Mentoring and Advising
At the time of admission, a faculty mentor and a temporary advising committee made up of two additional SHS faculty members will be assigned based on the student's area(s) of interest and faculty availability. The mentor and advising committee will be named in the student's admission letter. Students will meet with their advising committee before or early in the first semester of their program, and should have at least one full committee meeting during the first semester. In consultation with the faculty mentor, each student will identify faculty willing to serve on a permanent advising committee. The permanent advising committee should be formed by the end of the first academic year in the PhD program and reported to the DGS.
The advising committee is responsible for working with the student to identify strengths and deficiencies in students' background, to help develop a written plan of graduate study that is academically rigorous and addresses the student's interests and goals, and to monitor the student's progress. The advising committee will meet once a year to review and document the student's progress. In addition, the academic progress of each Ph.D. student will be reviewed by the full faculty on a yearly basis, typically at the beginning of each spring semester. Results of the full faculty review will be transmitted to the student in writing by the student's adviser. The faculty as a whole will determine whether any problems are apparent that make continued pursuance of a degree program inadvisable.