UNIVERSITY OF MANITOBA
Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences
Department of Entomology

	22 December 2008	

To:		Department Heads, Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences
From:		N. J. Holliday, Head, Department of Entomology
Subject:	2009-10 UMGF Award procedures.

You may recall that agreement was reached at the December Faculty Executive Committee to pool departmental allocations of UMGFs and operate a Faculty pool from which UMGF awards will be made.  You may also recall that I was designated to develop the procedures to be used in making awards. This week, we received the UMGF Unit Guidelines from the Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS), allowing us to determine how to proceed.  All department heads should have received this information from Dr. Doering, Dean, Faculty of Graduate Studies. The Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences (FAFS) Awards Committee discussed implementation, and the following protocols were agreed by the Committee.
Dr M. Pritchard will be responsible for drafting the Memorandum of Understanding to be signed by all department heads, signifying to the FGS that the departments in FAFS agree to pool their allocations for the 2009–10 UMGF year.  The UMGF year is May 2009– April 2010, and the FAFS will be informed of its preliminary UMGF budget allocation in February with a finalized budget later in the spring.  Moneys not spent by the end of the UMGF year will be taken back by FGS.
The Awards Committee of FAFS will be the decision making body with respect to allocation of UMGFs from the FAFS Pool, and the secretary (W.  Kramer) and Chair (M. Pritchard) will be responsible for the administration of the process.
FAFS will have two competitions annually, to facilitate awards for students who enter graduate programs at the beginning of September, January and May.  

•	The first competition will have a deadline for applications of mid-February.  Eligible students for this competition will be:
•	Students who have applied for admission to a graduate program within FAFS with a first enrolment date of either May or September 2009.
•	Students already enrolled in FAFS programs who satisfy FGS criteria (GPA > 3.75 in the last 60 credit hours, and holding the award within the first 24 months of a Master’s program or first 48 months of a Ph.D. program).
•	The second competition will have a deadline for applications in mid-September.  Eligible students for this competition will be:
•	Students who have applied for admission to a graduate program within FAFS with first enrolment date of January 2010.
•	Students already enrolled in FAFS graduate programs who satisfy FGS criteria.
•	Students who applied for the February competition, but were not successful will be considered again in the September competition, if they are still eligible.
To facilitate appropriate division of funding for the two competition dates, M. Pritchard will be requesting information from each Department on the number of students who have started graduate programs in May, September and January in each of the last three years.  The proportion of budget to be held back for the second competition will be based on the pooled data from all departments.  At the second competition every effort will be made to allocate all funds, as funds not allocated are lost to FAFS.

At least for the 2009–10 UMGF year, given how little time we have before we must have the process finalized, we will use an application process that is essentially the same as last year.  Students will be required to apply using a slight modification of last year’s form, and will need the same supporting documentation (transcripts, one letter of support [two if without a U of M student record].  The Department will need to complete the part III (Departmental Comments) section, and also rank their applicants.  The application forms will be sent to departments as soon as they are received from Graduate Studies. 

Calculation of GPA
Students with  a minimum GPA of 3.75 are eligible to apply. Departments should calculate GPAs for all applications submitted from their department based on the last two full years of study.  For international students, please use the guidelines for GPA calculations provided by the Faculty of Graduate Studies at:
http://www.umanitoba.ca/faculties/graduate_studies/admin/569.htm
A ranking sheet will be provided to department heads when available. Please provide a ranking of candidates with their calculated GPAs to Wendy Kramer.

Important dates for the February Competition
•	December 2008.  All potential applicants for the February competition should be notified of the basic procedures so that they can start to acquire supporting documents.  Students who need to obtain letters of support from off-campus should be sent copies of the attached Part II of the application form and instructions to referees. Note that to be eligible to be considered for an award they must also have made an application for admission by the February deadline, if they are currently not in an FAFS graduate student
•	Mid January 2009.  The application forms will be distributed to Departments for distribution to applicants.
•	Mid February 2009.  Deadline for receipt of applications.

Distribution:
Department Heads
Awards Committee