Graduate Studies
Students in a graduate program at the School of Architecture are also students of the Faculty of Graduate Studies, which is based in Room 314 of the Henry Hicks Academic Administration Building and presides over all graduate programs at the university. The following notes describe the most frequent situations in which graduate Architecture students deal with the Faculty of Graduate Studies. Please note that some graduate regulations differ from their undergraduate counterparts.
Disclaimer
The graduate information on the Architecture web site is designed to provide helpful guidance to students. The regulations and procedures of the University and the Faculty of Graduate Studies are listed in the Graduate Studies calendar.
Faculty of Graduate Studies Scholarships
A student who is admitted to a graduate program at Dalhousie may be eligible for a Faculty of Graduate Studies Scholarship if his/her GPA is 3.70 or higher. The annual scholarship allocation to the School of Architecture is limited, so a 3.70 GPA does not guarantee a scholarship. MArch students who receive an FGS scholarship in M2 will continue to receive funding in M5 and M6 if their cumulative GPA at the end of M2 is at least 3.30. MArch (Post-Prof.) and MEDS students may receive a Faculty of Graduate Studies Scholarship for two terms.
Program Approval
At the beginning of your program you will be given instructions to approve your graduate program requirements in the Graduate Studies Information System (GSIS) on Dal Online.
Special Topics Courses
An MArch student can take no more than three "Seminar" courses (Design Seminar, Humanities Seminar, Technology Seminar, or Representation Seminar) during the whole program. These courses have not been approved formally by the Faculty of Graduate Studies and are considered "special topics," as described in the Graduate Studies calendar > FGS Regulation 7.6.5.
Extramural Courses
Before you can register for a course at another university, the Faculty of Graduate Studies requires you to submit a Letter of Permission request form. To receive credit for an extramural course, your final grade must be B- or higher. If your grade is lower than B–, it will be recorded on your Dalhousie transcript as an F, even if the grade is considered a passing grade at the other university. For details, see Extramural Electives.
Leave of Absence
All graduate students must maintain continuous registration. If you need to be away for a term or more due to illness or a serious problem beyond your control, you must submit a Leave of Absence request form to the Architecture office a month before the term begins. It will be forwarded to the Faculty of Graduate Studies office for approval. For details, refer to the Graduate Studies calendar > FGS Regulation 5.8.
Extended Work Term
MArch students who wish to extend their work term for an extra year must submit a written request to the graduate coordinator by July 15 and, if approved, register for ARCH 5310 each term. Your student status then will change from full-time to part-time, which could have implications for student loan repayments. International students who are in Canada on a student visa may not be eligible to switch to part-time status. For details, check with the International Centre.
Human Ethics Review
All thesis research involving human subjects (including personal interviews) must be approved in advance by the university's Social Sciences and Humanities Research Ethics Board. Refer to Research Ethics. Before preparing an application, consult with the graduate coordinator.
For course-level research involving human subjects, the instructor must consult with the chair of the School's Research Ethics Committee (who is also the chair of the Humanities Teaching Group).
Thesis Submission
Students who are completing a thesis must follow the graduate requirements for thesis preparation and submission. Deadlines and format requirements are summarized in the Architecture thesis regulations.