key terms

UofT/University of Toronto: There are three campuses: St. George, Mississauga/UTM and Scarborough/UTSC. OISE is on St. George campus.

SGS/School of Graduate Studies: SGS oversees graduate admissions and offers many helpful resources. Check out their website for more info.

OISE/The Ontario Institute for Studies in Education: The faculty/school of education at the University of Toronto.

There are four departments at OISE:

• Curriculum, Teaching & Learning (CTL), where the Curriculum & Pedagogy (C&P) and Language and Literacies Education (LLE) programs exist

• Social Justice Education (SJE)

• Applied Psychology & Human Development (APHD)

• Leadership, Higher & Adult Education (LHAE)

ACORN: An online system where you register for courses, can order your transcript, see your grades etc.

QUERCUS: An online system that some profs use for courses. Log in here.

Pepper: An OISE specific online system that some profs use for course. Log in here.

GCAC/Graduate Centre for Academic Communication: This centre offers free academic workshops (relating to writing, presenting, scholarships etc.). Check out their website for more info.

OSSC/OISE Student Success Centre: This is an OISE specific resource centre. You can book free appointments with advisors, who can offer support in writing and academic planning. Check out their website for more info.

Grad Room: This is located at 66 Harbour Street across from the athletic centre. It is a free space that students can work.

Student: You are considered a PhD student until you complete your comprehensive exam and have formed your committee.

Candidate: After you complete your comps and have formed your committee (signed an official form), you are considered a PhD candidate. Having the title 'candidate' just means you are able to conduct your own research (after completing your proposal and ethics). It is to signal you are at a certain stage of your program. There is no rush to become a 'candidate'. There are many timelines that work for completing a PhD and it is best to personalize your timeline to match your individual goals and balance other life commitments.

Advisor: This is the person that agrees to take you on when you are accepted into the program. This person does not need to be supervisor as you go through the program. You can decide if the person is a good fit for you. They are meant to guide and support you. Some advisors will offer more support than others and it's a good time to assess your learner needs and think about what kind of person you want to work closely with over the next few years.

Supervisor: This is the person YOU decide you want to be your supervisor. Their job is to support you closely as you navigate through the program. Ideally, they should be the person you feel comfortable working with. They help you when you need reference letters, are applying for scholarships, and trying to build your CV.

Committee: This is the group of scholars that are brought together to review your work. Depending on the program, your committee is formed at different times. They are the people that would read your final dissertation and give you feedback.

Typically, a committee has:

• your supervisor(s)

• two internal members (this means people who are within your department/OISE)

• one external member (this means someone who is external to OISE/UofT)

Often, your supervisor will guide the process of selecting who is on your committee.

There are different types of funding you can receive to support you on your doctoral journey. These amounts will likely not cover all your living costs, meaning additional jobs are necessary unless you have other funding sources.

Base Funding: This is offered to full-time students. There are different types of packages. Based on your letter, you will be informed what kind of package you are offered. OISE's outlines the different packages on their website.

Internal Award: These are scholarships that are associated with the university. You typically have to apply, although some awards do not require an application.

External Award: These are scholarships that are not associated with the university (e.g. they are provincial or federal scholarships). They all require applications.

• OGS (provincial) - this is the least time consuming of all the applications

• SSHRC, CIHR, NSERC (federal) - this is a very time consuming application and highly competitive

• Trudeau (federal) - this is a very time consuming application and highly competitive

• Vanier (federal) - this is a very time consuming application and highly competitive

During your PhD, you will likely have opportunities to work some of the following jobs:

GA/Graduate Assistant: GAs support a prof with their work. GA and RAs are very similiar. You apply for GAs on the OISE system.

RA/Research Assistant: RAs support a prof with their work. GA and RAs are very similar. You ask profs directly for RAs.

TA/Teaching Assistant: There are only a few TA jobs at OISE (e.g. with the OSSC, Educational Research 2 or sometimes in MathPlus). You can apply for TAships in other departments. You can read about some tips for securing a TAship here.

CI/Course Instructor: This is when you teach a course on your own. Sometimes people can get TA/CI funding packages. For those that do not get those funding packages, you typically need TA experience to secure a CI job. You can read about tips for securing a CI here.

Coursework: This is when you are completing courses. Each department has different requirements. You can read more about your individual program requirements here.

Comps/Comprehensive exam: This is a paper/writing task you need to complete. This is typically in your second year or third year if you are a full-time student. It is different for each department. Go under "Writing Your Comprehensive Exam" for more specific detail.

Proposal: This is what you complete before submitting your ethics. It looks different for different profs and departments. Sometimes you have to defend it to your committee and other times you do not. For more information, go to "Writing Your Proposal" under "Moving Through the PhD Stages".

HREB: Human Research Ethics Board. This is the formal board that you have to submit your ethics application to if you are doing research that involves humans. Before you can submit your application, you need your supervisor to create a form. After they have done that, you can fill out your online form. This is the website where you login. For more information about the process, go to "Completing Ethics."

ABD: Stands for "All but dissertation". When you are ABD, you can apply for certain jobs. You might notice this on course instructor job ads.

Dissertation: This is the final written piece that you create. For more information about the format this can take on, go to the "Writing the Dissertation" section.

Defence: This is when you explain your work to your committee, they ask you questions, and decide if you have successfully 'defended' your research. This is the final stage of your program. After you defend, you get your PhD.