[La-cgs] Question about graduate advisors and committees

[Menon, Sanjay]

Hi Ramu,

I am sorry for the delay in responding.  I have been swamped and I assume others have been too.

For our master’s programs, what we have in the manual is as follows:

The Committee
An initial step is to constitute a three-person Committee of graduate faculty members who will work closely with the candidate, offering guidance through the thesis process. One of these graduate faculty members will serve as Thesis Director. The candidate’s Graduate Program Director or chosen Thesis Director can assist in suggesting and recruiting appropriate faculty for the Committee.

There is some debate as to when this should be done and to what extent the student is responsible for finding a thesis director, the role of the department chair in the process, etc.  In some departments, students fill out a “Statement of Intent to Complete a Thesis” Form that lists all committee members prior to starting the thesis.

For our EdD program the manual says:

The Committee
After identifying the focus for the dissertation research, the student identifies a Dissertation Committee Chair, who will serve as the advisory authority regarding all remaining dissertation activities. In addition to the Dissertation Committee Chair, two LSUS graduate faculty members will be identified to work closely with the candidate, offering guidance through the dissertation process. One of the committee members may serve as faculty at another regionally accredited institution, provided that person is approved by the Dissertation Committee Chair and has been granted graduate status by the LSUS Graduate Council, if serving as a content member of the committee. The candidate’s Dissertation Committee Chair may assist in suggesting and recruiting appropriate faculty.

Hope that helps!

Sanjay

Sanjay T. Menon, Ph. D.
Dean of Graduate Studies
Director of India Studies
Louisiana State University Shreveport
Office: (318) 797-5247     Fax:     (318) 798-4120
www.linkedin.com/in/sanjaytmenon<http://www.linkedin.com/in/sanjaytmenon>

One University Place
Shreveport, Louisiana 71115
[LSUS_Secondary_RGB Purple-Gold_email]

From: La-cgs <la-cgs-bounces at lists.latech.edu> On Behalf Of Ramu Ramachandran
Sent: Wednesday, October 27, 2021 4:06 PM
To: la-cgs at lists.latech.edu
Subject: Re: [La-cgs] Question about graduate advisors and committees

Based on what I learned from the movie "Sixth Sense", I assume I am dead, but Obadiah has the power to talk to dead people. 😛

-Ramu
------------------
On 10/20/2021 5:35 PM, B. Ramu Ramachandran wrote:
Hello everyone:

I would like to learn more about the mechanisms by which graduate students (mainly doctoral but thesis students in masters programs too) select their research advisors and advisory committees at your institutions. I understand that various departments/programs have their own policies or mechanisms but does the Graduate School have anything to say on the matter?

Our current policy states that the Graduate School will appoint the advisor and committee. As you know, in practice, the selection takes place by mutual consent and conversations and the Graduate School is involved only in rubber-stamping the selection (as long as no alarms go off). Do any of you have policies in place that acknowledge this reality, and perhaps even put some burden of choosing a major advisor on the student? If you have a Grad School or departmental policy that suggests that the burden is on the student, at least to some extent, I am very interested in learning more.

Looking forward to the great feedback, as always.

Best regards,
Ramu

----------
B. Ramu Ramachandran
Associate Vice President for Research & Dean of Graduate School
Director, Institute for Micromanufacturing
T. L. James Eminent Scholar Chair Professor
P. O. Box 7923
Louisiana Tech University
Ruston, LA 71272, USA

318-257-4304



--

B. Ramu Ramachandran

Associate Vice President for Research & Dean of Graduate School

Director, Institute for Micromanufacturing

T. L. James Eminent Scholar Chair Professor

P. O. Box 7923

Louisiana Tech University

Ruston, LA 71270, USA



318-257-4304 (Graduate School)

318-257-5106 (IfM)
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