Supervisory Committees
Every graduate student must have a supervisory committee and must have a supervisory committee meeting every academic year. As described in Section 1.2.4 of the graduate calendar, the roles of the supervisory committee are to review and monitor the student's progress, determine the appropriateness of the proposed research, review and recommend additional course work, and approve the thesis for submission. The selection of the supervisory committee is the responsibility of the student's research supervisor, who will consult with the student. This should be done at least one month prior to the first meeting. The membership of the supervisory committee is subject to review by the Program Director. Changes of supervisor can only be made by the Program Director.
The supervisory committee normally consists of the student's supervisor and at least two other faculty members. The supervisory committee must meet by the end of the 3rd term of studies, and must meet annually thereafter. The supervisory committee should also meet when the student is ready to begin writing the thesis or prior to the time limit for financial support in order to approve writing the thesis or to assess the work remaining to be done. For a one year MSc project student, the first supervisory committee meeting may correspond with the oral defence. In cases where the student's progress has been determined to be unsatisfactory, or after the deadline for financial support, the supervisory committee must meet every four months.
It is the joint responsibility of the student and the supervisor to see that regular supervisory committee meetings are held. It is the student's responsibility to file a progress report of 750-1000 words in length with the committee at least one week prior to any committee meeting. The purposes of the report are to familiarize the supervisory committee with the student's progress in research, and to provide a useful exercise in self-assessment. It is the supervisor's responsibility to submit a written report of each supervisory committee meeting promptly to the Department office using forms available at School of Graduate Studies (PhD) or from the Graduate Secretary of the Department (MSc).
