加拿大萨省大学生活指南

Life in Saskatoon

Saskatoon is a very pleasant place in which to live.  Situated in the middle of Canada's vast prairie heartland, Saskatoon has many assets.  It is a pretty city, built on the banks of the South Saskatchewan river.  The entire river valley is now park land, with bicycle and walking paths, boating facilities, picnic sites, and other amenities scattered along the riverside.  There are numerous other parks and recreation areas, as well.  Small enough to be safe and friendly, Saskatoon is still quite cosmopolitan, with many restaurants serving a wide range of cuisine, a good public transit system, a wide variety of stores and shopping centers, churches of many denominations, and outstanding cultural amenities.

The City of Saskatoon has three professional live theatre companies, several amateur theatre groups, a professional symphony orchestra, the Mendel Art Gallery, several private galleries, Wanuskewin Heritage Park, the Western Canada Development Museum, several smaller museums, the Forestry Farm Park and Zoo, a yearly international multicultural folk festival (Folkfest), an annual festival of experimental theatre (The Fringe), and the annual Jazz Festival.  For sports fans, in addition to the wide range of intercollegiate and intramural sports teams, there are the Marquis Downs racetrack, the Knights of Columbus Indoor Track Meet every winter, the Saskatoon Blades of the Western Canada Major Junior Hockey League, a stake in the Saskatchewan Roughriders Canadian Football League team (based in Regina), the Saskatoon Hilltops of the Prairie Junior Football League, and numerous other events.  The city is also noted for creative writing, painting, and other fine arts and crafts.  Credit Union Center seats over 11,000 people, and has attracted many interesting special events and concerts to the city.

The Province of Saskatchewan has a large hinterland of rivers, lakes, and forests, in addition to the famous wheatlands.  Activities such as skiing (especially cross-country), wind-surfing, canoeing (including white water), hiking, golfing and curling are all popular.  There are numerous provincial and national parks within the province.  Moreover, the Canadian Rockies, featuring, Banff and Jasper National Parks, are only a day's drive away, and make a popular excursion, especially during ski season.  The Calgary Olympic facilities are all within reach as well.  When a break is needed, it is quite convenient to travel elsewhere.  Regina, Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg are all within a day's drive of Saskatoon.  Saskatoon's modern airport offers good service to points throughout North America, with easy connections to international destinations.

Saskatoon has a continental climate.  This makes the winters cold (we like to say "bracing"), but since the weather is dry, the cold is tolerable.  You will need to allow money for the purchase of good winter clothing, including boots, parka, hat, gloves, etc.  It is best to buy these locally, if possible, so that you get climate-appropriate items of sufficient warmth.  Saskatchewan summers are particularly nice:  warm days, cool nights, and lots of sunshine.  In fact, Saskatoon is Canada's sunniest city.

Finally, it should be emphasized that, despite the tone of much of this document, graduate studies is not all work and no play!  Faculty and students in the Department have a lot of fun as well.  In the past few years social events including hay rides, variety nights, wine and cheese parties, a night at the races, curling mini-bonspiels (for the coveted 'Golden Broom' trophy), pizza gatherings, bowling extravaganzas, picnics, barbecues, softball challenge matches, soccer matches, pool parties etc., have enlivened the Department and enhanced collegiality among students and faculty members.

Getting Settled in Saskatoon

The Computer Science Graduate Course Council elects representatives to assist the arrival of new students to the University of Saskatchewan.  The graduate correspondent can provide you with the email address of one of these representatives.  Contact this person directly and he/she will try to answer any questions you may have.  Please inform the representative of your expected arrival date, including airline and flight number so that someone might meet you at the airport.  If the Grad Council Representative is not able to meet you, we will make arrangements to have someone else pick you up at the airport. The Grad Course Representative will also help direct you to the Graduate College, International Student Advisor’s Office, etc., when you arrive in Saskatoon.

The College of Graduate Studies and Research sends out a brochure entitled, Information for International Students, along with their acceptance letter. This pamphlet will answer many questions, in greater detail, concerning immigration requirements, travel to Saskatoon, employment in Canada, housing, cost of living, medical coverage, etc.  The university also offers a web page with information for incoming international students.

Accommodation

Residence on campus, as well as rental units in the city, are in high demand. If you wish to live in one of the University Residence complexes, it is essential that an application be submitted early to the University Housing Registry.  There is often a waiting list of 6 months or longer.  Contact them and request an application form (address on inside front cover). Finding off-campus housing will also be your responsibility, although the International Student Advisor’s Office and Grad Course Council Representative will try to assist. We strongly advise you to arrive two weeks before classes begin in order to secure housing if not already arranged.

The International Student Advisor and/or the Graduate Course Council representative will assist you in finding temporary accommodation and in searching for a permanent residence if you have not already reserved one.

Finance

Funds paid to students by the University, such as Research Assistantships and Scholarships, are not paid until the end of the first month of classes.  Students will need their own funding for this first month.

Tuition and general fees must be paid or satisfactory arrangement be made for their payment, within twenty-one days of the beginning of classes.  Please contact the Student Enrolment Services Office as soon as possible, after your arrival in Saskatoon.  The best way to transfer funds from your country to Saskatoon is by a bank draft made payable to yourself from your bank to a specific bank in Saskatoon.  It is essential that you bring enough money to cover living costs for the first week (approximately $500.00), preferably in traveler’s cheques, while you wait for the transfer of funds by a bank draft.  Expenses for the first month will likely include the month’s rent (which must be paid in advance for off-campus housing), plus a damage deposit (which can be as high as one month's rent in advance), and for food, textbooks and winter clothing. This can total $1,700 Canadian approximately.

Medical Insurance Services

All international students and their spouses and children arriving in Saskatoon from another country to take up residence are eligible to receive provincial medical and hospital insurance at no charge.  Registration details can be obtained from the International Student Advisor's office. 

Students arriving from other Canadian provinces are not eligible for Saskatchewan health insurance coverage for the first three months.

Arriving on Campus

Registration

Come to the Department as soon as possible and meet the Graduate Chair, who will help you choose an interim academic advisor if one has not already been assigned and assist you in completing registration forms.  The Graduate Correspondent will assign you lab space, mailbox and will order keys. The Administrative Assistant will inform you of payroll procedures if applicable, and also when employment opportunities will be available and posted.

Orientation

The department holds an orientation session for new graduate students during the first week of September.  All new graduate students are required to attend.  At this session you will, among other things, meet the faculty, learn about registration procedures, and learn about the current year's course offerings.

In addition, the university holds a two-day, free orientation session for international students on the last Thursday and Friday of August. 

If your funding package includes a teaching assitanceship, you may find useful the annual workshop for graduate teaching assistants held by the Gwenna Moss Teaching and Learning Centre, located in the Murray Library.

Department Governance

Major Administrative Responsibilities

The Department Head is responsible for the administrative control of the Department and acts as the spokesman for the Department in college and university matters.

Activities related to the graduate programs are under the control of the College of Graduate Studies and Research. Within the Department, matters relating to graduate programs are coordinated by the Graduate Chair who is assisted on many matters by the Graduate Correspondent (who communicates with applicants).  The Graduate Chair chairs the Department's Graduate Committee which oversees all aspects of the graduate program and is the central forum for decision making and communication on graduate matters.  Most importantly, this Committee:

1 determines admissions to the graduate program and makes recommendations for scholarships and research assistantships;

2 carries out an annual examination of the progress of each graduate student (see Annual Review of Status); and

3 forms Ph.D. comprehensive examination committees and adjudicates the results of the Ph.D. comprehensive examinations.

The Undergraduate Chair is concerned with a number of matters relating to the interaction between the undergraduate and graduate programs (e.g. curriculum).  The undergraduate assistant assists the undergraduate chair.

Currently, these administrative functions are the responsibilities of:

Student Governance

The collegiality of our department is reflected in the high level of graduate student involvement and influence in its operation.  The Computer Science Graduate Course Council or the "CSGCC" for short, is the organization constructed and operated by our graduate students to act on their behalf.  The Council acts as the Computer Science Graduate Student’s representatives to the University of Saskatchewan Graduate Student’s Association (GSA).  It provides communication between the GSA and the graduate students in the department.  The CSGCC also takes on the task of maintaining a certain level of communication between the Department of Computer Science and the graduate student body that resides in it.  The CSGCC has non-voting representatives that attend Graduate Committee meetings and Faculty meetings.

In addition, the CSGCC receives some funding from the University-wide GSA to carry out its operations. In return, the CSGCC organizes social events for the Department, such as welcoming activities for new graduate students and social gatherings throughout the year.  The social events organized by the CSGCC include different sporting activities, games and outings to be enjoyed by the graduate students, faculty and staff. 

Finally, the Council assists and advises new students moving to the University of Saskatchewan. See Getting Settled in Saskatoon