Financial Information

GRADUATE FUNDING

The Department of English and Writing Studies offers a number of Teaching Assistantships (TAships,) which may involve leading tutorials and other related duties averaging ten hours per week. These may include assisting in the teaching of first-year undergraduate courses or in upper-year and honors-level undergraduate classes. Students repeatedly cite their experience as a Teaching Assistant as one of the most rewarding aspects of their graduate program.

The Faculty of Arts and Humanities offers financial assistance to qualified graduate students. Domestic Master's students are offered a Graduate Teaching Assistantship (in 2021-22 worth $13,345.70) and a Western Graduate Research Scholarship in the amount of $4,550.00. International MA Students in the Faculty of Arts & Humanities are eligible to hold a $3,000 Western Graduate Research Scholarship intended to help defray the cost of international tuition fees.

Eligible students in the PhD program are guaranteed a minimum financial package (from all sources) of $13,000 plus tuition for each of four years, assuming satisfactory progress through the program. This package is normally composed of a Graduate Teaching Assistantship (in 2021-22 worth $13, 345.70) and a Western Graduate Research Scholarship ($10,050.00 for Canadian PhD students, $10,650.00 for International PhD students). All amounts quoted are for 2021-22.

Financial packages for winners of major external awards (Ontario Graduate Scholarships or SSHRC Fellowships) may be adjusted. Full-time MA students receive WGRS for the one year of the MA program; PhD students (assuming satisfactory progress through the program) will be supported for twelve terms (four years).

Graduate students at Western have had outstanding success in winning SSHRC and OGS scholarships. Every year the University and the Department offer grant-writing workshops and many opportunities for individual consultations to assist candidates in the preparation of their applications.

Fees are paid in three instalments in the Fall, Winter, and Summer terms. For more information on fees, please see: http://www.registrar.uwo.ca/student_finances/fees_refunds/index.html.


SCHOLARSHIPS & AWARDS

Please see our Scholarships & Awards page for information on various Scholarships available for Graduate students in the Department of English.


GRADUATE STUDENT TRAVEL/RESEARCH FUNDING

The Department of English provides support to its graduate students each year to assist with expenses incurred on travel for certain academic purposes (as listed below). To be eligible for this funding, PhD students must normally be within the regularly fundable period, i.e., their first four years of the program. If, however, a PhD student did not make a claim on the travel fund during one or more of the four years of eligibility, he or she may make a claim in year 5, and similarly in year 6 or beyond.

No more than four claims may be made for the entire period of PhD study.

MA students are eligible to apply for funding only in the single funded year of the program.

Claims must be associated with travel undertaken for one or more of the following purposes:

1. to present papers at conferences in academic fields relevant to the English graduate program.

2. to make library or archival visits when this work is clearly integral to the student's thesis or project and the resources towards it are demonstrably not available at Western

3. to interview oral informants (e.g., authors) when this work is clearly integral to the student's thesis or project and when ethical clearance has been obtained.

Before their proposed travel, students should submit a Graduate Student Request for Travel Expenses form in order to receive pre-approval for funding reimbursement. The form can be downloaded and printed here: Travel Funding Request Form. PDF download

Completed forms, with the necessary signatures (the applicant's, as well as his/her supervisor, if one has officially been named) and supporting documentation, should be submitted to the Graduate Coordinator (UC 2401C) for the approval of the Graduate Chair.

After the travel has been completed, students should complete an online travel expense report. Log in using your Human Resources user id and password (works best in Internet Explorer): Click on Employee Self-Service, then on Travel and Expense Center, and under Expense Report, click on Create. Add as much information as you can. You won’t be able to complete the process online, however, because we’ll need to insert an account code. Once you’ve done as much as you can, hit the Save and Hold button, and then print the claim form using your browser Print button. Bring the form, along with your original receipts, to Beth McIntosh in UC 2401E. Once Beth has added the appropriate account code(s), the claim will be forwarded electronically to the central Travel Office for final system checking and payment. You will be able to inquire on the status of your expense reports at any time. Claims will continue to be reimbursed by cheque, three to five days after approval. If you need assistance with this process, please see Beth.

The amount of funding available to each student will be advised as close as possible to the beginning of the current fiscal year. For the 2021-22 fiscal year (1 May - 30 April), the amount will be $800 per student. When submitting an expense claim students must include receipts to document this amount. Equally, they should retain in their possession any receipts that exceed this amount. Even though these excess receipts cannot be reimbursed at the time, they can be made the subject of a supplemental expense claim later if more funding becomes available. Reimbursement is based on the fiscal year, which runs 1 May - 30 April each year. All claims and receipts for any given year must be submitted well before the 30 April end of year deadline.