The following resources provide information on the supervision role, ethical review process, and research opportunities for associate faculty.
Supervisor identification
Potential candidates for supervision and assessment of theses, dissertations, major papers, internships, projects, and other student activities may be identified by the student(s) to the program/school office, which will verify that appropriate experience and qualifications/credentials exist to provide such services.
Academic units and/or programs may also maintain their own lists or databases of approved potential supervisors.
Supervision of theses and dissertations
Supervision Roles
Possible supervisory roles:
- Supervisor (receives contract)
- Thesis/Dissertation supervisory committee member (receives honorarium)
A thesis committee is typically composed of 2 members (1 supervisor, 1 supervisory committee member).
A dissertation committee is typically composed of 3 members (1 supervisor, 2 supervisory committee members).
Approval Process
Students are responsible for initiating the approval process for their supervisors and supervisory committee through their Thesis Coordinators. All supervisors and committee members are approved by the Office of the Vice-Provost, Graduate & Interdisciplinary Studies.
Supervisors and supervisory committee members will be asked to submit their CV and a copy of their credentials.
Once approved, a supervisor or supervisory committee member will be contacted by the program with information to help them fulfill their role.
Doctoral Supervision
For the Doctor of Social Sciences and Doctor of Business Administration there is a defined Dissertation Process.
SharePoint: Students, supervisors, supervisory committee members, external examiners, and thesis coordinators are required to use the institution's Dissertation Manager SharePoint Site, which constitutes the university's formal record of dissertation progress.
Dissertation Handbook: Supervisors and supervisory committee members will receive a Dissertation Handbook, which defines: the program structure and courses; competency domains and learning outcomes; candidacy examination; dissertation proposal and dissertation guidelines; ethical review; committee roles and responsibilities; oral defence; and dissertation submission;
First point of contact for Dissertations: Theses and Dissertations Coordinator
Master's Supervision
For Master's programs with a defined thesis option, there is a defined Master’s Thesis Process
SharePoint: Students, supervisors, supervisory committee members, external examiners, and thesis coordinators are required to use the institution’s Thesis Manager SharePoint site, which constitutes the university's formal record of thesis progress.
Thesis Handbook: Supervisors and supervisory committee members will find a program-specific Thesis Handbook on the SharePoint Thesis site. The Handbook defines: thesis standards and guidelines; ethical review; roles and responsibilities of thesis coordinator, supervisor, supervisory committee member(s), the student, and thesis sponsor if applicable; thesis defence and submission.
First point of contact for Theses: Theses and Dissertations Coordinator
Supervision - Graduate & undergraduate major projects
Graduate major/capstone projects
While certain graduate programs have a thesis requirement, many have a major/capstone project. These projects are individual in nature, have specific requirements defined by the program, and require a supervisor, or an advisor and reviewer, depending on the program - these are either a full-time or associate faculty member.
Supervisors, advisors, and reviewers will be given direction by the program office.
Graduate major/capstone projects are not to be confused with Graduate Research Papers, which are completed within a course context, delivered by an instructor.
Graduate major/capstone projects and research papers
Depending on the program, undergraduate major projects and research papers may be delivered either within a course context or individually. When they are delivered individually, they require a supervisor.
Supervisors will be given direction by the program office.
Directed Study
Directed Study: Doctor of Social Sciences (DSocSci)
The Directed Study in the DSocSci program is essential preparation for the student’s comprehensive exams, which need to reflect the student’s advanced and complex understanding and analysis of theoretical, methodological and substantive issues related to the dissertation. The Directed Study is co-designed by the student and the selected instructor/supervisor to advance knowledge of a specific applied social inquiry area.
Directed Study: MA in Interdisciplinary Studies (MAIS)
The MAIS Directed Study option enables students to design and implement a personal course of study relevant to their specific needs and interests. A faculty instructor/supervisor, selected by the student and approved by the program, will work with the student to select the topic, draft a course of study agreement, and develop a course outline, subject to approval. With guidance from the program head, the role of the instructor/supervisor is to facilitate the student's self-exploration.
Other Directed Study options
Directed Study may be an option provided by a program head in other programs under certain conditions. The selected instructor/supervisor will receive instruction from the program head in terms of expectations for the Directed Study.
Research ethics & ethical review
The Office of Research Ethics provides guidance on what research and scholarship requires an ethical review and facilitates the ethical review process.
When research involves humans, an ethical review is usually required. More specifically, an ethical review must be conducted where an activity or research involves the following:
- Information collected from living humans through interaction (such as interviews, questionnaires, surveys, and focus groups) or through intervention (the participant is affected in some way by being placed in a situation to be studied);
- Secondary non-public sources that identify an individual.
- Human remains, cadavers, human organs, tissues, and biological fluids, from individually identified participants, embryos or foetuses;
- Naturalistic observation that is used to study participants’ behaviour in a natural environment.
At RRU, for certain class assignments and for most research being conducted by students and faculty alike, an ethical review is mandatory.
Please review planned course activities with your program head to ensure that the necessary ethical review(s) are in place.
POLICIES
Please familiarize yourself with RRU's Research Ethics Policy.
Research projects that use RRU as the site of study have special requirements. Please see Research Projects Using Royal Roads University.
Tri-Council Course on Research Ethics
In preparation for supervision and teaching work, you may need to complete the self-paced Tri-Council Course on Research Ethics (CORE). If you have previously completed the course, you may want to revisit the course for a refresher. Please submit the completion certificate to your program office.
Academic Integrity
All students begin their course of study with an Introduction to Academic Integrity.
Further resources that support student academic integrity include:
- Academic Integrity & Misconduct Policy for Students
- Academic Integrity & Misconduct Procedures for Students
- Writing Centre Plagiarism resource
Contact
The Office of Research Ethics can be reached at ethicalreview@royalroads.ca; 250.391.2600 ext. 4425.
Research collaboration
Core faculty welcome the opportunity to collaborate on research initiatives with associate faculty.
Teaching with technology grants
The Office of Research Services puts out a biennial call for proposals for Teaching with Technology grant applications. These offer the opportunity for core faculty, or associate faculty in partnership with core faculty, to work on educational technology research projects with CTET instructional designers.
Core faculty research
The Office of Research Services supports core and adjunct faculty with research development, proposal submission, and grant administration. It can help make connections between core faculty and associate faculty members where research interests align. You can find out more about research at RRU and explore our faculty research.
Please contact the Office of Research Services at researchservices@royalroads.ca; 250.391.2600 ext. 4486.
You can also check job postings on the RRU website for research-related contract opportunities.
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