4.  Canadian students please note that there is a financial penalty for late registration. Be sure that by the middle of July, the graduate school has your correct mailing address for the early August period. If you expect to be travelling and unable to respond to this registration packet you should contact the graduate school and ask them to hold the packet for your arrival. That said, you will find it makes life easier if you can manage to register in advance. (use: askgrad@mcmaster.ca to correspond with the graduate school by email, or phone (905) 525-9140  ext. 23679)

5.   At the incoming students' meeting on Thursday, September 8, we will go over the more important items in this memo, and will provide other information.   If you intend to take any courses in any other faculty in either term, it is best to register early. For example, many courses in the Health Research Methodology program have limited enrolments. Also note that other Faculties may have different add/drop dates. If you shop around and decide to change courses before the deadline, ask the graduate secretary in KTH-426 to help you with electronic drop/add. Please pay careful attention to the due dates for these courses.

6.   Regular M.A. Students must register for 761, 721 and 723, plus one more elective course in the first term, and 762 and three electives in the second term. Of the total of four electives for the year, two may be courses from other departments, but approval must be obtained from both the Economics graduate chair and from the other department (usually the course instructor). Students intending to pursue a Ph.D. at McMaster should take 722 and 724 in the second term. The first four days of lectures, Sept. 8, 9, 12, and 13 are devoted to math preparation classes, followed by an exam (date yet to be determined).  The math exam grade will count toward the ECON 721 and ECON 723 grades. Material for this course is posted on the Math Class Web Page.

7.   Incoming Ph.D. students should seek counselling on course selection from the chair of graduate studies and possibly from the organizers of the relevant comprehensive fields. They should register for 761, 762, plus the four theory courses: 721, 722, 723, and 724, plus one elective course each term. One priority in the first year of Ph.D. study is to prepare for the comprehensive examinations in microeconomics and macroeconomics. They will be held in May and June with a second and final chance in the following January or February. We expect incoming Ph.D. students to start accumulating the courses required for the field comprehensive exams by taking one elective course each term in their first year, keeping in mind that each course is not necessarily offered each year.

8.   A failure (which is a grade below B-) in any graduate course triggers a withdrawal from the graduate program unless the department petitions to allow you to stay. Note that MBA students can pass their courses with a grade below B-, but for Economics grad students, B- is the minimal passing mark, even for MBA courses.

9.   All incoming PhD students are required to take a full course load (8 half courses) in their first year.  As well, in May and June, the microeconomics and macroeconomics comprehensive examinations must be written. In the second year the remaining electives should be taken. All comprehensive exams must be completed within 24 months of admission to the PhD program.  For current M.A. students considering the Ph.D. program, there is no reason they cannot maintain the same progress, completing many of the Ph.D. requirements while still in the M.A. year. This means that, from the time of the beginning the M.A. program, it may be possible to finish the Ph.D. in three or four years. Most students, however, take one year for the M.A. and four years for the Ph.D.

10.   Admission to the Ph.D. program from the M.A. program is not automatic. Each year the admissions subcommittee chooses the best applicants from both inside and outside the program. We do give preference to students in the program, but only if they have taken the second term theory courses 722 and 724. No student is even considered without a B+ average over all courses and over the theory courses. In practice, virtually all admitted students have at least A- averages.

11.   As mentioned above, M.A. students admitted to the Ph.D. program are given a free try at the comprehensive exam in June after they have completed their courses. These do not count towards the two attempts allowed within the Ph.D. program.

12.   Graduate Advisor: The Chair of the Graduate Studies Committee is the advisor for all MA students and PhD students until they get a thesis supervisor.  A student who is having academic difficulties should consult the advisor as early as possible. However, it should be realized that there are not a lot of formal options. In extreme cases, M.A. students sometimes can postpone a course or two until the following fall and lengthen their program, but there is normally no additional financial aid, tuition must be charged for any additional terms, and this change must be approved at the School of Graduate Studies. The only comparable option for Ph.D. students is to ask for a leave of absence, which means giving up all T.A. and scholarship income. It also must be approved by the School of Graduate Studies, and is usually granted for health reasons.

13.   For all matters regarding payment of tuition and receipt of scholarship and teaching assistantship stipends, deal directly with the School of Graduate Studies You should have been sent the necessary material with your offer of admission. More information is at http://www.mcmaster.ca/graduate/current.html  In general, the University pays both scholarship money and teaching assistantship (TA) or research assistantship (RA) wages in roughly equal monthly payments. The exception is the first pay in September - unless your scholarship exceeds about $4,100, your September pay probably will be less than your pay in other months, because of certain one-time deductions. The graduate school now requires that your pay cheques be deposited directly to your financial institution. Pay day is the last Thursday of every month. This means that students will receive no money from the university until the end of September. However if students hold a TA or scholarship, they will not be required to pay their tuition up-front. It will be deducted in equal amounts from their monthly cheques. No interest is charged on the outstanding balance. The university has some funds for short term loans to students, administered by Student Financial Aid and Scholarships if timing of payments is a problem. However, often the total loan ceiling has been reached early in the term so this cannot be relied upon (and in any case is time consuming to obtain).

14.  Do not underestimate the deductions from your monthly pay cheques which include tuition, EI (employment insurance) and CPP (Canada Pension Plan), income tax, union dues and dental insurance premiums (though, this may be waived if you have your own plan). In addition Graduate Students' Association fees, Athletic Fees and a Capital Fund contribution are deducted from the first cheque in September.

15.   Because you pay EI premiums on your TA wages, you are eligible to collect employment insurance benefits if your employment ends. You may be eligible for EI benefits if you are unemployed in the summer, after completion of your TA duties. This is true regardless of whether or not you are receiving scholarship money. More information should be available from the TA union.

16.   It is possible to make purchases on credit at the bookstore. Outstanding bookstore accounts are deducted from your pay cheque. Ask for details at the bookstore or check http://titles.mcmaster.ca/geninfo/charge.htm

17.   If you are a full-time student, the graduate school monitors how many hours you are working on campus. In any term in which you have a full TA, you are considered to be working 130 hours and any further employment on campus requires the approval of the Associate Dean through the Graduate Advisor.

18.   TA duties will be assigned shortly after arrival. In your first year, the TA normally involves marking. If you have a particular preference, for example if you enjoy giving tutorials, or are interested in a particular area of economics, please inform the graduate chair.

19.   Scholarships for future years. For students who think they might be continuing in a graduate program next year, it is very important to apply for external scholarships, and the deadlines come very early. An important component of these applications is a statement of research plans, so you might be wanting to think about this in advance. Students who have won these awards often have run a few drafts by faculty members before the submission date. Success in these competitions can add substantially to your funding.  The two most important competitions are the Ontario Graduate Scholarship (OGS) and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRCC) doctoral fellowship. We urge every student who is planning to continue to apply for both, if eligible. We expect to have forms available by early September.  A SSHRCC scholarship is valued at $17,700 per year and is renewable for up to 3 years. The completed and typed forms, including references, must be submitted to the graduate secretary by the specified deadline. Only citizens or Permanent Residents of Canada may apply. The OGS is valued at $15,000 per year, and is open to all graduate students in Ontario. The OGS is not automatically renewable, though students can re-apply each year. The completed and typed forms, including references, must be submitted to the graduate secretary by the specified deadline. If you get references from a professor from another university, please ask him/her to send the letter directly to the Chair of the Graduate Studies Committee, Department of Economics, McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario L8S 4M4.

20.   Professor Mike Veall is the department member most involved with job placement. Students will be provided with information on job matters via e-mail. Anyone who wants to be considered for a job with the Public Service should apply before the deadline, which usually is around Oct. 4. The Bank of Canada operates its own hiring procedures and also begins the process in the fall.

21.   Computing. All grad student offices have computers with windows 9x, external internet access, Shazam 9 and word processing/spreadsheet software.   In addition, all grad students can work in our departmental 5-computer lab in KTH-401. MSOffice XP and Shazam 9 are available on all four Dell computers, which also have external (off-campus) internet access. Intercooled Stata 7 is available on 3 of the Dells and Stata 7 SE (for handling large datasets) is installed on the fourth Dell. The fifth (older)  computer, which is running Windows 98, has Corel 8, MSOffice 97, Gauss Lite 3.5, Shazam 9 and SPSS 11. Only this computer is  connected to the printer (LaserJet III). Note: this computer has only campus-wide internet access.   The department supplies toner and paper for this printer only.  Your printers in your offices are not supplied with supplies.

Irena Thomas, the departmental research assistant, can lend you a (free, licensed) installation CD for SHAZAM (for the PC), the computer package used for basic econometrics instruction.

22.   Deposits will be required for various keys, which will be refunded when the keys are returned.

23.   Once you have completed registration as a student, you can register for an email account on the MUGSI system which can be accessed from any browser. Please write down and keep the password that MUGSI provides you.  There is an option to change this password to something you can easily remember.  Some students have found it useful to arrive with an account already set up on Yahoo or Hotmail or some other web based email system. This can allow you to communicate by email during any delay in setting up your McMaster email account.

24.   Office space will be assigned in early September for new arrivals. Students share offices in the same building as the department. All space in the building is non-smoking. Students can trade office spaces, but let the graduate secretary know.

25.   Students may use the department photocopier between 2:00 and 3:30 p.m.  You will be shown how to operate the copier.  Personal copying may be done, however, you will be charged on a per page basis.  Please check with a staff member before beginning your copying.  Because of the department's very heavy undergraduate committment there will be days that the copier will not be available for your use.

26.   For those who will need parking, note that parking tends to be allocated on a first-come first-served basis. See: http://parking.mcmaster.ca/grad.htm .

27.   There is no charge for use of the university's basic athletic facilities by graduate students. However, there is an additional (optional) charge of $52 per term for use of "The Pulse" (the fitness center) and some extra charges for various optional services such as apparel rental. For more details see http://www-athrec.mcmaster.ca/registration/index.htm

28.   The department typically has seminars Wednesdays at lunch and Friday afternoons. Graduate students are very welcome and expected to attend. Often there are free drinks after the Friday afternoon seminars.  Many of the department visitors are willing to set aside time to meet with graduate students.  This is an opportunity for you to discuss your research, and is good practice for employment interviews.

29.    The graduate secretary will give students a graduate calendar, a set of departmental rules, and the Senate Guidelines on Academic Dishonesty, upon request (most of this is also available on the web). When students are writing an essay or assignment and are taking material (either verbatim, paraphrasing, or just the idea) from another source, they need to cite that source and, where appropriate, use quotation marks. This applies even if the assignment is to summarize or review a given article and students are using material from that same article. It must always be absolutely clear which words and ideas are the student's and which are someone else's. If in doubt about whether to cite a source, do so.