Forming a Doctoral Program Committee

Deadline

The doctoral program committee must be recommended by the student's adviser and approved by the academic program's director of graduate studies and the Graduate School before one year has elapsed following the student's first registration as a doctoral student. The Qualifying Exam Results & Doctoral Committee Approval (D1) form (pdf) is due to the Graduate School office by the end of the student's second semester.

Changes to the Committee

Changes to the committee must be submitted on the Change of Committee form.

Duties of Members

All members of the doctoral program committee will be intimately involved and will actively participate in the activities of the doctoral student at all the stages of the student's career at MU, except the qualifying examination/process. The committee also may participate in the assessment of a student's background and potential for success in the academic program's doctoral program. Committee members may call a meeting of the full committee at any time to discuss the student's progress.

Membership Requirements

The doctoral program committee shall be composed of a minimum of four members of the MU graduate faculty and will include at least three members from the student's doctoral degree program and an outside member from a different MU program. At least two of the doctoral committee members must be MU doctoral faculty.

Additional committee members with specialized expertise who do not meet the criteria for the MU graduate faculty or doctoral faculty may serve on a doctoral committees as a fifth or sixth member, with special permission of the vice provost/dean of the Graduate School. (Note: This policy is effective for students who begin their doctoral programs during the Fall 2005 Term. For students who began their doctoral programs before the fall 2005 semester, consult the appropriate catalog or the Graduate School.)

Graduate Committee Membership for Jointly Appointed Faculty

Chapter 320 of the Collected Rules and Regulations for the University of Missouri requires that all jointly appointed faculty members will have a designated Primary Appointment and Primary Department as well as affiliation with one or more Involved departments or units. These affiliations affect membership status of jointly appointed faculty on graduate student committees as follows:

Committee Chair/adviser

A faculty member may serve as adviser/committee chair when their Primary Appointment is in the graduate student's home academic program. When the graduate student's home academic program is the Involved academic program for a jointly appointed faculty member, they may serve as chair/adviser with the approval of the director of graduate studies from the student's home academic program.

Committee Member

A faculty member can serve only as an Internal Member when his or her Primary Appointment is in the graduate student's home academic program. When a graduate student's home academic program is the Involved academic program for a jointly appointed faculty member, he or she may serve as either an Internal or External Member of the committee.

Graduate Committee Membership for Adjunct Faculty

Adjunct Faculty may serve as a Committee Chair or Committee Member only in academic programs in which they are appointed and approved for Graduate or Doctoral Faculty membership as appropriate for the student's degree (master's or doctoral). Service on graduate committees outside the academic program in which they are appointed requires a recommendation by the director of graduate studies from the student's home academic program and approval by the vice provost for advanced studies and dean of the Graduate School.