Office of the
Dean of Graduate Studies

Message from the Dean

Welcome to the Faculty of Graduate Studies at the University of Victoria!

As graduate students, you are at the core of our academic mission in teaching, learning, and research.  Our graduate students come from across Canada and throughout the world and you bring demonstrated achievement, creativity and potential to contribute to the advancement of your chosen field.  All of this makes for a truly dynamic and engaging atmosphere in which to study, create, perform, discover, teach, communicate, design and innovate!

Everyone in the Faculty of Graduate Studies is committed to helping you to make the most of your graduate education.  There are more than 100 Graduate Advisors and Graduate Secretaries distributed among the various areas of study and research who are ready to help and guide you.

Here, on our FGS website (http://www.uvic.ca/gradstudies), you will find important information on what we can do to help you, our policies, and just about anything else you will need to know as a graduate student at UVic.

I am dedicated to ensuring your success.  Simply stated, we measure the success of our programs by the success of our graduates.  If you have any questions, comments, issues or concerns, you are most welcome to drop in to our FGS offices on the second floor of the University Centre, or contact me via the email address below.

The Dean’s office can help to make your experience in your graduate program both rewarding and memorable.  I personally look forward to meeting as many of you as possible and I wish you all the best in achieving your academic goals!

David Capson, Ph.D., P.Eng.
Dean of Graduate Studies
GradDean@uvic.ca

Graduate Admissions
and Records Office

The Graduate Admissions and Records office (GARO) is an arm of the Office of the Registrar at UVic.

They take care of all of your routine paperwork from your first application right through to your graduation. If you need special consideration, they will send your request to the Faculty of Graduate Studies to see if we can make an exception for you.

• Registration 
• Personal leaves, compassionate/medical leaves and withdrawals 
• Graduation/degree completion (other than oral examination) requirements 
• Final thesis/dissertation submissions
• Graduate admissions handbook

Faculties, departments
and programs

You will spend most of your time in your home academic units. Your own supervisor, your graduate adviser (who looks after the graduate programs in your academic unit) and the graduate secretary in your unit’s office are the people who will do the most to support you and keep you on track. They will make sure that you learn what you came to UVic to learn and that you know what you need to do to get your paperwork done right.

Your home unit will decide when your courses are scheduled, if you get a scholarship or research work, if you get to work as a teaching assistant, what space and equipment is available to you, and most of the other details of your everyday life as a graduate student.

Always go to them first with your questions. They know you and your program best!