PhD Advisory Committee Information PhD Advisory Committees are chosen in the first year, usually in the summer. The members of your Advisory Committee should be viewed as an additional resource as you pursue your graduate research. Rules governing committee structure are provided below. The composition of the committee must be formalized with an Advisory Committee Form, which should be completed in GradStatus. The submission will then be forwarded to the Graduate Coordinator for approval. Suggested Outline for Student Presentation Design (aim for 1-hour total meeting including time for interruptions) Background ~5 minutes Data ~20 minutes Future research goals ~ 2 minutes Professional development ~2 minutes Benchmarks/timeline goals ~1 minute Doctoral Committee Structure: A doctoral student advisory committee shall consist of a minimum of four members. The minimum number of Microbiology Faculty members will be 2, not including adjuncts. The major advisor must have a faculty appointment as a regular or adjunct member of the department. (These are departmental rules.) Additional Graduate School Rules There must be at least three members of the Graduate Faculty, including the major professor, who will serve as the chair of the committee. Additional voting members may be appointed to the committee and may include no more than one non-UGA faculty*, who must hold the terminal degree in their field of study. There must be greater than 50% UGA Graduate Faculty representation. *A voting non-UGA faculty member can only be appointed to the doctoral committee by recommendation of the graduate coordinator and the major professor and by final approval of the dean of the graduate school. The graduate coordinator must send a letter of appointment and vita of that person along with the Advisory Committee form. It must be explained why the services of the non-affiliated person are requested. The student and major professor should provide this explanation to the graduate coordinator. A person nominated must have distinguishing credentials in the field of study. A non-affiliated person appointed to a graduate student committee must attend meetings associated with the appointment. MS Advisory Committee Information MS Advisory Committees are chosen in the first year, usually in Spring semester. The members of your Advisory Committee should be viewed as an additional resource as you pursue your graduate research. Rules governing committee structure are provided below. The composition of the committee must be formalized with an Advisory Committee Form, which should be completed in GradStatus. The submission will then be forwarded to the Graduate Coordinator for approval. Master Committee Structure: The master degree student advisory committee shall consist of a minimum of three members. The minimum number of Microbiology Faculty members will be 2, not including adjuncts. The major professor must have a faculty appointment as a regular or adjunct member of the department. (The latter two rules are departmental requirements.) Additional Graduate School Rules The chair and at least one other member must be appointed members of the UGA Graduate Faculty. If more than three members are appointed to the committee, a majority of members must be UGA Graduate Faculty. A non-UGA affiliated person may serve as a non-voting member of the committee. Replacing A Committee Member: If you need to replace a committee member for any of a number of reasons, for example if he or she is absent from campus for extended periods of time during a critical phase of your graduate program, you may do so with the concurrence of your major professor, the Graduate Coordinator, and the Dean of the Graduate School. You will need to submit a new Advisory Committee Form in GradStatus.
