Thesis/dissertation committees

Committee chair

For most students, their thesis or dissertation committee Chair is their faculty/research advisor. This is typically agreed upon during the admissions process, though some students complete rotations or coursework first. The faculty/research advisor must be a member of the ASU Graduate Faculty and endorsed to chair or co-chair a committee in the student’s degree program. You can see this by searching their name in the iPOS > Faculty Committee tab. If they are endorsed to chair, no co-chair is needed. If they endorsed to co-chair only (which is typically the case for advisors at partner institutions like Mayo, BNI, Desert Botanical Garden, etc.), then a tenure-track SOLS faculty member must be chosen to serve as the other co-chair. 

If your planned committee chair or co-chair does not have the proper endorsement or is not pulling up when you search them in your iPOS, the proper endorsement may just need to be added. This is commonly the case for newer faculty or external research advisors. In some cases, this could be because they are not eligible for the role you are attempting to add them for. If this is the case for you, please fill out the request form linked here in order to initiate the process of properly endorsing your committee chair or co-chair.
 

PhD committees

• Must have at least 4 total members (1 committee chair and 3 members, or 2 committee co-chairs and 2 members)
  • *Animal Behavior PhD is the only exception to this, as it required at least 5 total members
• 3 of the 4 (or 5 for Animal Behavior) individuals on the committee should be ASU tenure-track faculty
• 2 of the 4 (or 5 for Animal Behavior) individuals on the committee should be ASU tenure-track and program-specific faculty (i.e., if you are a Biology PhD student, 2 of the 4 folks on your committee must be tenure-track faculty in the biology program)
• In some cases, an external committee member may be approved as the 4th (or 5th for Animal Behavior) committee member with justification from the student and approval from the Program Director, Graduate Associate Director, and Graduate College
• While you may have more than 4 (or 5 for Animal Behavior) committee members, please consider your justification for doing so, as coordinating schedules for large committees can place undue burden on students

Certain programs have program-specific rules with their committee expectations. Please review your program's requirements in the SOLS Handbook to ensure you meet requirements. If you have a special request, please consult with your Program Director(s).

 

MS thesis committees

• Must have at least 3 total members (1 committee chair and 2 members, or 2 committee co-chairs and 1 member)
• 2 of the 3 individuals on the committee should be ASU tenure-track, program-specific faculty (i.e., if you are a Biology MS student, 2 of the 3 folks on your committee must be tenure-track faculty in the biology program)
• In some cases, an external committee member may be approved as the 3rd committee member with justification from the student and approval from the Program Director, Graduate Associate Director, and Graduate College
• While you may have more than 3 committee members, please consider your justification for doing so, as coordinating schedules for large committees can place undue burden on students
  
  Certain programs have program-specific rules with their committee expectations. Please review your program's requirements in the SOLS Handbook to ensure you meet requirements. If you have a special request, please consult with your Program Director(s).

MS Biology Capstone committees

If you are enrolled in the MS Biology - Coursework & Capstone track, you are not required to have a formal 3-person supervisory committee. Instead, you are required to have 1 committee Chair. Typically, this is the current Program Director for the MS Biology - Coursework & Capstone program: Dr. Stephen Pratt. However, if you are working on a capstone project under the guidance of another SOLS faculty member, it may be appropriate to add them as your committee Chair. Please contact your academic advisor or sols.grad@asu.edu if you would like guidance on this matter.

Adding new or external committee member(s)

If you have an external individual you would like to add to your committee or someone internal that does not have approval yet, please fill our the faculty committee request form by clicking the button below. In order to submit your request, you will need an up to date CV or resume of the individual you are requesting approval for, their date of birth if they are not ASU personnel, or their ASU ID number if they are ASU personnel. Once you submit your request via this form, the SOLS Graduate Office will route it through the necessary channels for approval including Program Directors, the Graduate Associate Director, and the Graduate College. You'll be notified once approved so you can then update your iPOS accordingly.