Advisor/Thesis Committee Selection
Selecting your advisor
Most students are matched to their advisors during their first semester. Every effort is made to give each new student his or her first choice, depending on availability of space, research projects, and funding. In the interim, all students will have the Department Head as their temporary advisor. When you have been assigned your permanent advisor, the Graduate Program Coordinator will submit the information to have your advisor updated.
Some students are matched to their advisor during the admissions process, and will not need to go through the advisor selection process.
To select an advisor, students will need to attend all faculty research presentations given in the fall semester. Additionally, students are required to meet with a minimum of three research-active faculty. The meetings should discuss research projects, current funding availability and future potential, expectations, timeline, qualifications, etc. Students may begin work in a research lab before their thesis advisor has been assigned, but each student with a temporary advisor still needs to go the process.
Changing your advisor
A research advisor generally has the expectation that the student will complete a thesis under his or her supervision. This expectation affects many decisions made by the advisor (for example, the research directions of other students, grant proposal submissions, and admission of new students). Therefore, while students have the right to change advisors any time, it is important that they keep their current advisor informed of plans to make such a change. They must also find a new advisor who has space in their group. Students considering a change in advisors are strongly advised to seek the advice of the department head, assistant department head, or chair of the Graduate Affairs Committee.
The formal process for changing thesis advisor is as follows:.
1. Fill out the graduate school's advisor/thesis committee form with the new advisor's name. The new thesis advisor must initial this form to indicate approval of the change.
2. Attach a short (one-sentence) memo to the form, signed by the current thesis advisor, indicating that the current advisor is aware of the student's request for an advisor change.
3. Submit the form and the memo to the department head or assistant department head. Once the department head has approved the form, it should be sent to the Graduate School to make the change official.
An advisor/committee members can be changed after the Degree Audit Form has been submitted.
Non-thesis M.S. committees
Even though CSM does not require a committee in the case of non-thesis MS degrees, the Department of Chemistry & Geochemistry requires that students in the non-thesis option choose a committee during the student’s first semester in the program. This committee must comprise an advisor from the Department of Chemistry & Geochemistry and two other members, at least one of whom must be a CSM faculty member. The student’s committee makes decisions on courses to be taken and on transfer credit, and examines the student’s written report.
The Advisor/Thesis Committee form must be completed and submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies. This form can be accessed at the Office of Graduate Studies website. There is no need to add the committee members’ names to this form because that is a departmental requirement only.
Ph.D. thesis committees
Requirements specific to the Department of Chemistry:
Either the advisor or at least one co-advisor and one additional committee member must be a full-time permanent faculty member in the Department of Chemistry.
*Advisor/Committee Change Form*
Committee Chair:
Your committee chair is not required at your 560 or 660 seminars but he/she should be at all committee meetings, which includes lit review, thesis proposal etc. The idea of the committee chair is that they are a more “neutral” observer (hence the requirement that they come from outside the department). If any conflicts arise (between faculty members or between the student and another committee member) during committee meetings and especially during the defense, it is the chair’s job to step in.
Here is what is in the catalog:
Thesis Committee Chairperson:
In addition to the responsibilities of a Regular Committee Member, the Chairperson of Committee has the following added responsibilities:
chair all meetings of the Thesis Committee including the thesis defense;
represent the broad interests of the Institution with respect to high standards of scholarly performance;
represent the Office of Graduate Studies by ensuring that all procedures are carried out fairly and in accordance with institutional guidelines and policies; and
ensure that any potential conflicts of interest between student, advisor or any other committee member are effectively identified and managed.
Committee Meetings:
Once your committee is established, you need to be meeting at a minimum once a year to be sure you are on track with your courses and research goals.