SSHRC 2010

[ChanEcon]

Doesn't sound that bad to me. Sounds like a variant on what we've all heard -nothing has moved yet. From what I've heard, they were still waiting to hear back from everyone, so who knows what's going on. Putting a 'hold' on more awards doesn't necessarily mean that no more will be offered. It just means we will all be waiting a heck of a lot longer than we were expecting to.

I've been fairly optimistic so far, but there is always a very negative outcome related to this hold. Following the previous budget, all operational budgets have been frozen, while wage will continue increasing. This decision leads to a cost reduction of about 2 percent for all departments/agencies, maybe less for SSHRC because it's mostly a granting agency so their HR share in budget is lower. To realize these savings, they have to cut their scholarships. An easy way of doing that would be to "save" whatever amount has not been granted so far. This hold could mean that SSHRC needs to assess the savings that must be done, and would then give out the money that they can afford if any. I don't know how probable that is. They might just be taking their time... but that could explain the hold.

@Transboundary: "Unfortunately, at this time, I am not able to check your status" is a very strange sentence. The hold doesn't affect your status... I don't understand.

Anyway, keep on waiting in the free world!

[Canuckonomist]

I'm almost an expert at waiting now. If I could get paid to do it, I could probably do it professionally.

[transboundary]

@Transboundary: "Unfortunately, at this time, I am not able to check your status" is a very strange sentence. The hold doesn't affect your status... I don't understand.

Ya, I thought it was odd too since my program officer has typically been fairly helpful and transparent. For some reason it seems she's been told not to relay any more info to waitlisters. Either that or their database is down, but I'm under the impression that she'd say so if it was something that simple. As for the "hold", I agree with Canuck that it's probably a variation of the same message...but "hold" does sound a little more strategic and official than what we'd heard previously so you could be right about the budget shuffle. I don't know anything about the inner workings of SSHRC.

[Canuckonomist]

Ya, I thought it was odd too since my program officer has typically been fairly helpful and transparent. For some reason it seems she's been told not to relay any more info to waitlisters. Either that or their database is down, but I'm under the impression that she'd say so if it was something that simple. As for the "hold", I agree with Canuck that it's probably a variation of the same message...but "hold" does sound a little more strategic and official than what we'd heard previously so you could be right about the budget shuffle. I don't know anything about the inner workings of SSHRC.

I'll be in contact with Michelle St-Pierre on monday morning, and I'll see if she says the same thing.

Canuck

[ChanEcon]

I'm almost an expert at waiting now. If I could get paid to do it, I could probably do it professionally.

A lot of students get paid to be waiters... especially in the summer. There should be a SSHRC restaurant on every Canadian campus. No BLTs, only Chicken-Gherkin-Salad.

Enough non-sense, have a nice weekend!

[Canuckonomist]

A lot of students get paid to be waiters...

Edited August 9, 2010 by Canuckonomist

[SpaceJump]

I'll be in contact with Michelle St-Pierre on monday morning, and I'll see if she says the same thing.

Canuck

Ugh. Was away from the computer all weekend, and this speculation is not a happy one to come back to. Canuck - if you check in with MSP, could you possibly ask about ChanEcon's theory? She seems pretty open to discussing various things, so maybe she can shed some light. Thanks for doing that, by the way!

[dramanda]

if you check in with MSP

I love that she gets her own acronym. Do you think she knows she's an internet celebrity?

[Canuckonomist]

Ugh. Was away from the computer all weekend, and this speculation is not a happy one to come back to. Canuck - if you check in with MSP, could you possibly ask about ChanEcon's theory? She seems pretty open to discussing various things, so maybe she can shed some light. Thanks for doing that, by the way!

E-mail sent. Hopefully we'll hear from her today. She's usually quick to respond (within minutes of 9am) but seeing as it's 10:30am and nothing yet, perhaps she's looking into that theory. Not to get anyone's hopes up, of course. Maybe she's just busy -or sick, but hopefully not sick.

Canuck

Edited August 9, 2010 by Canuckonomist

[ChanEcon]

but hopefully not sick.

Is this the beginning of a Stockholm syndrome? Say hi to MSP for me! If she is sick, we should circulate a card for her.

[Canuckonomist]

Update from MSP:

"There have been no changes at this time. Yes, there is a "hold", it is for budgetary reasons, meaning that we need to see exactly where we are ($$-wise) before we can offer more awards. It amounts to the same thing though, we need more declines to release the funds, before we can send new offers. It isn't terribly helpful information, unfortunately. I understand that it is a painfully slow process and frustrating, and can only remind you that we awarded Alternate funding all the way to December of last year (for the previous competition)."

She's so helpful, I'm glad I get to deal with her.

Canuck

[SpaceJump]

Agreed, MSP is very helpful. However, I don't think this really debunks ChanEcon's theory... after all, there's no guarantee that they WILL release the funds... ah well. Either way, thanks for checking in for us! I certainly appreciate it!

[ChanEcon]

Yeah, thanks for your continuous efforts!

I am just glad MSP is not sick.

[SpaceJump]

Alright: I got too antsy over here, and spoke with SSHRC over the phone. Thanks to that, I have figured this out pretty clearly (I think). Here's what I know.

1) Everything is on hold right now while they count the money.

2) Why are they counting the money? People who got the CGS have declined their offers, which means that they will be offered SDFs. At the same time, people who originally got SDFs will be offered the freed-up CGSs. That started to happen before the hold (as evidenced earlier in this thread) but then they figured they should count FIRST then award, hence the counting.

3) Does the counting mean no more awards at all? Will they cut the grants? Signs point to no. The money that was originally offered in CGSs and SDFs is already there and must be awarded. It's also important to mention that CGSs and SDFs are in two completely separate envelopes. And for funding them, they have to move down the lists in order. Basically, the "budget re-count/re-assessment" is, at worst, a zero-sum game (every CGS has to land somewhere, and when it does, it frees up a SDF, which goes first to the original CGS decliner), and at best, will fund people on the wait list (for every full-on decline, someone moves up - every SDF has to land somewhere too.) The thing that they're doing now is figuring out who goes where and gets what.

4) This happens in waves. The first real wave (not counting the few that slipped by before the hold) will happen as soon as the budget hold is off. When they say that this process can go as long as December, they mean the last wave. After every wave, another budget hold.

5) There's no guarantee when the first wave will happen. No one has heard anything yet.

6) The two key people to moving the budget are out of the office for this week and next week, so there will be no movement until at LEAST August 23. And even then, that's just when they're both sure to be back - it'll likely take longer than that, as we all know.

Hope that helps!

Edited August 11, 2010 by SpaceJump

[transboundary]

Nice. great info SpaceJump. Thanks for digging.

[transboundary]

Out of curiosity, can someone tell me why a student would decline a CGS but accept an SDF? Something to do with out-of-country rules?

[SpaceJump]

Exactly, transboundary - you can only accept a CGS if you're going to a Canadian university. If not, the highest you can take is a SDF. Hope that helps!

[ChanEcon]

Excellent job SpaceJump! This board has never dealt with as much valuable information. It's nice to know that no money was cut between the first announcement and now. It leaves some hope.

The only question that is still unanswered is whether money only moves within a sub-committee. The question is relevant for Canuck and I, since we know that there are two Vaniers and "a few" recipients never accepted the offer in our sub-committee (so-called MSP sub-committee). Does anybody know anything about that?

Edited August 11, 2010 by ChanEcon

[SpaceJump]

Glad to be of service! As far as I understand it, money only moves within a sub-committee. The only exception is the Vanier, because it's a Tri-Council award, not just a SSHRC award. Far as I know, there's no information on Vaniers yet (thanks to the hold - EVERYTHING is frozen.)

[Phalène]

Thanks so much for the info SpaceJump! I'm hoping this means good news for me, as I'm currently #1 in my subgroup for the CGS. When the first wave hits I hope we have a lot of happy posters here on tgc!

I had emailed last week and was basically told, 'don't call us, we'll call you, now go away.' I was told, though, that 'extra funds' had been released for the postdocs, but that 'so far' nothing similar was happening at the doctoral level.

[SpaceJump]

Good luck, Phalene!

Yeah, as far as I know, the hold only applies to the doctoral competition, which is completely separate from the post-doctoral.

I've gotta be honest, I'm actually happy knowing that the budget people are away until the 23rd... it means that I can have a nice break from the "maybe TODAY will be the day" situation that has been the past 3-4 months. I know for sure that today won't be the day, nor will tomorrow, nor the next day, until at least Aug. 23. So no butterflies/pit in my stomach every time I check the old email!

Edited August 12, 2010 by SpaceJump

[Phalène]

^^ LOL, I'm still being neurotic, but only because I am Like That.

I'd be willing to bet that they'll only start bumping people up early September.

[SpaceJump]

I'd be willing to bet that they'll only start bumping people up early September.

Agreed. I imagine they'll take at LEAST a week after getting back to the office to figure out the budget.

[Canuckonomist]

I'm away for 5 days, and all the fun stuff happens. Nice work SpaceJump. That will put my mind at ease for the next week.

[ChanEcon]

Let's all have a wonderful eventless week!