Committee for Graduate Studies

The Academic Board at its meeting on 16 April 1984 decided to establish a Committee for Graduate Studies. The Committee held its first meeting in May 1984.

The Committee's Terms of Reference were:

(a) to report to the Academic Board on a regular basis;

(b) to have general responsibility, subject to Academic Board direction, for all aspects of graduate studies;

(c) to assume the functions of the Vice-Chancellor's Committee on Graduate Studies, the PhD Award Subcommittee, the Part-time PhD Committee, the Chairman with respect to the admission of candidates under Chapter XXVIA and the Vice-Chancellor's Committee to consider proposals for new graduate programs;

(d) to advise the Academic Board on all new proposals for graduate studies and on changes to existing graduate courses;

(e) to have responsibility for interfaculty programmes;

(f) to advise faculties on desirable procedures with regard to the operation of Faculty Boards or Committees of Postgraduate Studies;

(g) to establish and monitor procedures for all graduate studies programmes;

(h) to collect appropriate statistics relating to candidates for graduate studies;

(i) to make recommendations concerning all matters relating to graduate studies referred to it by the Vice-Chancellor, the Academic Board or Faculties.

In 1995 the University carried out a review of the Academic Board, with a Report of the Committee of Review, dated July 1995, submitted to Senate in October 1995. The report proposed that the Board of nearly 400 members be replaced by a two-tiered structure: an Academic Forum of about the same number and an Academic Board of 61 members. The new Academic Board would be supported by 6 committees instead of 12: Undergraduate Studies, Graduate Studies, Teaching and Learning, Research Policy, Library and Information, and Academic Staffing. The new Board held its inaugural meeting on 13 November 1996. With the establishment of the new Board all Committees of the previous Board lapsed.

The Graduate Studies Committee was one of six committees supporting the Academic Board after its 1996 restructure replacing the Committee for Graduate Studies (CGS). The existing PhD Award Sub-Committee and Coursework Studies Sub-Committee of CGS became sub-committees of the newly established Graduate Studies Committee.