Courses
Program Planning for Research Intensive Programs
Requirements and More
Program Planning is the process whereby new incoming PhD and MA students select their courses and milestones.
Please Note: If you are entering a program that requires Program Planning in Fall 2020 or later, you will be self-enrolling in your specified classes.
Students in the following programs must complete Program Planning
Curriculum Studies and Studies in Applied Linguistics
- MA Applied Linguistics
- MA Curriculum Studies
- PhD Applied Linguistics
- PhD Curriculum Studies
Critical Policy, Equity, and Leadership Studies
- MA Critical Policy, Equity, and Leadership
- PhD Critical Policy, Equity, and Leadership
Degree Requirements
Degree requirements are listed on each program page. A list of all programs is located on the Programs page.
Program Planning Form & Course Enrollment
Course and milestone selections are done through a Program Planning Form. To access the form, please see our Forms and Guides webpage.
Information on how to self-enroll in your indicated courses will be emailed to your Western University email account by your Graduate Affairs Assistant towards the beginning of each term.
Changing Course Selection
You can update your course preferences at a later date by resubmitting your Program Planning form to your Graduate Affairs Assistant and add/drop/swap the class(es) in your Student Center account.
Add/Drop Deadlines
See Important Dates for specific add/drop dates for each term.
Course and program policy information can also be found at the bottom of the Forms and Guides page of our web site, and on the School of Graduate & Postdoctoral Studies' web site.
Please note: if the course you are trying to enroll in is full, please check regularly to see if space becomes available for you to enroll. Waitlists are currently not available.
Submission of your course selection through the Program Planning Form is not a guarantee that you will be enrolled in the courses you have selected. It is the student's responsibility to ensure they enroll in the courses indicated above and to discuss any changes with their Supervisor(s) and resubmit this form to The Graduate Programs Office. We will contact you approximately one month before each term to let you know when you can begin your online course enrollment through your Student Center account.
Professional Programs
If you are a professional programs student (EdD and MPEd), you do not need to access the program planning application, as you will be pre-registered in your required core course each semester. If you would like to enroll in an additional course, contact the Graduate Programs Office
Please note: the MPEd, TESOL program will be self-enrolling for students starting Fall 2020 or later.
Please Note: When uploading your thesis to Scholarship@Western, please indicate that your program is "Education" as that is where you are completing your degree. Also, when completing the Thesis Exam Request form, please indicate either "MA, Education" or "PhD Education".
- Master's -
- We do not recommend defending less than two weeks before the end of the term, so that you have time to complete any required revisions.
- Paperwork must be submitted to the Graduate Programs Office at least 4 weeks before your defence date.
- Thesis must be submitted to SGPS (Scholarship@Western) at least 3 weeks before your defence date.
- Deadline to upload final thesis for publication is 6 weeks, or the end of the term , whichever comes first.
- Doctoral -
- We do not recommend defending less than two weeks before the end of the term, so that you have time to complete any required revisions.
- Paperwork must be submitted to the Graduate Programs Office at least 7 weeks before your defence date.
- Thesis must be submitted to SGPS (Scholarship@Western) at least 6 weeks before your defence date.
- Deadline to upload final thesis for publication is 6 weeks, or the end of the term , whichever comes first.
