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5 must know services at sfu.

Queenie Lei

OLC Admin Follow SFU Staff OLC Editor

With three campuses, SFU can sometimes be a bit daunting or confusing whether you are new to the university or simply someone who is unfamiliar with all the services SFU has to offer. I remember back when I was in first year, I was really confused because SFU was so different from my high school and everything was so new to me. During first year, I was also indecisive since I didn’t know what I wanted to do. Now that I’m in my fourth year, I’ve learned the ropes, and I’m sharing my knowledge with you! Here are some services that are helpful and available to all SFU students! 

1. Student Learning Commons

Student Learning Commons is a service located within the library at all three campuses. They offer consultations in: exam preparation, time management, note-taking, academic reading and writing, and much more! Plus, if you are trying to plan ahead for a specific assignment, they also offer an assignment calculator which generates a timeline of steps until the assignment deadline! For example, if I had a Communication paper that was due on November 12 and I used the assignment calculator, it would suggest that I do my research by November 1 st and write my outline by November 3 rd .

2. Health & Counselling Services

I remember that during my first year, I had a really bad case of exam anxiety. So, during my second year, I decided to go to Reducing Exam Anxiety, a workshop hosted by SFU’s Health and Counselling Services. After going to this exam workshop, my level of exam anxiety has reduced dramatically by implementing some of the strategies mentioned. For example, when I was studying for my midterms, I would implement a 10-15minute break every once in a while and start again. By doing these 10-15 minute breaks, I reduce my level of stress. Every semester, SFU Health and Counselling Services offer a number of workshops, including laughter yoga sessions, time management workshops and much more. Aside from hosting these workshops, they also offer services such as counselling, and physiotherapy, as well as a medical clinic, an on-site chiropractor, and a dietician.

3. International Services for Students

International Services for Students provides specific services to both domestic and international students. For example, International Services for Students offer study abroad and field school opportunities, where you get to apply the skills you have learned in classes to real scenarios. Aside from providing study aboard opportunities, they also provide information and assistance with medical insurance, taxes, and work permits. International Services for Students is located in the Maggie Benson Centre at the Burnaby Campus. Although they are primarily located in the Maggie Benston Centre, they also operate Global Student Centre , which is located near the James Douglas study area on Burnaby campus. Global Student Centre is similar to a student lounge where they provide study areas, a microwave, and a bookable conference room. 

4. Career and Volunteer Services

If you are ever stuck on choosing a career or unsure of where your major can lead to, Career & Volunteer Services is the place to be. They offer free consultation sessions for all SFU students and alumni. They also run numerous programs and services, including myExperience , and myInvolvement . Now you might be asking, “What is the difference between myExperience and MyInvolvement?” Good question! myExperience is a place where employers or volunteer organizations outside of SFU can post their listings. If you have applied to Co-op, you probably already know that myExperience is the place where you apply to fantastic off campus jobs! On the other hand, myInvolvement is a place for students to get involved within SFU community on campus. myInvolvement, also offers various types of leadership workshops and different opportunities such as becoming a peer educator or helping out at Student Learning Commons.

5. Safety & Risk Services

If you are at the SFU campus late at night, you may be concerned with your safety! No worries! Safety & Risk Services, offer a program called Safe Walk where you can request a walking buddy to walk with you to your desired destination. Additionally, Safety & Risk Services also offer opportunities for current SFU students to be a part of their Student Campus Safety program! 

There are many other services that are available for both students and other members of the SFU community. Most services are offered for free while some of them do cost a little bit of money. I wish you success at Simon Fraser University.

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Career and Volunteer Services

Peer Education

Explore how SFU students can support and built each other's individual and collective capacity through outreach, events, education, and more. Learn more by visiting the Peer Education (PE) website .

Career Peers

Peer mentorship.

Explore how incoming SFU students can recieve peer-to-peer support and guidance during their first year at SFU. Learn more by visiting the Peer Mentorship (PM) website .

Final Grade Calculator (Simon Fraser University)

Simon Fraser University (SFU), BC, CA

Marks so far:

This tool supports both numerical and alpha/letter grades. In order to perform calculation, letter/alpha grades will be converter to numbers as per 4.33 scale (see the table below).

The Get Link button generates a permanent URL for this page with all currently entered data and then shortens it using the Bitly service. If you save or bookmark the short link, you can return to your calculation at a later time.

The following grading system is used at Simon Fraser University (SFU).

Information Source: Simon Fraser University (SFU) - Standard Grade System

This tool is intended to be used as a guide only. Contact your school or institution for an exact determination.

Please note that all Bitlinks are public but anonymous; therefore, use at your discretion.

All short links for this page created earlier with goo.gl URL Shortener will continue to redirect to the intended destination.

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Writing a research paper? The Assignment Calculator breaks it into steps for you.

Writing a research paper? Facing a deadline?

The Assignment Calculator helps break down your writing assignment into eight basic steps, from narrowing your topic to formatting your final draft. All you need to get started is your assignment due date.

Photo Source: David Gowing www.ti.com/

Simon Fraser University Engaging the World

Human resources.

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Appointing or Re-Appointing Research Personnel

• Supervising
• Changing the Funding Source

New appointments and re-appointments for research employees require an Offer of Employment from the university, that reflect the terms and conditions agreed to by the Supervisor and the prospective employee. This offer provides clarity for the university, the Supervisor and the employee, and as such, they should accurately reflect what will be expected of and provided by each party.

A  Payroll Appointment Form (PAF)  must be submitted to initiate an Offer of Employment, which when signed by the employee becomes their employment contract.  

A few things to note

NEW February 2022 :  Work Study appointments will need to classify role and provide duties to the Research People Team as of Summer 2022.

Offers of Employment are generated only by the HR Research People Team. Review the guidelines for discussing employment  with prospective employees to help ensure conversations are effective and compliant.

An Offer of Employment is not considered complete until signed acceptance by the employee has been received (via DocuSign).

A signed Offer of Employment is required before employees can begin work.

A valid work permit, SIN Confirmation Letter and other relevant documents must be received by SFU before a temporary foreign worker can begin work and be paid.

Be sure to check immigration services for eligibility to work in Canada .

Research employees working outside the province of BC require WorkSafeBC coverage. Learn more about coverage here .

The Supervisor is responsible for recruiting, appointing, training, and supervising research employees.

BC's ESA requires the tracking of employees’ time to ensure compliance with vacation, overtime, early ending notice periods and/or payouts are handled appropriately.

BC's ESA requires overtime pay for employees who work more than 40 hours per week “total employment”:

• Note that research employees may already hold other paid roles that contribute to the total number of hours worked – departments should check for other work assignments at SFU to ensure the expected hours are within the proposed Offer of Employment. Log into myINFO and run query: SFUDA_WORK_ASSIGNMENTS .

Types of employment contracts 

There is no minimum duration for research employee appointments.

SFU employment contracts are typically “indefinite term” although the option exists to create a “fixed term” employment contract.

Fixed term employment contracts are typically used for appointments less than 60 days when there is no expectation of renewal or for an early end to the appointment.

In the case where individuals have had previous employment with the department or PI, a new contract is required if there has been a break between contracts, even if the appointment is to hold the same terms as previously.

Note that when an appointment ends on its intended end date (not early), SFU is required to send an Notification of Appointment End letter to the employee, regardless of whether the individual will be appointed with the same terms at a later time.

Duties to be performed

The Supervisor determines the work the employee will perform. The Offer of Employment needs to capture an accurate description of this work, as it will form the basis of the Offer of Employment.

A  checklist of duties  is available to choose from, or custom ones may be used - type or paste from another source into the Duties Performed box, or attach a Word document: 

• The duties listed should be those that occupy the majority of the employee’s time but need not include every eventuality. 
• All employment contracts will contain wording to allow for a degree of ‘other duties as assigned by the Supervisor’.

Note that there is no requirement to use the title “research assistant” as in the past. Appointments may be made with different titles that more appropriately reflect the work being done. 

Rate of pay & benefits

Rates of pay are determined by the Supervisor but must meet BC’s minimum wage .

• The Supervisor’s grant is responsible for CPP, EI, WCB, EHT.
• Supervisors may be able to offer health and dental coverage if allowed by the granting agency (employer portion of benefits is 50%, the RA pays 50%). Health benefits are still considered discretionary. 
• Employees who are offered discretionary health benefits are not enrolled automatically. Once a signed Offer of Employment is received by HR RPT, employees who are eligible for benefits will receive enrolment forms to complete and submit to HR.     

Use this Calculator   to estimate:

• minimum amount of time required and/or 
• cost to the grant.

See  Planning  for information about vacation pay and benefits.

Employee/employment documentation

SFU requires the collection of information about each new employee in order to pay them:  

•     Personal data form  including a VOID cheque or Bank Deposit Authorization
•     Confidentiality Agreement
•     Benefit Enrolment (if applicable)
•    Copy of Permanent Resident card (front & back), if applicable
•     TD1 (Personal Tax Credits Return)
•     TD1BC (BC Personal Tax Credits Return)

For temporary foreign workers:

•    SIN Confirmation Letter with SIN number and expiry date
•    Work permit/Study Permit

If this information has not changed since the last appointment, there is no requirement to re-submit for re-appointments.

The HR RP Team maintains research employee files.

Steps for creating an appointment or re-appointing

A signed Offer of Employment is required from all employees before they can begin work.

The following process applies when appointing or re-appointing research employee:

• Department or Supervisors completes a PAF  
• Departments request relevant documents from the employee
• Departments submit PAF and documents to Financial Reporting or Research Accounting as appropriate
• HR RPT creates Offer of Employment and sends a copy to the prospective employee via DocuSign
• RA signs and returns to HR RPT along with any required documentation that was not submitted with the PAF
• HR RPT enters employee's information into the system
• HR RPT confirms employment status with Department and PI

Run this query in myINFO to review the status of an appointment:  SFUDA_RA_ADMINISTER_EES .

QUICK LINKS

• Payroll Appointment Form (PAF)
• BC Employment Standards Guide
• Guidelines for Making Offers of Employment

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The Assignment Calculators

The Assignment Calculators divide research and writing projects into manageable steps to help students plan assignment completion based on due dates. The steps include “how to” links to UBC resources to help students identify and progress through the stages of the assignment. Enter your email for reminders for each step.

Undergraduate student? Select the type of assignment:  

• Research Paper

Graduate student? Try the Thesis Calculator .

About the Assignment Calculator

Brought to you by the Centre for Writing and Scholarly Communication , Chapman Learning Commons and UBC Library .

Based on the original Assignment Calculator from the University of Minnesota Libraries .

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Research Commons: Home

The Research Commons fosters an empowered and transformative research culture at SFU that is collaborative, creative, and cross-disciplinary.  We partner with faculty, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows to build capacity, community, and expertise.

What’s Happening in the Research Commons?

Explore new methods in Digital Humanities with our team of experts.

Find out about in-kind research project support available to researchers through the Library.

Arrange a tailored training session for your graduate student cohort.

Announcing Chelene Knight, our 2024 Non-Fiction Writer in Residence

Register for a workshop or a writing coffee chat with Chelene!

Register for the Web GIS workshop series

Join us for this new workshop series and learn how to leverage web technologies for web mapping!

• Library service and hours changes, Spring 2024 January - April
• Apply Now: Research Meets Policy @ SFU Summer Institute 2024 July 15-19
• Learn more about changes to the SFU Central Open Access Fund Changes starting in April
• Register for workshops and consultations with 2024 Non-Fiction Writer in Residence Chelene Knight Spring semester
• Register now for the Digital Humanities Summer Institute 2024 June 3-7 and 10-14