Advisory, Thesis, and Dissertation Committees
One of the most perplexing yet important issues facing a graduate student has to do with
the role and membership of advisory, thesis, and dissertation committees. The committee system
is actually quite easy to understand.
The system follows two simple principles: 1) your advisory committee oversees your
coursework, while your thesis and dissertation committee oversees your thesis or dissertation;
and 2) the faculty members who sit on your committees must be qualified to do so.
Let's start with the first principle. To meet degree requirements you must fulfill certain
minimum coursework requirements. It is the job of the Director
of Graduate Studies to help plan your studies so you meet these minimum requirements in
the minimum time necessary. But graduate study is not just a matter of meeting minimum coursework
requirements as it was when you were an undergraduate. At the graduate level you are expected
to deepen your knowledge of the discipline and develop scholarly interests under direct faculty
supervision, up to a point which satisfies the faculty that you are eligible for a degree.
Meeting faculty expectations and preparing yourself to do research in an area of special interest
may require more coursework than the minimum. Here is where your advisory committee comes in.
The faculty members who compose your advisory committee are the people who will decide when you
have finished your coursework and are ready to proceed to the thesis (if you are an M.A. student)
or to the comprehensive exams (if you are a doctoral student).
Once you have satisfied your advisory committee regarding coursework and have a thesis or
dissertation topic, it's time to form a thesis or dissertation committee, which will guide and
ultimately approve or disapprove your thesis or dissertation. Thus your advisory committee and
your thesis/dissertation committee perform completely different functions. Thesis committees have
three members, of which one may be from outside the Department if you have a cognate field.
Dissertation committees have five members, including at least one but no more than two members from
outside the department.
Now the second principle. Faculty members must be knowledgeable in the areas on which they
advise you if their advice is to be of any use. It follows that the advisory committee must be
composed of a faculty members who have expertise in your fields (one member for each field), while thesis and
dissertation committees must be composed of faculty members who know something about your topic.
Members of your advisory committee may also serve on your thesis or dissertation committee,
provided they are qualified to do so. Usually, your thesis or dissertation committee will have
significantly different membership from your advisory committee, because your thesis and
dissertation will be more narrowly focused in subject matter than your coursework.
Who picks members for your committees? You do....by asking faculty members if they would
be willing to serve. You should recruit members for your advisory committee toward the end of
your first semester in the program, or during your second semester at the latest. The Director of Graduate Studies stands ready to help new
students identify appropriate committee members but is not responsibile for recruiting them for
the student. You should recruit members for your thesis or dissertation committee as soon as
you have a topic. Once you have secured the agreement of faculty to serve, you should report this
to the Director of Graduate Studies. Keep in mind that thesis and dissertation committee
membership must be approved by the Graduate School, so
it is imperative that you recruit these committees and replace departing members in a timely
fashion.
To sum up:
- Advisory committees and thesis/dissertation committees have different
functions, different memberships.
- Recruit an advisory commitee early, one member for each field.
- Recruit a thesis or dissertation committee when you have a topic. Members
must be knowledgeable about the topic or approach.
- Report committee membership to the Director of Graduate Studies.
For further details, see "Regulations & Procedures for the Graduate Studies
Program," articles 6, 7, and 11. |
