<html xmlns:o="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" xmlns:w="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:word" xmlns:m="http://schemas.microsoft.com/office/2004/12/omml" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40">
<head>
<meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8">
<meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 15 (filtered medium)">
<style><!--
/* Font Definitions */
@font-face
{font-family:"Cambria Math";
panose-1:2 4 5 3 5 4 6 3 2 4;}
@font-face
{font-family:Calibri;
panose-1:2 15 5 2 2 2 4 3 2 4;}
/* Style Definitions */
p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal
{margin:0in;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
a:link, span.MsoHyperlink
{mso-style-priority:99;
color:blue;
text-decoration:underline;}
span.ui-provider
{mso-style-name:ui-provider;}
p.contentpasted0, li.contentpasted0, div.contentpasted0
{mso-style-name:contentpasted0;
mso-margin-top-alt:auto;
margin-right:0in;
mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto;
margin-left:0in;
font-size:11.0pt;
font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;}
span.contentpasted01
{mso-style-name:contentpasted01;}
.MsoChpDefault
{mso-style-type:export-only;
font-size:10.0pt;
mso-ligatures:none;}
@page WordSection1
{size:8.5in 11.0in;
margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in;}
div.WordSection1
{page:WordSection1;}
/* List Definitions */
@list l0
{mso-list-id:1518470794;
mso-list-template-ids:852774900;}
ol
{margin-bottom:0in;}
ul
{margin-bottom:0in;}
--></style>
</head>
<body lang="EN-US" link="blue" vlink="purple" style="word-wrap:break-word">
<div class="WordSection1">
<div>
<p class="contentpasted0"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Dear grads and postdocs,<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="contentpasted0"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">We are happy to announce that the Resident Graduate Student Policy has been revised and released. This policy outlines minimum funding levels that graduate students at TRIUMF should receive.
The <b>new</b> <b>minimum net funding levels for MSc and PhD students is <span class="contentpasted01">
$25,000</span> and <span class="contentpasted01">$30,000</span> per year</b>, respectively. More information and links to the policy and procedure documents can be found below.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="contentpasted0"><strong><u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Grads</span></u></strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">: please review the policy and the rest of this email carefully, as there is
a lot of information in it.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="contentpasted0"><strong><u><span style="font-size:12.0pt;font-family:"Calibri",sans-serif;color:black">Postdocs</span></u></strong><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">: while this policy doesn’t impact you, we would appreciate it if you can
discuss this policy with any graduate students that you know to make sure that they are aware of the policy. We want as much visibility about the updated policy as possible!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="contentpasted0"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">As always, if you have any questions or your supervisor isn’t willing to match the minimum levels, please reach out to GAPS committee (<a href="mailto:gaps@triumf.ca" target="_blank" title="mailto:gaps@triumf.ca">gaps@triumf.ca</a>),
and we’ll help as much as we can. Don't let an ignorant or malicious supervisor deny you the funding you deserve!
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="contentpasted0"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Your GAPS<br>
*Note that the email <a href="mailto:gaps@triumf.ca" target="_blank" title="mailto:gaps@triumf.ca">
gaps@triumf.ca</a> only goes to the GAPS committee, not the entire GAPS community.<br>
<br>
<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="contentpasted0"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">More info:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="contentpasted0"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">The <a href="https://documents.triumf.ca/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-169622/" target="_blank" title="https://documents.triumf.ca/docushare/dsweb/get/document-169622/">
RGS Policy</a> and <a href="https://documents.triumf.ca/docushare/dsweb/Get/Document-171510" target="_blank" title="https://documents.triumf.ca/docushare/dsweb/get/document-171510">
RGS Procedures</a> documents outline minimum net funding levels for MSc and PhD students at TRIUMF, which are set at $25,000 and $30,000, respectively. The RGS Policy outlines who qualifies as a resident graduate student, and the RGS Procedures outlines what
the minimum funding levels are. These funding levels are take-home values after you have paid tuition, healthcare fees, etc. These values go into effect in October, so please reach out to your supervisor to discuss adjusting your stipend level in order to
ensure that you are at least receiving the minimum net funding.<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="contentpasted0"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">If you read through the policy, you’ll notice that there are a number of possible loopholes that supervisors may use to try to avoid paying you the minimum values. For example, the most obvious
one is in section 5 of the procedures document, which states:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<blockquote style="border:none #C8C8C8 1.0pt;border-left:solid #C8C8C8 2.25pt;padding:0in 0in 0in 6.0pt;margin-left:4.8pt;margin-top:5.0pt;margin-bottom:5.0pt">
<p class="contentpasted0"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:#666666">“For those Resident Graduate Students who were appointed prior to October 2023 and whose appointments extend beyond that date, the TRIUMF Supervisor shall endeavor to meet the funding support
levels to the extent that their resources allow.”<o:p></o:p></span></p>
</blockquote>
<p class="contentpasted0"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">We are well aware of these loopholes and actively working to get them fixed. However, if your supervisor attempts to exploit any of these loopholes in order to avoid paying you the minimum
stipend levels, you should:<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<ol start="1" type="1">
<li class="contentpasted0" style="color:black;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Inform GAPS (<a href="mailto:gaps@triumf.ca" target="_blank" title="mailto:gaps@triumf.ca">gaps@triumf.ca</a>) so that we can have data to help us argue for
closing the loopholes.<o:p></o:p></span></li><li class="contentpasted0" style="color:black;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1"><span style="font-size:12.0pt">Engage the TRIUMF ombudsperson, Grace (<a href="mailto:ombudsperson@triumf.ca" target="_blank" title="mailto:ombudsperson@triumf.ca">ombudsperson@triumf.ca</a>),
in order to assist with getting your supervisor to pay the minimum regardless of the loopholes.<o:p></o:p></span></li></ol>
<p class="contentpasted0" style="margin:0in"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">We hope that this updated policy will help graduate students living here in Vancouver to better thrive during their studies. As always, please reach out to us if you have
any <span class="ui-provider">questions, issues, or points you’d like GAPS to focus on as we try to eliminate these loopholes</span>!<o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black"><o:p> </o:p></span></p>
</div>
</div>
</body>
</html>