This website is for faculty members seeking clarification on the various exchange agreements that apply to graduate student mobility. If you have a question and don't see an answer here, email grad-office@unbc.ca.
Current UNBC Students Visiting Another Institution
Faculty members have several options to support sending their students to another university (to take coursework or conduct research). There are 3 relevant agreement processes to be aware of. Full information for our students can be found here.
Western Deans Agreement
Details: For students enrolled at a university that is a member of the Western Deans Agreement (limited to AB, BC, SK and MB) seeking to complete coursework for credit.
Cost: Students will continue to pay tuition at UNBC for the duration of the time they are taking coursework at another university. At the host university, they will not be assessed tuition but will be assessed fees. These vary widely from institution to institution.
Required form(s): Our guide for students can be found here, including a link to the application request form. You must include a revision to program of study form if the Western Deans coursework was not listed on the original program of study. Students may take coursework via the Western Deans in their first semester of study with the permission of the program and Dean. In such instances, a program of study form should accompany the request.
Additional Important Information
Generally speaking, this agreement should not be used for courses that are offered at UNBC. Rarely, the host institution may approved for course offerings available in the UNBC course calendar for exceptional reasons. An explanation of exceptional circumstances should be included on the Western Deans application form.
Planning for taking Western Deans coursework should start early. Our deadline requires students to submit their paperwork to our office at least 6 weeks prior to the start of the course they are seeking to enroll in OR at least one week prior to the deadline established at the host institution (this deadline can be longer than 6 weeks).
Host institution processing deadlines vary widely. Host institution deadlines that are earlier than UNBC's must be met. For example, at Athabasca University, students require significant lead time to process a request. Additionally, host institutions are not obliged to approve applications. Allowing plenty of time for host institution review will give you the necessary time to make alternate arrangements if the request is denied.
The Western Deans process has a two stage deadline:
- The first deadline is UNBC's internal deadline (6 weeks prior to the start of a semester).
- The second deadline is for receipt of a fully approved and processed request from the home institution to the host institution. This deadline varies widely from 2 weeks up to months prior to host institution's registration deadline.
UNBC's internal deadlines are set to ensure that a fully approved form is received in sufficient time to submit the request to the host institution. Ideally, courses are planned in advance as a part of a student’s degree planning.
While a host institution may accept a form for processing as little as two weeks prior to the start of the semester, that is their absolute final deadline and does not include processing time needed for signatures, file review, and submission. This deadline also leaves no room for error or alternate plans if a request is denied. An additional risk involved with late WDA request submission is that the request may not be reviewed in time at the host institution or that seats in the class are full.
You are strongly encouraged to submit your request forms to the Graduate Office as soon as possible and to start planning well in advance if you plan to use this exchange agreement.
Canadian University Graduate Transfer Agreement (CUGTA)
Details: For students enrolled at a university that is a member of the full-time at a member institution of the Canadian Association of Graduate Studies (CAGS) seeking to complete coursework for credit.
Cost: Students will pay the applicable tuition at the host institution (which varies) as well as all applicable student fees. They are not assessed tuition fees for the duration of their CUGTA coursework at UNBC but will be assessed applicable UNBC student fees. International tuition rates at our colleague institutions are often much higher than ours so that should factor in to planning.
Required form(s): The CUGTA guide and required paperwork for students is available here. A revision to program of study form must be included if the CUGTA coursework was not listed on the original program of study.
Students may take coursework via CUGTA in their first semester of study with the permission of the program and Dean. In such instances, a program of study form should accompany the request.
Additional Important Information
The deadline to receive a CUGTA request is 6 weeks prior to the start of a course, but students should consult the host institution to see if they have an earlier deadline. If the host institution has set an earlier deadline, UNBC's Graduate Office must receive the request at least one week prior to the host institution's deadline. We must adhere to host institution deadlines and they may vary widely. Planning should start early.
Canadian Graduate Student Research Mobility Protocol (CGSRMP)
Details: For students enrolled at a university that is a member of the full-time at a member institution of the Canadian Association of Graduate Studies (CAGS) seeking to conduct research (no coursework permitted).
Cost: We do not assess tuition for visiting research students but student fees are assessed.
Required form(s): The CGSRMP guide for students is available here. In order to send your student to another university under the CGSRM protocol, a written agreement is required between the student, the UNBC supervisor(s) and the host institution supervisor(s). This agreement should cover issues such as intellectual property, stipend and benefits, travel costs, access to research equipment and supplies, research ethics, space etc.
Follow the procedures outlined at the host institution. If the host institution does not guidelines or procedures published, you can consult the CAGS protocol terms. We have a letter of invitation template we have developed to support our faculty members who are inviting students to UNBC that can also be used as a guide. You can find that here.
Visiting Students (from outside UNBC)
Faculty members have several options to support bringing students in from other institutions for the purpose of conducting research or taking coursework.
There are 4 relevant agreement processes to be aware of:
Western Deans Agreement
Details: For students enrolled at a university that is a member of the Western Deans Agreement (limited to AB, BC, SK and MB) seeking to complete coursework for credit.
Cost: Students pay tuition at their home institution and do not pay tuition to UNBC. However, student fees are assessed. The cost varies depending on whether the student is attending remotely or in person.
Additional Important Information
A student wishing to attend UNBC for coursework or research must have the appropriate form(s) approved by their home institution submitted to grad-office@unbc.ca no later than 6 weeks prior to the start of the class or the research visit. However, we understand that exceptional situations may arise and we encourage you to reach out to grad-office@unbc.ca with any questions. Particularly to support collaborative supervisory relationships, we endeavour to be as flexible as possible for incoming visiting students.
Note that as paperwork submission is subject to host institution deadlines, UNBC does not have the same flexibility on our internal deadlines for paperwork when processing outgoing exchanges (UNBC students visiting another institution).
Our guide for visiting Western Deans students is available here.
Canadian University Graduate Transfer Agreement (CUGTA)
Details: For students enrolled at a university that is a member of the full-time at a member institution of the Canadian Association of Graduate Studies (CAGS) seeking to complete coursework for credit.
Cost: Students will pay the UNBC tuition rate (non-degree domestic or international) as well as all applicable student fees. They are typically not assessed tuition fees for the duration of their CUGTA coursework at their home institution but will normally pay fees.
Our guide for visiting CUGTA students can be found here.
Canadian Graduate Student Research Mobility Protocol (CGSRMP)
Details: For students enrolled at a university that is a member of the full-time at a member institution of the Canadian Association of Graduate Studies (CAGS) seeking to conduct research (no coursework permitted).
Cost: We do not assess tuition for visiting research students but student fees are assessed.
Deadline: At least 6 weeks prior to the start of the student's research visit.
Our guide for visiting CGSRMP students can be found here.
Visiting International Research Students
Details: This process (not an agreement) covers students outside of Canada seeking to attend UNBC for the purpose of conducting research only.
Cost: We do not assess tuition for visiting research students but student fees are assessed (including extended medical coverage).
Deadline: Because attendance is dependent on receiving the appropriate immigration authorization (study or work permit), we recommend submitting a request to bring in an international visiting research student as early as possible. We try to process these requests and confirm the visit (if approved) within 2 weeks of receipt of the required forms.
Our guide and all relevant forms for visiting international research students can be found here.
Frequently Asked Questions
Current UNBC Students
What is the deadline to apply (UNBC students)?
Any request for a UNBC student to attend another university for the purpose of taking coursework via the Western Deans Agreement or CUGTA or for conducting research via CGSRMP must be submitted by our internal processing deadline. Generally speaking, this deadline is 6 weeks prior to the start of the course or at a minimum of one week prior to the start of the course where the host institution deadline is earlier than 6 weeks.
Please note that we are bound by processing deadlines established at host institutions and these deadlines should be assessed well in advance of the planned visit.
As an example, Athabasca University recommends students plan to apply at least 3 months before the start of the course, and even this deadline will vary depending on the course deadline. The first step should be to visit the host institution's website and review the deadlines.
Visiting Students
What courses are eligible?
For the Western Deans Agreement, coursework at the graduate and at the undergraduate level is permitted (subject to program approval).
For CUGTA, only graduate coursework is eligible per the terms of the agreement.
Continuing studies courses are not eligible under either agreement.
What is the deadline to apply (visiting students)?
The Office of Graduate Administration must receive a request at least 6 weeks prior to the start of the course or research visit.
I'm interested in promoting one of my classes to students from outside UNBC. Who can I contact?
If you'd like to highlight a course offering that you would like to invite students to attend via the Western Deans or CUGTA agreement, please contact grad-office@unbc.ca.