This website is for faculty members seeking clarification on the various exchange agreements that apply to graduate student mobility. If you have a question and don't see an answer here, email grad-office@unbc.ca.

Current UNBC Students

Faculty members have several options to support sending their students to another university (to take coursework or conduct research).  There are 3 relevant agreements/processes to be aware of. Full information for our students can be found here.

Western Deans Agreement

Details: For students enrolled at a university that is a member of the Western Deans Agreement (limited to AB, BC, SK and MB) seeking to complete coursework for credit.

Cost: Students will continue to pay tuition at UNBC for the duration of the time they are taking coursework at another university. At the host university, they will not be assessed tuition but will be assessed fees. These vary widely from institution to institution.

Required form(s): Our guide for students can be found here, including a link to the application request form. You must include a revision to program of study form if the Western Deans coursework was not listed on the original program of study. Students may take coursework via the Western Deans in their first semester of study with the permission of the program and Dean. In such instances, a program of study form should accompany the request.

Additional Important Information

Generally speaking, this agreement should not be used for courses that are a part of our calendar/offered at UNBC. Rarely, the host institution may approve this if a course offering is not available for exceptional reasons. This explanation should be included on the Western Deans application.

Planning for taking Western Deans coursework should start early. Our deadline requires students to submit their paperwork to our office at least 7 weeks prior to the start of the course they are seeking to enroll in OR at least one week prior to the deadline established at the host institution (this can be longer than 7 weeks). Host institution processing deadlines vary widely. Host institution deadlines that are earlier than ours must be met. A good example of this is Athabasca, where students require significant lead time to process a request. Additionally, our host institutions are not obliged to approve applications. Allowing plenty of time for host institution review will give you the necessary time to make alternate arrangements if the request is denied.

The Western Deans process has a two stage deadline. The first is our internal deadline (7 weeks before the start of a class). The second is a deadline to receive a fully approved and processed request from the home institution to the host institution. This varies widely from months based on a registration deadline to 2 weeks.

Our internal deadlines is set to ensure that we have a fully approved form in sufficient time to get a request to the host institution.Ideally, courses are planned in advance as a part of a student’s degree planning. While a host institution MAY accept a form for processing as little as two weeks prior to the start of the semester, that is their absolute final date and does not include processing time (for signatures, file review and submission). This also leaves no room for error or alternate plans if a request is denied. An additional risk is that the request is not reviewed in time at the host institution or seats in the class are full. We strongly encourage you to get your forms in to our office as soon as possible and start planning well in advance if you plan to use this exchange agreement.

Canadian University Graduate Transfer Agreement (CUGTA)

Details: For students enrolled at a university that is a member of the full-time at a member institution of the Canadian Association of Graduate Studies (CAGS) seeking to complete coursework for credit.

Cost: Students will pay the applicable tuition at the host institution (which varies) as well as all applicable student fees. They are not assessed tuition fees for the duration of their CUGTA coursework at UNBC but will be assessed applicable UNBC student fees. International tuition rates at our colleague institutions are often much higher than ours so that should factor in to planning.

Required form(s): Our guide for students can be found here, including a link to the required form. You must include a revision to program of study form if the CUGTA coursework was not listed on the original program of study. Students may take coursework via CUGTA in their first semester of study with the permission of the program and Dean. In such instances, a program of study form should accompany the request.

Additional Important Information

Our deadline to receive a request is 7 weeks prior to the start of the course but students should consult the host institution to see if they have an earlier deadline. If the host institution deadline is earlier, we must receive it at least one week prior to the host institution deadline. We must adhere to host institution deadlines and they may vary widely. Planning should start early.

Canadian Graduate Student Research Mobility Protocol (CGSRMP)

Details: For students enrolled at a university that is a member of the full-time at a member institution of the Canadian Association of Graduate Studies (CAGS) seeking to conduct research (no coursework permitted).

Cost: We do not assess tuition for visiting research students but student fees are assessed.

Required form(s): Our guide for students can be found here. In order to send your student to another university under the CGSRM protocol, a written agreement is required between the student, the UNBC  supervisor(s) and the host institution supervisor(s). This agreement should cover  issues such as intellectual property, stipend and benefits, travel costs, access to research equipment and supplies, research ethics, space etc. Follow the procedures outlined at the host institution. If the host institution does not guidelines or procedures published, you can consult the CAGS protocol terms. We have a letter of invitation template we have developed to support our faculty members who are inviting students to UNBC that can also be used as a guide. You can find that here.

Visiting Students (from outside UNBC)

Faculty members have several options to support bringing students in from other universities for the purpose of conducting research or taking courses. There are 4 relevant agreements/processes to be aware of:

Western Deans Agreement

Details: For students enrolled at a university that is a member of the Western Deans Agreement (limited to AB, BC, SK and MB) seeking to complete coursework for credit.

Cost: Students pay tuition at their home institution and do not pay tuition to UNBC. However, student fees are assessed. The cost varies depending on whether the student is attending remotely or in person.

Additional Important Information

A student wishing to attend UNBC for coursework or research must have the appropriate form(s) approved by their home institution submitted to grad-office@unbc.ca no later than 6 weeks prior to the start of the class/research visit. However, we understand exceptional situations may arise and we encourage you to reach out to grad-office@unbc.ca with questions. Particularly during Covid-19 and to support collaborative research/supervisory relationships, we endeavour to be as flexible as possible for incoming visiting students. As we are subject to host institution deadlines when we send our students out from UNBC, we don't have the same flexibility on our internal deadlines for paperwork.

Our guide for visiting Western Deans students can be found here.

Canadian University Graduate Transfer Agreement (CUGTA)

Details: For students enrolled at a university that is a member of the full-time at a member institution of the Canadian Association of Graduate Studies (CAGS) seeking to complete coursework for credit.

Cost: Students will pay the UNBC tuition rate (non-degree domestic or international) as well as all applicable student fees. They are typically not assessed tuition fees for the duration of their CUGTA coursework at their home institution but will normally pay fees.

Our guide for visiting CUGTA students can be found here.

Canadian Graduate Student Research Mobility Protocol (CGSRMP)

Details: For students enrolled at a university that is a member of the full-time at a member institution of the Canadian Association of Graduate Studies (CAGS) seeking to conduct research (no coursework permitted).

Cost: We do not assess tuition for visiting research students but student fees are assessed.

Deadline: At least 6 weeks prior to the start of the student's research visit.

Our guide for visiting CGSRMP students can be found here.

Visiting International Research Students

Details: This process (not an agreement) covers students outside of Canada seeking to attend UNBC for the purpose of conducting research only.

Cost: We do not assess tuition for visiting research students but student fees are assessed (including extended medical coverage).

Deadline: Because attendance is dependent on receiving the appropriate immigration authorization (study or work permit), we recommend submitting a request to bring in an international visiting research student as early as possible. We try to process these requests and confirm the visit (if approved) within 2 weeks of receipt of the required forms.

Our guide and all relevant forms for visiting international research students can be found here.

Frequently Asked Questions

Current UNBC Students

What is the deadline to apply (UNBC students)?

Any request for a UNBC student to attend another university for the purpose of taking coursework via the Western Deans Agreement or CUGTA or for conducting research via CGSRMP must be submitted by our internal processing deadline. Generally speaking, this is 7 weeks prior to the start of the course/visit or at least one week prior to the start of the course/visit where the host institution deadline is earlier than 6 weeks. Please note that we are bound by processing deadlines established at host institutions and your student should research those deadlines well in advance of planning their visit. As an example, Athabasca recommends students plan to apply at least 3 months before the start of the course and even this deadline will vary depending on the program/course deadline. The first step should be to visit the host institution website.

Visiting Students

What courses are eligible?

For the Western Deans Agreement, coursework at the graduate and undergraduate level is permitted (subject to program approval). For CUGTA, only graduate coursework is eligible per the terms of the agreement. Continuing studies courses are not eligible under either agreement.