The future of graduate students remains in the dark.
In a letter addressed to the University on Sept. 19, the Society of Graduate and Professional Students (SGPS) expressed concern over the Senior Leadership Team’s (SLT) recent decision to cut the Queen’s Graduate Award (QGA) for incoming Master’s students starting next fall.
While the cuts don’t affect all Masters funding as supervisors and programs can still provide financial , this move, part of a broader response to the University’s operating budget deficit, is set to eliminate $4,100 per student toward research Master’s beginning next fall. The elimination of QGA funding is expected to disproportionately impact equity-deserving groups, including first-generation graduate students and those facing financial hardship, the letter stated.
The letter urges Master’s students to share their stories about how the lack of funding—specifically, how a $4,100 reduction in stipends—would affect their ability to pursue or continue their studies. SGPS is currently taking testimonials on the cut to QGA funding until Sept. 26 to take the concerns to Board of Trustees the following day.
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“These cuts to Masters funding are an attack on the working class. What it does is it ensures that only people who either secure private or public funding or who already have the means to pay for an entire graduate education themselves can attend Master’s program,” PSAC 901 President Jake Morrow said in an interview with The Journal.
Morrow emphasized these cuts benefit only the privileged and harm those from underprivileged and marginalized backgrounds, calling the policy discriminatory and despicable.
Morrow believes Matthew Evans is the “hatchet man,” and blames senior leadership—namely, Principal PatrickDeane—for causing graduate students’ instability in their studies. He calls on senior istration to resign.
The letter argues the policy contradicts Queen’s Educational Equity Policy, which acknowledges systemic barriers disadvantage certain groups based on social identities such as race, ethnicity, disability, gender identity, sexual orientation, and socioeconomic status. It also points out undergraduate students already graduate with an average debt of $30,600.
The financial burden on students is a top concern for SGPS President, Emils Matiss who said addressing food insecurity has become a higher priority for the student union than ever before.
“We’ve been investing more in food insecurity measures, and personally, this is incredibly troubling for me because we’re not a food bank. We’ve learned from that this is the best way we can help them,” Matiss said in an interview with The Journal. “[Reducing the QGA] would make it much harder for students to themselves.”
Another concern raised in the letter relates to recruiting and increasing graduate student enrolment as about one-third of PhD students start their academic journey at Queen’s as Master’s students. Matiss argues the proposed cuts are counterproductive for this goal, as they would likely reduce teaching opportunities at Queen’s and harm the University’s competitiveness in securing research funding.
“Reducing master’s student funding would also have wider implications. It could lead to a decline in enrolment, which would in turn, reduce our allocation of OGS and Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarships in Science and Technology (QEII-GSST). Thiscouldharmourcompetitiveness for Tri-Agency funding, with potential consequences for our research output and reputation,” Matiss said in the letter.
Tri-Agency includes the three Canadian Government research funding agencies, including the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council (NSERC), and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC).
Matiss said the letter is not a critique of the “need for fiscal responsibility,” but rather the strategies in which undermine Queen’s “values of equity and excellence.”
Corrections
A prior version of this story quoted SGPS President Emils Matiss as saying a reduction to OGS would make it harder for students to themselves. The correct award he referenced was the QGA.
The Journal regrets the error
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