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Student's Advisory Committee
Dissertation Committee
Each student in the PhD program will be assisted and monitored through two committees: the student's advisory committee and the dissertation committee. The purpose and responsibilities of the committees are outlined below. Upon admission to the PhD program, each student is assigned an advisory committee. This assignment is made by the Coordinator of Graduate Studies in consultation with the graduate faculty of the Philosophy Department. The student’s advisory committee will consist of three members (designated history, continental, and analytic--when possible).The chair of the student’s advisory committee will be appointed by the Coordinator of Graduate Studies. Each student will meet with his or her advisory committee at least twice a year until formation of the student’s dissertation committee. The advisory committee will provide continuity throughout the student’s time in the program and will be responsible for advising the student on his or her overall progress, keeping an eye on course selection, anticipating the need to develop particular skills or areas of expertise, encouraging the student at the appropriate time to formulate and present a topic for the doctoral dissertation, etc. Meetings with the advisory committee will provide an opportunity to address complaints or suggestions concerning the program, as well as an opportunity to inform the student if he or she is not meeting department expectations. Written records will be kept of all meetings of each student’s advisory committee. During the third year the student, in consultation with their advisory committee, will choose a dissertation director, and subsequently a dissertation committee. The dissertation committee will be comprised of at least four members: the student’s director and three or more readers from within the department. At least one of the additional readers must be working in an area of philosophy that is not related to the dissertation topic. All members of the dissertation committee must have graduate faculty status. The University bestows the designation "Graduate Faculty" upon faculty following review of their credentials and recommendation by their colleagues. The University maintains six levels of graduate faculty: (1) Full, (2) Associate, (3) Adjunct, (4) Adjunct Research Co-Mentor, (5) Affiliate, and (6) Adjunct Teaching. Only full graduate faculty members may chair doctoral committees. Full or associate graduate may serve as a voting member on doctoral committees. Only one adjunct or affiliate graduate faculty member may serve as a voting member on doctoral committees. This committee should be formed no later than the beginning of the student’s seventh semester. The dissertation committee will meet twice a year, even in the absence of the student (for example, if the student is abroad doing research). The student and the director will write a brief report of progress made to be circulated in advance of the meeting. In addition, a sample of written work will be presented in advance to the committee, selected by the student in consultation with her or his director. As well as monitoring progress on the dissertation and taking over the responsibilities of the student’s committee, it will be the task of the dissertation committee to review the overall profile of the student with respect to job placement and to advise the student on ways of improving that profile. One of the tasks of the dissertation committee is to help the student formulate an appropriate research topic. Approval of the topic depends upon the availability of a supervisor, whether the student has—or has adequate plans to secure—the basic skills necessary for the topic (e.g., languages), whether the necessary materials are readily available, and whether the topic can reasonably be expected to be completed in the time available.
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