Committee

The graduate student's committee is responsible for:

• Approving the student's academic and research plan
• Providing guidance
• Administering the comprehensive exam and the final oral exam (thesis defense).

When should you form a committee?

A PhD student's committee is formed as soon after the candidacy exam as possible.

How should you go about forming it?

The committee is chosen by the student with guidance from an adviser. A committee consists of at least 4 faculty approved by the Graduate School:

• a Chair (typically the adviser)
• two members of the Ecology faculty
• an outside member. This person may or may not be a member of the Ecology faculty but must not be co-funded from the same department as the dissertation advisor, or have budgetary ties (e.g. be a co-PI on a grant) or a conflict of interest with any of the other committee members. Please contact the Program Office for advice on checking budgetary connections.

More information from the Graduate School about forming a committee

Declaring your committee to the Graduate School

Before your committee can meet for the first time, it must be approved by the Graduate School, as follows:

• Obtain a form from the Program Office
• Complete the form and obtain the necessary signatures from prospective committee members
• Return the form to the Program Office, who will forward it to the Graduate School.
• The Program Office will notify you once the committee is approved

When should the committee meet?

The student should arrange to have the doctoral committee meet at least once per year, to:

• provide guidance
• finalize and approve the research proposal
• assess the quality and progress of the research
• discuss programmatic issues and course requirements.