Graduate Student Initiative (GSI) Funding (2009-2010) in the Department of Language & Literacy Education

The Department of Language & Literacy Education is committed to graduating students from its thesis-based programs who will make important contributions to their communities, to scholarship, to academic leadership, and who will be competitive in the academic job market in Canada and internationally. A key factor in fulfilling this commitment is recruiting a diverse and talented pool of applicants. We also acknowledge that there is growing competition for outstanding applicants and that UBC must compete for these applicants with other universities.

GSI Eligibility, Criteria, and Procedures employed by LLED:

LLED distributes GSI funding through balancing principles of excellence and equity: e.g., (a) Equal amounts of these funds are distributed to new thesis-based students (PhDs and MAs), who have been selected for admission from the pool of applicants based on application criteria of excellence and fit with the Department’s expertise. (b) LLED uses GSI funds as entrance scholarships for purposes of recruiting new students. (c) For highly competitive applicants, LLED may use GSI monies as a scholarship “top-up” to promote recruitment of outstanding applicants.

ALL: Please note that within LLED, students who receive UBC Four Year Fellowships are generally excluded from GSI/and or other monies.

How do students apply? In LLED, all admitted doctoral students are considered for fellowship funding.

The student’s application for admission package is assessed in the following categories, with highly ranked students selected for GSI awards:

Planned Program of study
– Clarity and completeness of research proposal (questions, methods, link to literature)
– Potential contribution or significance of the work (e.g., advancement of knowledge, innovative design, originality)
– Feasibility

Professional and academic experience
– Research assistantships or other relevant work experience that is related to the proposed research and career
– Publications
– Conference presentations

Academic results
– Prior academic success (based on transcripts)
– Academic awards and distinctions (e.g., dean’s list, scholarships)

Appraisal Letters
– The two letters of appraisal previously submitted in the program application