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Appendix V
Guaranteed Financial
Support Scheme
Faculty of Engineering
A generous funding initiative to increase the
numbers of excellent Postgraduate Students in
the Faculty
of Engineering
Associate Professor RR Raine
Associate Dean Postgraduate,
December 2006
Overview of the GFSS
The purpose of the Guaranteed Financial
Support Scheme (GFSS) is to assist academic
staff in the Faculty of Engineering to recruit
the best BE(Hons) students from Part IV into
postgraduate programmes in the Faculty of
Engineering by guaranteeing them funding. The
Guaranteed Financial Support Scheme has run
since 2002, with slight refinements
each year. There are 3 elements to the GFSS
package, and it is not permissible for them
to be split up. A fees waiver – awarded
by the Faculty of Engineering, A stipend
– administered by the Faculty Accountant
and paid through the Scholarships Office.
A requirement for the student to carry out
teaching – Departmental T/A casual teaching
budget.
GFSS2007 – “BE 1st Class Honours Student”
Academic staff submit an application using
the Application Template (page 4 of GFSS
website) and name a potential BE 1st Class
Honours Student whom they are willing to
supervise. Signed copies of the Agreement
Form (page 5 of GFSS website) and the
student’s academic transcript must also be
submitted. Awards will be subject to an
acceptable application supporting the student/
research project being submitted, and subject
to the student actually achieving 1st Class
Honours. Applications will be accepted until
1 December 2007. Students are expected
to start their postgraduate programmes
on 1 March 2008, and funding through the
GFSS2007 will not start until then.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF
THE GUARANTEED FINANCIAL
SUPP ORT SCHEME (GFSS) FOR
EXCELLENT POSTGRADUATE
STUDENTS
The Faculty of Engineering wishes to increase
the number of PhD and ME students by
providing very good students with assurances
that they will be financially supported should
they choose to undertake postgraduate study
in the Faculty. An academic applies for a GFSS
naming a potential 1st Class Honours student
who intends to enrol for ME or register for
PhD. Applications must be made on this
Application Template, and be accompanied
by the Agreement Form, signed by the
Supervisor, Student, and Head of Department.
Applications can be made at any time until
1 December 2007. This offer is thus open to
about 20% of the graduating class in 2007.
The total support package per annum is
$25,000 for PhD, and $19,000 for ME.
The guaranteed support of $25,000 for PhD
students is made up approximately as follows:
Fee waiver ($3500) + Stipend ($14,000) +
T/A (500 hours at $15/hour, $7500). The
guaranteed support of $19,000 for ME
students is made up approximately as follows:
Fee waiver ($4500) + Stipend ($8500) + T/A
(400 hours at $15/hour, $6000).
The Faculty of Engineering will waive the
enrolment fees, the University Accountant
will administer the Stipends which will be
paid through the Scholarships Office, and the
Departments will pay the T/A payments in
the usual manner from their Casual Teaching
Budgets. The financial support package has
these three elements, and it is not permissible
for the package to be split up.
The Application Form must outline:
The research programme that they envisage
the student following (not specifically, but the
general area(s) to be addressed)
The potential for attracting external support
and the course of action they intend to follow
to obtain such support
Potential overseas experiences that they will
be able to offer the student and the funding
source for this.
The Application will be assessed and awarded
competitively by a committee comprising the
Associate Dean Postgraduate, the Associate
Dean Research, and the Dean of Engineering.
An important element in the assessment will
be the likelihood of success of the applicant
in obtaining support for the project from an
outside source. The more likely that outside
financial support will be found, the more of
these packages that will potentially be offered.
Applications must be submitted before 1
December 2007, and will be assessed before
the end of the year. Successful applicants
must use their best efforts to find non-Faculty
support for the students and must submit a
report on such efforts to the Associate Dean
Postgraduate at (i) the time that the student
enrols (ii) by June 30 and December 15 each
year for as long as the student is supported
under this scheme. Academics who are
successful in obtaining funding from Industry
should consult with UniServices to work out
with the Industry partner any Intellectual
Property issues which may arise.
Restrictions
• Available to New Zealand Citizens and
Permanent Residents only
• Students nominated by academics will
have to be approved by the above
committee. It is expected that this
will comprise a check of the student’s
academic transcript before the student is
formally offered the guarantee.
• Full-time students only
• Minimum time for completion of the
degree
• Subject to satisfactory performance to be
reported by the supervisor in June and
December
• Available to Academics in the Faculty of
Engineering supervising students enrolled
in Engineering Programmes
Teaching Commitment
The teaching commitment will be on a
Semester-by-Semester basis, and students will
have to honour their commitments for a full
semester, even if their supervisor is successful
in bringing in external funds partway during
a semester, or if the students are successful
in obtaining a Doctoral Scholarship or other
scholarship. The duties given to Postgraduates
will have to be reasonable so that their
research time is not interrupted too much. For
example, Departments may decide that they
will only allow Postgraduates to assist with
teaching for a maximum of 2 days per week,
leaving the other days clear. Alternatively they
may allocate duties with a minimum number
of hours per commitment, e.g. lumps of say
4-hour commitments.
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