Selecting a Graduate Committee

Your graduate adviser may be required to use other graduate faculty to make final decisions about the acceptability of your program plan and the quality of your thesis, if you choose to write one. Therefore, give careful consideration to your choice of these critical advisers who will form your graduate committee. The graduate coordinator or your graduate adviser normally assists in this process.

The graduate committee consists of at least three graduate faculty members including your graduate adviser. Try to ask a person from outside your major discipline area to serve on your committee. A nongraduate faculty member who possesses expertise particularly relevant to your field of study may be appointed as a special extra member.

Your graduate adviser and/or the graduate committee is responsible for supervising your Program of Study and should:

• guide you in an appropriate selection of courses and experiences to ensure that you are aware of all relevant material necessary for a complete understanding of your chosen field of study. This not only includes concentration of coursework in your major area of interest, but also selecting courses to bridge the gaps you may have in your previous educational experiences. This may require you to take some undergraduate courses to make up for deficiencies.

• determine whether you have accumulated and demonstrated sufficient ability to engage in the analytic process of problem solving. A graduate degree entails more than just taking additional courses within a major. You will be expected to demonstrate your ability to synthesize the new knowledge you have gained in your graduate courses and apply this knowledge to solve contemporary problems.

• make certain that if you elect to write a thesis it is consistent with the degree, confronts the interdisciplinary relationships of your subject area, and focuses on problem-solving methodology.

Your graduate committee members, including your graduate adviser, will be listed on your Program of Study form. They must sign this form indicating their approval of your graduate program plan. If you desire a change in the composition of your committee, it is your responsibility to explain to the current committee members why the change is desirable or necessary. If the change is acceptable to the outgoing and incoming professors, you should then notify the graduate coordinator for your department, school, or college to complete the transfer of committee members.