Doctoral Guidance Committee

1. The committee and its members

According to department policy, a Guidance Committee must be appointed no later than the end of Week 10 of Fall quarter of your third year. This committee consists minimally of three “inside” members (Linguistics professors). Additional members, including “outside” members, may be included if desired. The Guidance Committee is the precursor of the official Ph.D. committee, which will usually have similar membership.

2. Forming your guidance committee

A good committee has helpful members who know the field and offer you good advice; also who want to work with you on your topic.

Most advisers would agree that a good topic has these traits:

  • It has a solid basis in the current research stream in your area.
  • It addresses a clear question or set of questions.
  • It is feasible to do in a limited time and with the resources you have.
  • It can be advised by faculty committee members who are available, knowledgeable, and willing.
  • It is sufficiently interesting to you to make you feel happy and satisfied that you are doing it.

It is completely permissible, at this stage of your career, for the topic to be uncertain or a bit vague; an explicit topic will ultimately needed, but only later, when you write a prospectus and take orals.

You can find committee members who form a good fit for your work in the usual way, making appointments with them, bringing a handout, and going over your current thinking and research progress with them. This will give you a clear idea of what they would be like as committee members, and give them a clear idea of whether this is a feasible project that they would want to get involved in advising.

3. Communicating your Guidance Committee information

Once you have worked out the composition of your committee and received confirmations from at least three faculty members who agree to serve on your Guidance Committee (with one agreeing to serve as Committee Chair), please prepare an email message in the following format below and send it to the Graduate Student Affairs Officer and cc each committee member. The subject line should be “Guidance Committee Formation”. If the first and second members listed are Co-Chairs, please indicate that they are Co-Chairs in the body of the email.

Dear [name of Grad SAO ] and Committee Members,

This is the official email to form a Guidance Committee for the initial stages of my Ph.D. work. The members of my committee are:

  • [Committee Chair name], Chair
  • [Member 2 or Co-Chair. If this member is a Co-Chair, please list “Co-Chair” after their name.]
  • [Member 3 name]
  • [Optional 4th member name]

I verify that I have received permission from all faculty nominated to include them on the proposed Committee.

My research area and proposed dissertation topic are:  [give description here; it can be brief]

Thank you,

[Student name]

4. Questions

Please feel free to consult the Graduate Student Affairs Officer and/or the Director of Graduate Studies with any questions.