Information for New Students

To use the University's online tools, you must first activate your online identity by visiting the Accounts page, https://www.torontomu.ca/accounts/, and completing a series of web forms. During activation, you will pick your user name, such as: johndoe, john.doe, etc., and your password.  

Once activated, your Toronto Metropolitan University online identity gives you access to your Toronto Metropolitan University email account, the my.torontomu.ca portal, online Library resources, MyServiceHub, and more.

The OneCard is the official identification card of the Toronto Metropolitan University community. As well as being your official student identification, it also serves as a lab and building access card, and a convenience card for many of the services available on campus, including the library; printing and photocopying; food purchases; discounts; and more.

To apply for your OneCard, and for more details, please visit the Student OneCard web site: https://www.torontomu.ca/university-business-services/onecard/student-onecard/.  

All Computer Science graduate students should activate a Computer Science student account. Your Computer Science student account gives you access to labs, computers, as well as a Computer Science email address, which you can access at https://webmail.cs.torontomu.ca.

To setup your Computer Science student account, send a request (from your Toronto Metropolitan University email address) to request@cs.torontomu.ca with your full name and student ID number.  Once your request is processed, you will be provided with a user name and default password, along with a link to reset the password.  Once your account has been activated and your password reset, your account is ready to use.

Students are given storage space to use, shared between Linux and Windows.

For access to a particular Computer Science lab, send an email to request@cs.torontomu.ca. In the email, include a photo or scan of the front and back of your Student OneCard.  This is used by the Computer Science IT staff to program your OneCard for lab and ENG building access.

Computer Science lab ENG-217 houses a printer that you may use.  Students are provided a “$60 credit” for printing to this printer, and additional “credit” can be requested by sending an email to computerscience@torontomu.ca.

For technical support with your Computer Science account, lab access, etc., please email the department’s IT staff at request@cs.torontomu.ca.

Master of Science (MSc) in Computer Science

Students in the MSc program can choose from three curriculum options: Thesis-based, Major research paper-based, and Course-based.  Each option has its own degree requirements. 

Regardless of the option they are in, students are required to be enrolled for a minimum of 1 year (3 terms) and must complete the program within 3 years. The average completion time is about 2.5 years. 

An overview of the MSc degree requirements can be found on our web site.

Please note that not all courses are offered each year.
 

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in Computer Science

The PhD program in Computer Science requires students to complete 4 elective courses; research methods, method of instruction, and seminar courses; a candidacy exam and a dissertation.

Students are required to be enrolled in the doctoral program for a minimum of 2 years, and must complete it within 6 years. The average completion time is about 4.5 years. 

An overview of the PhD degree requirements can be found on our web site.

Please note that not all courses are offered every year.

Course schedules are posted on the Program web site as soon as they are available, and on MyServiceHub.

Instructions for viewing course schedules on MyServiceHub can be found on the MyServiceHub support site: https://www.torontomu.ca/myservicehub-support/students/.

Please note:  If there are any discrepancies between the schedule listed on the Program site, and what is indicated in your student account (on MyServiceHub), it is the schedule on MyServiceHub that remains the official schedule.

Registration (enrolling and dropping) for most courses is done by the student through the university's administrative management self service system (called MyServiceHub) located at https://my.torontomu.ca/. The Registrar’s Office provides instructions and support to help with this: https://www.torontomu.ca/myservicehub-support/students/.  

To enroll in a Directed Studies course, a restricted course, or a course offered by a teaching department other than Computer Science, the student must complete and submit a “Directed Studies/Restricted Courses Request Form” to the Graduate Program Administrator. This form can be found on the Forms & Guidelines page of the Program web site. Restricted courses include: Research Methods, Method of Instruction and the Doctoral Seminar course.

To drop a Directed Studies or restricted course, the student must send an email request to the Graduate Program Administrator and copy their supervisor(s) on that email.

Course registration (add and drop) dates are published on the School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies’ Significant Dates page, https://www.torontomu.ca/graduate/calendar/significant-dates/, and on MyServiceHub.  Typically, Fall term course registration will start at the end of August, Winter term course registration will start in late-December, and Summer term course registration begins in late-April. Students may change course selection and registration on or before the final dates to add and to drop courses established in each term.

Directed Studies/Restricted Course enrollment requests should be submitted at least 5 business days prior to the last date to add a course for the term, and a request to drop a course should be submitted at least 5 business days prior to the last date to drop a course for the term.

Each term that they are active in the program, students will be automatically enrolled in GD1000. This is not a course, but rather a code or placeholder that indicates continuous registration until completion of the degree requirements.

Please note: Graduate students are required to maintain continuous registration every semester of their program until all requirements of their program have been met, or they withdraw, unless they have been granted Inactive Status.

Students are academically responsible for the courses they are registered in. Please double‐check your course registration on MyServiceHub each term. Should you find any errors in your course registration, please inform the Program Administrator immediately.

Fees Schedules by program are available on the Registrar’s Office web site: https://www.torontomu.ca/current-students/tuition-fees/graduate/.

Please Note: Tuition is calculated on the basis of your program, not on the number of courses that you take per term. Your tuition is a yearly charge, which is broken into three equivalent payments for the three terms in a graduate academic year.

Tuition fee payments are due before the end of the first month in each term: September, January, and May.

Information on how to make a payment can be found on the Registrar’s Office web site: https://www.torontomu.ca/current-students/tuition-fees/pay-tuition-fees/.

Scholarship/Fellowship/Award distribution:

Scholarship/fellowship/award funding is disbursed in three installments, once at the beginning of each term (unless otherwise stated), and is deposited directly into your Toronto Metropolitan University fees account. If you have a credit balance in your fees account, you may request a refund. Instructions for requesting a refund can be found on the Registrar’s Office web site: https://www.torontomu.ca/myservicehub-support/students/student-fees/request-refund/. 

If you are offered a scholarship, fellowship or award, you will usually also receive a Terms and Conditions document (or a link to such a document). It is important that you are aware of the Terms and Conditions for any scholarship/fellowship/award you are offered.

Graduate Student Stipends:

Stipends are typically provided by your supervisor, from their research accounts.  If you have been offered a stipend, you should discuss it with your supervisor and complete a Graduate Student Stipend form, which can be found on the Yeates School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (YSGPS) web site: https://www.torontomu.ca/graduate/student-guide/academic-matters/form-downloads/. Once completed, this form should be submitted to the Program Administrator for processing.

Graduate Teaching Assistant Positions:

Computer Science graduate students have the opportunity to apply for teaching assistant positions within the Computer Science department. When teaching assistant positions are posted, students will be notified by email and provided with instructions on how to apply.

Payment for teaching assistant positions is on a bi-weekly deferred schedule and made via direct deposit to your bank account.

If you have any questions about teaching assistant positions within the Department of Computer Science, please contact the department’s front desk staff.

Emails prior to the start of your first term of study:

Initially, the Program office will communicate with incoming students using their personal e‐mail addresses. If you change your e‐mail address between when you first applied to the program and the beginning of your first term in the program, please inform the Program office by contacting computerscience@torontomu.ca.

Emails after the start of your first term of study:

Every Toronto Metropolitan University student must activate a Toronto Metropolitan University email account. This email account will be your official means of receiving Program and University communications, and for you to communicate with the Program and University. You can activate your Toronto Metropolitan University email account shortly before the start of your first term of study and should do so no later than the end of the first week of classes in the first term.

Activate your account by going to https://www.torontomu.ca/accounts/ and completing the online Activation Form. For good measure, after you have completed the activation process, please send a message to computerscience@torontomu.ca from your Toronto Metropolitan University email account to inform the Program office that your email address is active.

Toronto Metropolitan University's policy on student email accounts (Policy 157) explicitly states that "students are required to monitor and retrieve messages and information issued to them by the University via Toronto Metropolitan online systems on a frequent and consistent basis." Further, "students have the responsibility to recognize that certain communications may be time‐critical" and "remain responsible for ensuring that all University electronic message communication sent to their official Toronto Metropolitan E-mail account is received and read." In other words, you are responsible for checking your Toronto Metropolitan University account email often.

Our forms, procedures and policies can be found online.

Program-specific forms and policies can be found on our Program web site: https://www.torontomu.ca/cs/graduate/. Examples include the Plan of Study form, Progress Review form, candidacy and thesis guidelines.

General, commonly-used forms can be found on the Yeates School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (YSGPS) web site: https://www.torontomu.ca/graduate/. Examples include the Application to Withdraw, Course Audit form, Third Party Letter Request form, and Leave of Absence Application form.

Important guidelines, policies and procedures can also be found on the YSGPS site, including graduate supervision guidelines; and the graduate status, enrolment, and evaluation policy.

The Graduate Academic Calendar, found on the Yeates School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies web site, https://www.torontomu.ca/graduate/calendar/, is the official statement of programs and courses approved by the Toronto Metropolitan University Senate.  In addition to curriculum and course information, the Calendar includes a listing of policies, procedures, and significant dates that students are responsible for familiarizing themselves with.

Computer Science graduate students are required to follow the polices and procedures as set out by the Yeates School of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. The Graduate Student Guide, https://www.torontomu.ca/graduate/student-guide/, is an online resource that summarizes the policies, fees, procedures and services that you will need to know as a Toronto Metropolitan University graduate student.

The guide is divided into sections which include: Getting Started, Academic Matters, Financial Matters, Services, Student Engagement, and Student Life.

New graduate students must complete an initial Plan of Study form within the first four weeks of their first term. The Plan of Study sets the stage for new students to plan and think ahead about how to complete the program requirements within the required time frame and, if applicable, what research directions they would like to pursue to complete the research component of their program of registration.

MSc students in the thesis option and students in the PhD program should meet with their faculty supervisor(s) to complete their Plan of Study. MSc students in the course option may meet with the Graduate Program Director to complete their Plan of Study, or may complete the form on their own before submitting it for the Graduate Program Director to review.

Students are strongly advised to keep a copy of the completed Plan of Study form for future reference.

The Plan of Study should be reviewed at a minimum once each term, and any additions or changes should be discussed and approved by the student and supervisor (if applicable) and then submitted to the Graduate Program Director.

Students registered in the PhD program and the thesis or MRP option of the MSc program must meet with their faculty supervisor(s) at least once each term to complete a Progress Review. The deadline to submit a Progress Review each term will be communicated by the Program Administrator by email.

The Progress Review is used to provide feedback, support and a review of the student's progress toward fulfilling degree requirements (e.g., research progress for a thesis/MRP/dissertation), where appropriate, and for the student to record responses to this feedback.

Students are required to submit a Progress Review for every term that they are active within their program – even during terms when they are focusing on research and not taking any courses. The review form, signed by the student and Supervisor, should be submitted to the Program Administrator.

Student Wellbeing encompasses a variety of health, wellbeing, and academic services and supports at Toronto Metropolitan University that reflect on a university community that is fully committed and engaged in developing and sustaining supportive environments that foster wellbeing and academic success.  Please visit the Student Wellbeing web site, https://www.torontomu.ca/student-wellbeing/, to learn more about services and resources such as Academic Accommodation Support, the Centre for Student Development and Counselling, Health Promotion Programs, the Medical Centre, and more.

Students are responsible for reviewing and understanding Policy 60, which is Toronto Metropolitan University’s policy on academic integrity. The Academic Integrity Office (AIO) seeks to promote a culture of integrity and educational excellence at Toronto Metropolitan University by informing, inspiring and educating the members of our community on matters related to academic integrity and misconduct. Please visit the AIO’s web site, https://www.torontomu.ca/academicintegrity/, for information, resources, tutorials and more.

Located in the Student Learning Centre building, Student Life and Learning Support (SLLS) is a group of services and programs aimed at helping students engage more effectively in their academic studies. SLLS teaches essential academic skills and study techniques that help students to more effectively express their intelligence, apply their knowledge and communicate their ideas.

Support areas include:  Writing and Language Support; Graduate Student Support; Study Skills and Transition Support; and Math Support.

SLLS can help you to build your academic skills; to increase your confidence in the work you do; to make you better at engaging in your coursework; to improve your communication, literacy and numeracy skills; to remove barriers that might be getting in your way; and to make friends and connections on campus.

Please visit the Student Life and Learning Support web site, https://www.torontomu.ca/student-life-and-learning/learning-support/, for more information.

Toronto Metropolitan University’s International Student Support (ISS) team works to foster a sense of belonging and community for all students who are new to Canada as well as for those students seeking a global experience on campus.

ISS welcomes and supports newcomers to Canada as they adjust to their new Canadian environment and culture. International Student Support connects students to Toronto Metropolitan University’s vibrant campus community, and supports them in reaching academic, personal, and professional goals.

Staff in ISS are specialized in providing immigration advising, transitional, academic and social adjustment support, and student life skills development programming.

Please visit the International Student Support web site, https://www.torontomu.ca/international/student-support/.

Graduate Program Director: Dr. Alex Ferworn
Office Location: ENG-283
E-mail: aferworn@torontomu.ca

Graduate Program Administrator: Norm Pinder
Office Location: ENG-282
E-mail: computerscience@torontomu.ca