Dec 10, 2024  
School of Graduate Studies Calendar, 2019-2020 
    
School of Graduate Studies Calendar, 2019-2020 [-ARCHIVED CALENDAR-]

Sessional Dates 2019-2020


DEADLINE DATES FOR GRADUATE PROGRAMS FALL TERM WINTER TERM SUMMER TERM
Sept.- Dec., 2019
Sept. - Oct., 2019 (1HF)
Nov. - Dec., 2019 (2HF)
Jan. - April, 2020
Jan. - Feb., 2020 (1HF)
March - April, 2020(2HF)

May - August, 2020

 

On-Time Registration Tuesday, July 23 to
Tuesday, August 27
Thursday, November 28 to
Thursday, December 12
Thursday, April 2 to
Thursday, April 16
Class Start Dates * Classes begin on or after September 3, 2019 - check with program for details Classes begin on or after  January 2, 2020 - check with program for details Class start dates vary - check with program for details
Late Registration (late fees apply) Wednesday August 28 to
Monday, September 9
Friday, December 13 to
Thursday, January 2
Friday, April 17 to
Tuesday, April 28th
Final Dates to Add Courses:
  6 Unit Courses Friday, September 27    
  3 Unit Courses or 1.5 Unit Courses (1HF) Friday, September 27  Friday, January 24 Friday, May 15
  1.5 Unit Courses (2HF) Friday, October 25 Friday, February 28th Friday, June 26
Final Dates to Drop Courses: **
  6 Unit Courses Friday, January 3 Friday, May 1  
  3 Unit Courses Friday, October 4 Friday, February 7 Friday, June 5
  1.5 Unit Courses (1HF) Friday, September 27 Friday, January 24 Friday, June 5
  1.5 Unit Courses (2HF) Friday, November 1 Friday, March 6 Friday, July 10
Final Dates to Submit Grades:
  6 Unit Courses   Friday, May 1 Friday, August 21
  3 Unit Courses Thursday, January 2 Friday, May 1 Friday, August 21
  1.5 Unit Courses (1HF) Friday, October 25 Friday, February 28th Friday, August 21
  1.5 Unit Courses (2HF) Thursday, January 2 Friday, May 1 Friday, August 21
Final Date to Submit Results of Incomplete (INC) Grades for Previous Term with Permission of Associate Dean

Friday, March 6

Friday, July 10

Friday, November 6

Thesis

  FALL 2019 SPRING 2020 FALL 2020
Final Date to Initiate Thesis Defence in Mosaic*** Friday, June 28th 
 
 Wednesday January 22nd
(Health Sci.)
Wednesday February 5th 
(All others)
Friday, June 26th 
Final Date to Submit Master’s Theses to Departments (Prior to Defense) Friday, August 9 Friday, March 6 Friday, August 7
Final Date to File Theses with Graduate Studies and Complete Degree Requirements****  
  - Faculty of Health Sciences Friday, September 27th  Friday, April 3rd  Monday, September 28th
  - All Other Faculties Friday, September 27th  Friday, April 24th Monday, September 28th

The University welcomes and includes students, staff, and faculty from a wide range of cultural, traditional, and spiritual beliefs. As per the Policy on Academic Accommodation for Religious, Indigenous and Spiritual Observances, the University will arrange reasonable accommodation of the needs of students who observe religious holy days other than those already accommodated by ordinary scheduling and statutory holidays. For more information, please refer to https://www.mcmaster.ca/policy/Students-AcademicStudies/AcademicAccommodation-Observances.pdf

Graduate students may only enroll in undergraduate courses with the approval of their supervisor or graduate program. Students are responsible for meeting the deadlines and requirements of the undergraduate course as presented in class and in the undergraduate calendar. Graduate students will be graded under the graduate grading scale. 

Programs may establish earlier deadlines to add/drop courses but these dates must clearly be communicated to students. Please note that the last date to cancel a course or registration with no academic penalty is not the same as the last date to be eligible for a refund.

 

*The precise dates of commencement of courses are determined by the program; students are urged to contact their program for details. SGS maintains the 13-week graduate instruction period; however, if a course does not fall into the traditional 13-week period, the graduate program will inform students of important dates and deadlines in the course syllabus. There is no official fall break or reading week for graduate students (except MBA). Students should check with their program and their course instructor(s) as to whether classes will be held during these periods. Please see sections 1.3 (Responsibilities of Graduate Students to the University) and 2.5.6 (Vacations) of the calendar for more information.

**All courses on a student’s record after these dates will require a grade. Exceptions require submission of a Petition for Special Consideration. Graduate programs may establish earlier deadlines for completion of course work and may prescribe penalties for late completion of work and for failure to complete work, provided that these penalties are announced at the time the instructor makes known to the class the methods by which student performance shall be evaluated.

***Please note the following black-out periods in which Ph.D. defences cannot be scheduled: December 16th to January 10th inclusive and August 17th to 21st inclusive.  Please refer to the SGS website for information about the timeline for scheduling your defence with these dates in mind.

****A final thesis is the corrected, approved version of the thesis which is submitted to SGS following the Final Oral Examination. Note there is no grace period at the end of December or April for final thesis submission and completion of degree requirements.

Convocation Dates

Please consult the link below for convocation dates:

https://registrar.mcmaster.ca/grad/dates/