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Each graduate student in a program that requires a thesis has a supervisory committee. Early formation of a supervisory committee, along with regular meetings and formal meeting records, help ensure higher completion rates.
Appointment
The supervisory committee is appointed by the graduate program director after consultation with the research supervisor and the student. The appointment of committee members is made no later than eight months after the student begins their program.
The first meeting
The supervisory committee must have at least one scheduled meeting in the first year of study.
Composition
Master’s candidates
Normally, each supervisory committee for a master’s level candidate consists of the candidate’s research supervisor(s) and at least one other faculty member from the university with a graduate, associate graduate or emeritus/emerita graduate faculty appointment to the program. The chair, who may be someone other than the candidate’s research supervisor, is appointed by the graduate program director of the candidate’s home faculty.
Doctoral candidates
The supervisory committee for a doctoral candidate consists of the candidate’s research supervisor(s) and at least two other faculty members from the university with a graduate, associate graduate or emeritus/emerita graduate faculty appointment to the program. The chair, who may be someone other than the candidate’s research supervisor, is appointed by the graduate program director of the candidate’s home faculty.
Non-voting advisor
The supervisory committee may request a non-voting advisor to a master’s or doctoral supervisory committee, upon the approval of the graduate program director. A non-voting advisor would normally be an industry or discipline expert who does not have and would not normally be given a graduate faculty appointment.
The non-voting advisor would be allowed to attend and ask questions during master’s and doctoral thesis and/or candidacy exams, but will not be permitted to vote.
Responsibilities
The supervisory committee’s main responsibilities include the following:
- Advise the student and help define the course of study.
- Assess and approve the student’s research proposal.
- Provide support to the student and research supervisor by broadening and deepening the range of expertise and experience available.
- Be reasonably accessible to the student to discuss and suggest other sources of information.
- Offer comments when requested on written work submitted by the student.
- Review the student’s progress toward successful completion of the thesis with scheduled meetings at least once per year.
- Provide constructive feedback and provocative discussion of the student’s program of study, thereby exposing the student to a wider range of expertise and ideas than can be provided by the research supervisor alone.
- Report progress to the graduate program director and recommend continuation in the program based on satisfactory performance (in the case of reports of unsatisfactory progress, the student may be required to withdraw from the graduate program).
- Recommend to the graduate program director and the Dean of Graduate Studies whether a thesis should move to oral examination. This recommendation must be made no less than three months prior to the date set for examination.
Chair’s responsibilities
The main responsibilities of the chair of the supervisory committee include the following:
- Convene and run supervisory committee meetings.
- Keep the graduate program director informed of the student’s progress.
- Recommend potential master’s thesis examiners and doctoral external examiners to the Dean of Graduate Studies.
- Forward a copy of the student’s thesis to members of the examining committee at least four weeks before the oral examination.
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