Supervisory Committee

After you have affiliated a research director, a supervisory committee is appointed by the Director of Graduate Studies to plan, in consultation with you, the remainder of your doctoral program and, with the approval of the Dean of the Graduate School, to conduct the preliminary and final examinations. Committee assignments are normally made during the Fall semester of the second academic year. At this time, the Director of Graduate Studies will solicit from the research advisor a proposed set of committee members, with the expectation that the advisor will consult with you regarding the proposed committee. While making every effort to accommodate the proposed committee structure, the Director of Graduate Studies shall be responsible for revising proposed committee compositions in order to balance committee assignments among the faculty in a reasonable manner.

The supervisory committee consists of at least four members, three of which should have a primary or secondary appointment in the Chemistry Department, and is chaired by your research advisor. At least one member (referred toby the Graduate School as the minor area representative) should be from a chemical sub-discipline outside of the student's research area, or possibly from another department. In some situations, especially those involving interdisciplinary research programs crossing department boundaries, it may be desirable or necessary to have a five-person committee. The same committee normally administers the final Ph.D. examination, although an appropriate faculty member from another department may replace the minor area representative if desired. If a change in committee members becomes necessary, a committee request change form must be filed through the Director of Graduate Studies Office prior to finalizing the Ph.D. Examination.