Dissertation Supervisory Committee Worksheet

Congratulations, you have moved one step closer to completing your PhD!

In accordance with College of Social Work and Graduate School Policies and to help you form a dissertation supervisory committee that can best support your progress through the dissertation process, please complete the two questions found below. Then, submit your responses to the PhD Director (Jeremiah.Jaggers@utah.edu) and the PhD Program Coordinator (Mirela.Rankovic@utah.edu); please meet with the program Director once you have submitted your responses to questions 1 and 2 below.

Note: this process can begin only after you have successfully passed the Qualifying Examinations. Students seeking to pursue the MAP format should consult with the Ph.D. Director prior to establishing their supervisory committee to discuss feasibility of this option. All MAP dissertations require prior approval of the dissertation committee and Ph.D. Program Director at the time of composing the supervisory committee. When choosing a committee, a student, in consultation with their committee Chair, should consider faculty members who have strong publishing histories.

1. In approximately 5 paragraphs, describe the research question you desire to pursue.
2. Next, who would you like to chair your dissertation and why? In collaboration with the proposed chair, please discuss how she or he can help you succeed with the research you intend to pursue. Also, please review the strengths and challenges the proposed chair may have in guiding your dissertation (e.g., time, availability, substantive content expertise, methodological expertise).
3. Please submit a detailed timeline, approved by your committee, showing the tasks necessary to complete your dissertation (i.e IRB approval, proposal defense, data collection, analysis, write-up, committee review periods, and final dissertation defense) and the dates by which they will be done.

According to CSW PhD Program policy 2.4.2.2, the oral proposal defense is done before an approved thesis supervisory committee no sooner than two months after the successful completion of the Qualifying Exam. Further, the complete dissertation is orally defended no sooner than four months after the successful oral defense of the proposal 2.4.3.

For more information on policy related to the formation and functioning of the dissertation supervisory committee, please see:

PhD Handbook and Resources Page

The Graduate School Supervisory Committees Policies

After the members of your dissertation supervisory committee have agreed to serve, please complete the following worksheet and submit to the PhD Director and the PhD Program Coordinator:

The following policies apply to dissertation supervisory committees:

CSW Policy-PhD Handbook:

3.2.4 Dissertation Chair

3.2.4.1 After the successful completion of the Qualifying Examination (which signals entry to Candidacy), the student selects a Dissertation Chair, subject to approval by the Ph.D. Committee. The Chair must be a CSW faculty member who has previously served as a thesis committee member in which the dissertation was successfully defended. This Chair may not always be the same as the Pre-Candidacy Advisor or the QE Committee Chair. Please note that the QE Committee and the Dissertation committee are separate entities, regardless of overlap in membership. The QE Committee does not have oversight for the dissertation proposal or research.

3.2.4.2 This Chair serves as the Supervisory Committee Chair and assists the student in development of a proposal and selection of the rest of the Committee members. The committee selection should take place the semester immediately following the successful completion of the qualifying exam. These functions are defined more clearly in A Handbook for Theses and Dissertations available on the Thesis Office website. The Dissertation Chair is responsible for monitoring and facilitation of timely student progress toward completion of degree requirements.

3.6.2 Dissertation Supervisory Committee - Personnel

3.6.2.1 A supervisory committee is a critical component of each candidate’s graduate dissertation study. This committee is responsible for approving the candidate’s academic program, approving the thesis or dissertation subject and format (traditional or MAP), reading and approving the dissertation, and administering and judging the dissertation proposal, monitoring progress of the dissertation, reading and approving the dissertation defense.

3.6.2.2 The supervisory committee members provide vital feedback and direction to students; therefore, it is required that all committee members attend both the Proposal Review and the Dissertation Defense, either in person or via teleconference. If a member cannot be in attendance, either the presentation should be rescheduled, or the student should request a change in committee membership.

3.6.2.3 The Committee consists of five or possibly six members. At least three members of the Committee must be regular (tenure- line) faculty from within the College of Social Work. At least one member (but no more than two) should be non-social work faculty outside the College; i.e, from other University of Utah departments or programs. All committee members should hold a doctorate. In addition to regular faculty, candidates may choose career- line faculty with U of U faculty appointments. (See Section 3.2.4 for additional comments regarding the Chair.)

3.6.2.4 The student should request the appointment of a Dissertation Supervisory Committee within one semester of satisfactory completion of the Qualifying Examination. After developing a preliminary dissertation proposal, the student should meet with the PhD program Director and prospective committee members and then submit the proposed committee for nomination to the Ph.D. Committee. Dissertation Committee members must initial the Worksheet to indicate their agreement to serve on the committee. This request should be in writing, addressed to the Ph.D. Program Director with a copy to the Ph.D. staff (see APPENDIX for the current Dissertation Supervisory Committee Worksheet). When a student’s committee is nominated, an Electronic Graduate Record File is established and actual approval is by The Graduate School. The PhD committee reserves the right to review and modify committee composition to insure adequate supervision in the production of a quality dissertation.

3.6.2.5 The Graduate School requires that curriculum vitae be on file in the Graduate School for supervisory committee members who are not members of the University of Utah faculty or who do not have tenured faculty status. The PhD Committee will approve supervisory committee members from other universities only in exceptional circumstances; the student must document the lack of necessary expertise on campus in a petition to the PhD Committee. With regard to the chairing of supervisory committees, the Graduate Bulletin states, "In special cases, faculty holding visiting or adjunct appointments may be chairs if recommended by the department and approved by the Dean of The Graduate School" (see The Graduate School Supervisory Committee policy here).

3.6.2.6 Changes to the Committee follow the same procedures.

From the Graduate School https://gradschool.utah.edu/navigating-grad-school/supervisory-committees.php

Supervisory Committees

The supervisory committee is responsible for approving the student’s academic program, preparing and judging the qualifying examinations subject to departmental policy, approving the thesis or dissertation subject, reading and approving the thesis or dissertation, and administering and judging the final oral examination (thesis or dissertation defense). The chair of the supervisory committee directs the student’s research and writing of the thesis or dissertation. The final oral examination may be chaired by any member of the supervisory committee consistent with departmental policy. If a graduate student’s preliminary work is deficient, the supervisory committee may require supplementary undergraduate courses for which no graduate credit is granted. Decisions concerning program requirements, examinations, and the thesis or dissertation are made by majority vote of the supervisory committee.

All University of Utah faculty members including tenure-line, career-line, adjunct, visiting and emeritus are eligible to serve as supervisory committee members. The faculty member must hold an academic or professional doctorate, the terminal degree in the relevant field, and/or must have demonstrated competence to do research and scholarly or artistic work in the student’s general field. Persons not from the University of Utah may also serve as committee members upon approval of the dean of The Graduate School (a vita for the proposed committee members must accompany the request). Committee chairs must be selected from tenure-line faculty. Immediate family members are not eligible to serve on a student’s supervisory committee.

It is the responsibility of the student to approach prospective committee members with a view to their willingness and availability to serve in such a capacity. Faculty have the right, however, for justifiable academic reasons, to refuse to serve on a student’s supervisory committee.

The process of forming a supervisory committee is completed by filing a Request for Supervisory Committee form with the major department.

Doctoral supervisory committees consist of five faculty members, the majority of whom must be tenure-line faculty in the student’s major department. One member of the supervisory committee must be from another department.

Exceptions to these guidelines must be recommended and justified by the director of graduate studies of the department or the department chair, depending on departmental policies, and approved by the dean of The Graduate School.

Ph.D. Supervisory Committee

Each supervisory committee consists of five faculty members. The committee chair and the majority of the committee must be tenure-line faculty in the student’s department. One member of the committee must be appointed from outside the student’s major department. The outside member is normally from another University of Utah department. However, the dean of The Graduate School may approve requests to appoint a committee member from another university where appropriate justification and supporting documentation is provided. The supervisory committee is responsible for approving the student’s academic program, preparing and judging the qualifying examinations, approving the dissertation subject and final dissertation, and administering and judging the final oral examination (dissertation defense).