Fair Funding Petition for Doctoral Students

To whom it may concern,

UBC is currently among the 40 best universities in the world, and among the top 20 public universities globally. This is a substantial achievement for our university, one that can be attributed to many things including faculty, facilities, and student outcomes. We believe that an institution’s ability to support its researchers makes a university a world-class learning institution, and providing official funding requirements is crucial to this. And yet, despite UBC’s high ranking, the Okanagan campus does not have a minimum funding requirement for doctoral students. Graduate students are at the forefront of research excellence at UBC and helping to increase its world-class status, and our exceptional researchers should be supported as such.

The College of Graduate Studies at UBCO aims to support students in achieving personal, academic, and professional success and it has been the ongoing goal of the College of Graduate studies to remove barriers for all students. However, financial barriers are often the most difficult to overcome. Research has shown that low-income individuals are less likely to attend university than other students, and are even more unlikely to pursue a graduate degree. Furthermore, funding has been found to be the single most major concern in graduate student life and one of the most common causes of program abandonment. UBC states that “funding has a substantial impact: PhD students with insufficient funding have longer completion times, greater likelihood of attrition, and lower satisfaction regarding their graduate experience (Handbook on the Minimum Funding Policy for PhD Students).” But despite this, many graduate students at UBCO receive little income from their academic pursuits and there is no official minimum funding requirement. One key way of easing the financial burden faced by graduate students would be to provide them with basic minimum funding. This can help to ensure all aspects of success in graduate student lives. It enables them to plan a budget for their upcoming year, factoring in tuition and living costs. It also means that students can focus more on community engagement and research rather than searching for part-time jobs that draw attention away from their academic endeavors.  

While some programs are guaranteed at least some funding in the form of teaching assistantships, this is not true across all faculties and many students are in direct competition to secure such positions as they are one of the only forms of substantial funding beyond tri-council funding. The other possible source of funding is in the form of research assistantships, but this is highly dependent upon supervisor funding. Even then, tri-council funding is not available to international students who comprise a substantial proportion of graduate students. Instead of these insufficient, inconsistent, and irregular funding opportunities that do not reach all students equally or equitably, UBCO should provide minimum funding for the period of 4 years. This funding should be consistent with the current cost of living faced by students in Kelowna today. In a survey administered by the Engineering Graduate Student Society at UBCO, when asked about living costs including tuition the average estimated cost was $28,334 per year (n = 92). 

It is acknowledged by UBC that a graduate education requires the full attention of students. Through the positions they hold on campus, graduate students contribute to research and the education of undergraduates. Additional work and other financial commitments are major obstacles for graduate students, and it should be a key goal of the university to abolish these barriers. In Ontario, the majority of universities provide doctoral students with a minimum funding package, just as many other universities do around the world. On UBC’s Vancouver campus, full-time doctoral students are provided with a minimum funding package equal to $22,000 for each of the first four years of their PhD. In contrast, thesis-based students at UBCO only receive an average of $6,031 per year (The College of Graduate Studies Annual Report 2019/2020). 

As such we the Student Union of UBCO are calling on UBC administration and the Board of Governors to bring UBCO’s funding model to be on par with that of UBC Vancouver. We ask that UBC provide UBCO doctoral students with a minimum stipend of $22,000 for each of the first four years of their PhD. 

UBCO has very ambitious plans in the next twenty years which include substantially increasing its graduate student population. While this is a very positive change and something we should strive for, it may also come with its own set of challenges, one of which includes supervisors taking on more students than they can support. Minimum funding would allow the University to grow at a pace that is appropriate for all involved and can enable   UBCO to improve the opportunity for students to thrive. A minimum funding policy, as UBC claims, will help attract outstanding PhD students and will support them accordingly. Outstanding graduate students would not have to miss out on the incredible opportunities that UBCO offers because of financial difficulties. This in turn would enhance UBC’s research enterprise and educational goals. A funding package would recognize the important contributions that PhD students make to the university. Likewise, it would give students the ability to cope with high living costs and obtain much-needed resources.

This is especially timely given the current COVID-19 pandemic. Students now more than ever need support from their university, as they are continuing to make substantial contributions to research despite the pandemic, and thus enhancing the reputation of the institution.

SUO of UBC