or a creative performance). In such cases, the appropriate scholarly content must be approved by the Dean/Director of Graduate Studies or Designate.
Practice-based Content:
Where appropriate and possible, Master's programs at Nipissing have a defined practice-based component. This includes a co-op work program, a practicum, a work-term, a professional, community-or industry-based project/paper or Thesis, or some other form of practice-based or service learning assessment.
The Tri-Council Policy Statement (TCPS) on Ethical Conduct for Research Involving Humans establishes the procedures and standards for the ethics review of research involving human subjects. All researchers, including graduate and undergraduate students, collecting data with human subjects should become familiar with this policy.
Article 1.1 of the TCPS guidelines outlines the conditions of Research Project/Papers/ Theses that require review: all research that involves living human subjects requires review and approval by a Research Ethics Board (REB) before the research is started. This includes research funded by grants, scholarships, contracts and contributions, unfunded faculty research, graduate and undergraduate research, and administrative research. This also includes course permission to be submitted by professors if students are to work with human subjects as part of their course requirement. Such permission should be received prior to any assignment being undertaken by students. The REB must review and approve all research conducted on and off campus, by faculty, staff and students.
The supervision and examination of all graduate theses at Nipissing will be administered by the SGS. Regulations are as follows:
Thesis Supervisory Committee:
Graduate students who have been approved to complete a Thesis will have a Supervisory Committee established with a minimum of two members: the supervisor(s) and an additional graduate faculty member from the program or cognate discipline, or an expert from within the field. Two faculty members on the same Supervisory Committee may chose to act as co-supervisors.
Student Right to Proceed to Examination
A student may not normally proceed to examination until approved to do so by the Supervisory Committee. A student has the right to proceed to examination without the approval of the Supervisory Committee if the student signs a written statement to that effect.
Examination Committee
The Examination Committee for all Master’s Thesis students consists of the Supervisory Committee plus an External Examiner, who shall be external to Nipissing University, and the Dean/Director of Graduate Studies or Designate, who shall be a faculty member of the Senate Graduate Committee. The Dean/Director of Graduate Studies or Designate or the Graduate Chair’s or Graduate Advisor’s designate, shall chair the examination.
All examinations shall consist of, in the following order, an advertised, public, oral presentation by the student, questions from the Examination Committee, and then questions from the public. In special circumstances the external examiner may be participating by videoconference or teleconference. The candidate and public attendees shall be asked to withdraw while the committee decides on the outcome of the examination. The outcome of a Thesis examination may be one of the following:
Confidentiality in the examination process is essential when there is a proprietary requirement regarding the Intellectual Property (IP) content of the Thesis and where such an IP agreement has been signed between the relevant parties (student, supervisor, university, external partner) and has been approved by the Dean/Director of Graduate Studies or Designate.
The supervision and examination of all graduate students writing a Major Research Paper (MRP) at Nipissing University will be administered by the SGS. No MRP will be accepted for submission to an Examination Committee before it is completed. The regulations are as follows:
MRP Supervisory Committee:
Students who have been approved to complete a major research paper will have a Supervisory Committee established with a minimum of two members: the supervisor and an additional graduate faculty member from the program or cognate discipline, or an expert from within the field.
Master of Arts/Master of Science Examination Committee
The Examination Committee shall consist of the Supervisory Committee plus a third member, who shall be member of the graduate faculty external to the program (but preferably from a cognate discipline or field). The Dean/Director of Graduate Studies or Designate or the Graduate Chair’s or Graduate Advisor’s designate, shall chair the examination.
The results of a MRP examination may be one of the following:
Master of Education: Examination Committee
The Examination Committee shall consist of the Supervisory Committee and shall be chaired by the Dean/Director of Graduate Studies or Designate or the Graduate Chair’s or Graduate Advisor’s designate. The examiners will evaluate the paper and the outcome may be one of the following:
The External Examiner must be given a minimum of two weeks to review a MRP or Thesis; however individual programs may have specific time-related requirements.
At least a month prior to the time of submitting the Thesis/MRP, a student may apply to the Dean/Director of Graduate Studies or Designate requesting that the Thesis/MRP be withheld from deposit in the library for an additional three (3) months.
For any additional period of six (6) months, the student must submit a request for extension one month prior to the termination of the previous period. The student’s supervisor will be required to justify the extension of the restriction.
The period of restriction that a student may apply for will not exceed more than two years from the date of the degree being approved. There is no unlimited period of restriction.
Reasons for exemptions are as follows:
The School of Graduate Studies will undertake Exit Surveys with all graduate students upon their completing or leaving their program. The results of the surveys will be used for ongoing monitoring of program quality control, and are available for use in formal OCGS program reviews.
Appeals are normally heard regarding possible inequities in the process used in grading. Should a student not be satisfied with an awarded grade, he or she may appeal using the appeal process found within the Academic Calendar.
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