Some 241 graduate students received e-mails earlier this month erroneously announcing that they were recipients of a research grant from the Fonds de recherche du Québec — Société et culture (FRQSC).
On June 2, Jessee Chouinard, candidate for a master’s degree in literary studies at the University of Quebec in Montreal (UQAM), received a message from the FRQSC congratulating her on obtaining a research grant worth $17,500. “It’s a pretty prestigious scholarship. It supports a master’s research over a year, ”says the student. A second email tells her that the results of the fall 2021 scholarship competition, to which she had applied, are available via the FRQSC’s Electronic Portfolio.
After checking on the portal, Jessee Chouinard finds that the official letter therein stipulates that his file has not been retained. She then calls her family and friends, to whom she had already announced the false good news, to inform them that she was not really a recipient of the scholarship. “Emotionally, it was disturbing,” she says.
Béatrice Le Tellier, a doctoral student in psychology at UQAM, experienced the same situation, which she describes as “a roller coaster of emotion”. “It was really demoralizing. I had the impression of finally being rewarded, but they took that away from me the same day”.
Several students have taken to social media to express their disappointment and anger towards the FRQSC. Facebook groups have allowed a handful of them to see that the error was not individual, but collective.
“During the announcement process, the scientific management’s congratulations email was sent to all the candidates in the cohort, unfortunately including the 241 students who did not receive a scholarship,” says Benoit Sévigny, director of communications and knowledge mobilization of the FQRSC. These are 642 people who have indeed been recipients of a bursary.
An erratum was sent within 30 minutes to the students concerned by this false announcement, reports Mr. Sévigny.
The day after the erroneous emails were sent, the scientific director of the Fonds de recherche du Québec — Société et culture, Louise Poissant, apologized to those affected by this imbroglio, explaining that “poor technical handling is origin of this misunderstanding”. “I imagine the false joy that this erroneous news could have generated, and know that I am very sorry for it”, can we also read in his message.
This is an event “unprecedented in the history of the FRQSC”, explains Benoit Sévigny, linked to “an unfortunate human referral error which does not reflect the entire chain of the process leading to the announcements. It goes without saying that the FRQSC is reviewing its announcement process so that such a situation does not happen again in the future”.
“Psychological Distress”
Despite everything, Béatrice says she is “frustrated with the way [le FRQSC] handled the situation. […] He didn’t consider the psychological distress it could cause to make a mistake like that. »
“I, like many master’s and doctoral students, are in a precarious situation. I was expecting this money to pay my rent,” she adds.
For Isabella V. Dighi, who will begin a master’s degree in communication at UQAM in the fall, the FRQSC lacked rigor in this situation.
She recalls that the process of applying for a grant from the Fonds de recherche du Québec is “laborious” and requires many hours of preparation. “It was extremely demanding. I would have expected that the process by which one is awarded or not awarded a scholarship would have been done with the same rigor, ”she denounces.
For many, obtaining such a research grant is decisive for their academic, professional and financial future, insists Isabella, criticizing the FRQSC for a lack of sensitivity to this reality.
Postponement of the announcement of the results
The posting of the results of the fall 2021 competition for Fonds de recherche du Québec scholarships was scheduled for the end of April. However, the date for announcing the scholarship awards has been postponed to June 2. No official email was sent to applicants to this effect; only a publication on the Fonds de recherche du Québec website and on its social networks warned students of this change.
The master’s student in social work at UQAM Roxanne Martin, also in the lot of those who thought she would get a scholarship, had not seen this message circulating on social networks, not being subscribed to the FRQSC accounts. . According to her, the latter should have been more transparent with this announcement, the delay having only accentuated the stress of the students waiting for a response. For such a prestigious government institution, she believes there has been a lack of “consideration” and “respect” for the candidates.