KaliLogan Posted April 30, 2019 Posted April 30, 2019 Just now, displaynamesarehard said: This is purely an off my chest comment, but I really don’t understand why they can’t just pick an official day they release the results and stick to it. They say the end of April anyways so why not just say April 30 (and actually release them on April 30) and we all won’t be wondering if today’s the day starting halfway through the month. Anxiety and stress related things are known issues in grad students so I don’t really understand why they couldn’t make the whole situation a little less precarious. Then we could more easily put it out of our minds until the official day. It’s such a small thing that doesn’t seem like it would be hard to implement, and it would make such a big difference... for my anxiety at least. And then an online portal for everyone. Just pop the results in there April 30. Honestly. I'm not sure that I understand the function of not having an online portal for us. The process worked perfectly fine for the CGS-M competition - why not now?
SSHRC Posted April 30, 2019 Posted April 30, 2019 (edited) 4 minutes ago, KaliLogan said: his is purely an off my chest comment, but I really don’t understand why they can’t just pick an official day they release the results and stick to it. They say the end of April anyways so why not just say April 30 (and actually release them on April 30) and we all won’t be wondering if today’s the day starting halfway through the month. Anxiety and stress related things are known issues in grad students so I don’t really understand why they couldn’t make the whole situation a little less precarious. Then we could more easily put it out of our minds until the official day. It’s such a small thing that doesn’t seem like it would be hard to implement, and it would make such a big difference... for my anxiety at least. And then an online portal for everyone. Just pop the results in there April 30. Another point on the interminable waiting (and the potential benefits of a set annual day for results): I am totally getting nothing done on the actual work I'm supposed to be doing as a 'productive scholar'....literally haven't written anything in the past week. If I knew exactly when the results were coming, I'd have 2 thesis chapters done by now! :( Edited April 30, 2019 by SSHRC KaliLogan and Kleio_77 2
DefeatistElitist Posted April 30, 2019 Posted April 30, 2019 17 minutes ago, displaynamesarehard said: This is purely an off my chest comment, but I really don’t understand why they can’t just pick an official day they release the results and stick to it. They say the end of April anyways so why not just say April 30 (and actually release them on April 30) and we all won’t be wondering if today’s the day starting halfway through the month. Anxiety and stress related things are known issues in grad students so I don’t really understand why they couldn’t make the whole situation a little less precarious. Then we could more easily put it out of our minds until the official day. It’s such a small thing that doesn’t seem like it would be hard to implement, and it would make such a big difference... for my anxiety at least. And then an online portal for everyone. Just pop the results in there April 30. The are two likely reasons for this. First, the number of applicants fluctuates. Its hard to guarantee a date when decisions will be made if they are unsure ahead of time how much total work will need to be done. And beyond total applications, the number per committee, per discipline, etc. fluctuates wildly making it even harder to predict when everything can be finalized. Add to that a government culture that HATES committing to deadlines because every possible decision requires the buy in of multiple people and you have a recipe for constant delay. If you have ever been in a federal government hiring competition, you will know that respecting the time and anxiety levels of applicants is not a consideration, because its impossible to do.
TBay Posted April 30, 2019 Posted April 30, 2019 Okay I sent an email to my financial aid person and just said FYI the SSHRC portal is supposed to be open to institutions and letters are supposed to go in the mail by today. If she replies, I will let you all know. I feel if it's a negative result, they won't say and will let me get the snail mail but if it's good news they will want to tell me. Just speculation on my part, though. Kleio_77 and fabula 1 1
Clinpsyc01 Posted April 30, 2019 Posted April 30, 2019 31 minutes ago, displaynamesarehard said: This is purely an off my chest comment, but I really don’t understand why they can’t just pick an official day they release the results and stick to it. They say the end of April anyways so why not just say April 30 (and actually release them on April 30) and we all won’t be wondering if today’s the day starting halfway through the month. Anxiety and stress related things are known issues in grad students so I don’t really understand why they couldn’t make the whole situation a little less precarious. Then we could more easily put it out of our minds until the official day. It’s such a small thing that doesn’t seem like it would be hard to implement, and it would make such a big difference... for my anxiety at least. And then an online portal for everyone. Just pop the results in there April 30. I think NSERC and CIHR do it like that, or similarly. There’s absolutely no reason why SSHRC can’t do the same thing. It bothers me that they have so little consideration for applicants. SSHRC 1
displaynamesarehard Posted April 30, 2019 Posted April 30, 2019 22 minutes ago, DefeatistElitist said: The are two likely reasons for this. First, the number of applicants fluctuates. Its hard to guarantee a date when decisions will be made if they are unsure ahead of time how much total work will need to be done. And beyond total applications, the number per committee, per discipline, etc. fluctuates wildly making it even harder to predict when everything can be finalized. Add to that a government culture that HATES committing to deadlines because every possible decision requires the buy in of multiple people and you have a recipe for constant delay. If you have ever been in a federal government hiring competition, you will know that respecting the time and anxiety levels of applicants is not a consideration, because its impossible to do. Yeah I know the government doesn’t like to commit to deadlines, but I feel like they release them about the same time every year within a week or so and they do already commit to the end of April, so why not just go with a set date of April 30th or May 1st?
DefeatistElitist Posted April 30, 2019 Posted April 30, 2019 2 minutes ago, displaynamesarehard said: Yeah I know the government doesn’t like to commit to deadlines, but I feel like they release them about the same time every year within a week or so and they do already commit to the end of April, so why not just go with a set date of April 30th or May 1st? Because that's commitment, which is the issue. They could probably get it done by then every year, but if its made explicit then they are locked into that time and have to be held accountable if they miss it. If they keep it vague and leave space to delay, then they can't be held accountable if they miss their target. On an individual level I'm sure the employees understand that this is incredibly frustrating (they too suffer from this internally, as every job requires working with other departments that also hate committing to deadlines), but they can't do anything about it. It stinks but it isn't SSHRC that is to blame, this is true in every department.
Almond Posted April 30, 2019 Posted April 30, 2019 1 hour ago, SSHRC said: Another point on the interminable waiting (and the potential benefits of a set annual day for results): I am totally getting nothing done on the actual work I'm supposed to be doing as a 'productive scholar'....literally haven't written anything in the past week. If I knew exactly when the results were coming, I'd have 2 thesis chapters done by now! :( SAME! I've literally put off editing a paper until today (when it is due!!) because I've been so stressed and anxious. I spent the week in and out of bed in a pretty depressed and anxious state, watching tv. SSHRC 1
Almond Posted April 30, 2019 Posted April 30, 2019 46 minutes ago, TBay said: Okay I sent an email to my financial aid person and just said FYI the SSHRC portal is supposed to be open to institutions and letters are supposed to go in the mail by today. If she replies, I will let you all know. I feel if it's a negative result, they won't say and will let me get the snail mail but if it's good news they will want to tell me. Just speculation on my part, though. It's true - last year my institution let successful applicant know only, and all unsuccessful applicants had to wait for the ominous letter (I even emailed them last year and they told me they didn't know when others had already been told at my institution they were successful) TBay 1
Almond Posted April 30, 2019 Posted April 30, 2019 52 minutes ago, TBay said: Okay I sent an email to my financial aid person and just said FYI the SSHRC portal is supposed to be open to institutions and letters are supposed to go in the mail by today. If she replies, I will let you all know. I feel if it's a negative result, they won't say and will let me get the snail mail but if it's good news they will want to tell me. Just speculation on my part, though. Yes, please keep us posted! I have maxed out my emails to the awards office now...haha ?
SSHRC Posted April 30, 2019 Posted April 30, 2019 The system is cruel and bizarre!! And I believe they could totally release on a set date if they decided to. The SSHRC CGS-M (MA) competition, for example, reliably releases results to candidates online on April 1 annually. And the MA competition has even more layers of bureaucracy/headaches, as the applications are adjudicated by diverse committees at every institution across Canada (when I applied, MA applicants could even specify up to 5 possible institutions at which to hold the award, so the same application could've been adjudicated multiple times). If SSHRC can coordinate that and reliably release results online every April 1, I don't know why the doctoral competition should be any different.... KaliLogan 1
SSHRC Posted April 30, 2019 Posted April 30, 2019 WOAH!! I am in SHOCK!! just received notification from my institution that I received the CGS-D! First-time applicant, currently completing my MA. sshrcplease 1
KaliLogan Posted April 30, 2019 Posted April 30, 2019 Just now, SSHRC said: WOAH!! I am in SHOCK!! just received notification from my institution that I received the CGS-D! First-time applicant, currently completing my MA. Congratulations!!! May I ask what institution? If it's the same as mine, I'll pay closer attention to my email today (ie: procrastinating my thesis).
displaynamesarehard Posted April 30, 2019 Posted April 30, 2019 Just now, SSHRC said: WOAH!! I am in SHOCK!! just received notification from my institution that I received the CGS-D! First-time applicant, currently completing my MA. I was literally just about to write that I’ve lost hope for today! I’m definitely on the edge of my seat now. Also congratulations! You must be ecstatic!
fabula Posted April 30, 2019 Posted April 30, 2019 1 minute ago, SSHRC said: WOAH!! I am in SHOCK!! just received notification from my institution that I received the CGS-D! First-time applicant, currently completing my MA. Congratulations! Time to celebrate! Do you mind sharing the name of your institution?
anonymousgrad Posted April 30, 2019 Posted April 30, 2019 I also just heard back from SFU that i got a SHHRC award! Very relieved! sshrcplease 1
TBay Posted April 30, 2019 Posted April 30, 2019 2 minutes ago, SSHRC said: WOAH!! I am in SHOCK!! just received notification from my institution that I received the CGS-D! First-time applicant, currently completing my MA. Congrats!! Thanks for letting everyone know the portal is open to the institutions!!
angrycrustacean Posted April 30, 2019 Posted April 30, 2019 (edited) I e-mailed UToronto after the above, and got the following (very prompt!) response: "SSHRC results have not been released yet. Once they do, they will notify you directly (email or mail). We do not release results directly to students." Edited April 30, 2019 by angrycrustacean
KaliLogan Posted April 30, 2019 Posted April 30, 2019 Just now, angrycrustacean said: I e-mailed UToronto after the above, and got the following (very prompt!) response: "SSHRC results have not been released yet. Once they do, they will notify you directly (email or mail). We do not release results directly to students." Ha! Not a particularly shocking response from UofT. They do have an insane amount of allocations, though, so I'm sure that seems like a reasonable response from their perspective.
HerestheManaTEA Posted April 30, 2019 Posted April 30, 2019 (edited) 47 minutes ago, Almond said: It's true - last year my institution let successful applicant know only, and all unsuccessful applicants had to wait for the ominous letter (I even emailed them last year and they told me they didn't know when others had already been told at my institution they were successful) This is good to know (as I believe we are both at U of A). Fingers crossed we also hear some good news back from our awards office today! Congratulations to those who have already won! Edited April 30, 2019 by EGerbran fabula 1
TBay Posted April 30, 2019 Posted April 30, 2019 GOOD LUCK everyone! If you win, please come and tell us, and if you don't don't be shy, there will likely be a few of us to support one another (I expect I will be one that doesn't get it this time, but maybe next year). sshrcplease 1
BibliophileSW Posted April 30, 2019 Posted April 30, 2019 34 minutes ago, KaliLogan said: Ha! Not a particularly shocking response from UofT. They do have an insane amount of allocations, though, so I'm sure that seems like a reasonable response from their perspective. Omigosh really? They told me last year
BibliophileSW Posted April 30, 2019 Posted April 30, 2019 Good luck and congrats to everyone!! I'm looking forward to the wait being over. Fingers crossed for everyone.
fabula Posted April 30, 2019 Posted April 30, 2019 6 minutes ago, HerestheManaTEA said: This is good to know (as I believe we are both at U of A). Fingers crossed we also hear some good news back from our awards office today! Congratulations to those who have already won! I haven't heard yet from U of A either. I emailed though. HerestheManaTEA 1
WKLP Posted April 30, 2019 Posted April 30, 2019 3 minutes ago, TBay said: GOOD LUCK everyone! If you win, please come and tell us, and if you don't don't be shy, there will likely be a few of us to support one another (I expect I will be one that doesn't get it this time, but maybe next year). I remember you from the Vanier forum, TBay. I guess we're both back in the ring ready for another potential bruising! I hope you get it, I'm not holding out much hope for myself. But at least I'll be able to stop bouncing between here, my university email, SSHRC twitter and the online tarot site!
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