Thesis advisory committee & meetings

In the first term of your program, your supervisor will appoint a thesis advisory committee, subject to minimum requirements for your program and university regulations. Thesis advisory committees assists supervisors in their role of monitoring and mentoring graduate student research. Committee members should be reasonably accessible to the student to fulfill the commitment of the thesis advisory committee, which includes: 

• providing advice and recommendations on student research 
• helping to monitor and report on student progress throughout the graduate program
• formally meeting with the student on an annual basis
• serving on the thesis proposal examining committee
• serving on the thesis defence committee 
• PhD committee members may also be requested to serve on the PhD comprehensive examination committee (appointed separately and subject to approval)

The thesis advisory committee is not a substitute for overall supervision of the student; members are not normally expected to assist in experimental design, editing of materials, or other direct support (i.e. unless they are collaborators in the research and recognized as such).  See roles and responsibilities of advisory committees for information.

In alignment with university regulations, the Thesis Advisory Committee must include

• the student's supervisor (or co-supervisors),
• at least two additional faculty members, including:
  • one additional full faculty member of the School of Pharmacy
  • one additional full-time faculty member from the University of Waterloo

Additional members, internal or external to the university, who possess expertise that adds value to the student's research may be included in the committee as non-voting members.

• Involvement of any adjunct appointee requires approval.
• Approval of an adjunct appointee is based on their research productivity and mentoring experience.
• Involvement of more than one adjunct appointee requires special permission.
• Additional members will not normally be voting members of the committee (and do not participate in formal evaluation of the student's academic progression). 
  • Exceptions may be granted by the Associate Dean of Science for Graduate Studies, at the request of the student and the supervisor(s).

When selecting members of the PhD Thesis Advisory Committee, supervisors should also consider the composition requirements of the PhD Thesis Examining Committee, as outlined in the PhD thesis examination regulations.

Appointment of the Thesis Advisory Committee

Within the first month of the program

• The student should be introduced to the first member of the committee (other than the supervisor or co-supervisors).
  • This person will be a full faculty member of the School, who can assist the student if difficult situations arise in the absence of the supervisor(s) and who may chair thesis advisory committee meetings.
  • Discussion of the project at this point is purely between the supervisor and the student.

Within the first term

• The thesis advisory committee is established by the supervisor in consultation with the student.
  • The student and supervisor should complete and submit the Pharmacy thesis advisory committee appointment form to the administrative coordinator for graduate studies and research (grad coordinator) for approval.
  • The grad coordinator will manage obtaining the necessary approval signatures 
• The first formal meeting of the advisory committee is held (see meeting schedule for details). All changes to the composition of the thesis advisory committee require a re-submission of the committee appointment form.

Changes to the thesis advisory committee

Any modification to the thesis advisory committee requires approval through the submission of a revised appointment form. Examples of such revisions include:

• Addition or removal of a co-supervisor 
• Addition or removal of a regular member of the thesis advisory committee

When a student transitions from an MSc to a PhD program, the advisory committee appointment must be re-approved to ensure compliance with university regulations regarding PhD thesis advisory committee membership.

Thesis proposals and defences have different scheduling procedures. Refer to the relevant sections of the handbook for details. 

1. Confirm the availability of your supervisor and committee members 

   1. Contact your supervisor and the members of your thesis advisory committee to confirm their availability; students may find it helpful to use a free online poll such as Doodle.com.
   2. Meetings may be held in person, remotely, or hybrid, and should support the student's bests interests.

2. Book a room

   1. Once the meeting date, time and meeting type (i.e., in person, remote, or hybrid) are determined, email phrlobby@uwaterloo.ca to book a room, if needed. 
   • PHR 7007 is generally used for grad meetings and is equipped to support hybrid meetings. 

3. Confirm the meeting

   1. At least 2 weeks ahead of the meeting, the student should send a meeting invitation to committee members through Outlook/Teams, and cc to the grad coordinator.
   2. For hybrid meetings, send an IT request for training/support using the hybrid equipment, at least one week ahead of your meeting.

4. Prepare your thesis progress presentation or report

   1. Typically, students will provide an update on their research progress via a presentation or other form of report. Prior to scheduling your meeting, students should discuss expectations with your supervisor. 
   2. A copy of the student's research progress report should be sent to the grad coordinator (either ahead of the meeting or directly following the meeting) to be added to the student's electronic record, as evidence of their academic progress.   

5. Prepare the meeting report form

   1. The advisory committee will assess student progress on the Annual Thesis Advisory Committee Meeting - Student Progress Report. A fillable copy of the form will be provided to the student upon confirmation of the meeting (see step 3, above). 
   2. Students are responsible for completing the student information and advisory committee membership sections of the form and sending it to the supervisor and committee members along with the thesis progress report ahead of the meeting.
   3. The completed report form should be emailed to the grad coordinator following the meeting; the grad coordinator will send the form for signatures using ConsignO Cloud. 

The student progress report form should be completed electronically. Manually completed forms will need to be scanned and sent as a pdf file for processing. 

Term 1 - First meeting

The first formal meeting of the student and the advisory committee should take place before the end of the first term. Any deferrals of the first meeting must be approved by the graduate officer; if approved, the first meeting must take place at the beginning of the second term.

The goal of the first meeting is to ensure that the initial planning between supervisor and student has produced a framework that is on track and that the student has support in place. It is not necessary that a project is fully defined and planned, but there should be a plan sufficient to convince all members of the committee that the project and overall course plan:

• is feasible;
• will have scope and depth suitable to lead to a successful degree;
• is structured so that it fits within program time limits;
• is manageable for the student;
• meets the standards of the graduate program.

Term 2 (MSc) or 3 (PhD) - Thesis proposal 

The thesis proposal is the second formal meeting of the advisory committee, and normally takes place in term two (MSc) or three (PhD) of the program.

• Thesis proposals have their own process and are coordinated with the support of the grad coordinator. For details about the thesis proposal, refer to the relevant section of the student handbook.   

Annual meetings

Subsequent meetings must occur at least once per year. Annual meetings provide an opportunity for the student to gain advice and recommendations on their research from members of the committee, and for the committee to formally assess the student’s progress. 

Students must prepare and provide a progress report (e.g. written report, slide presentation) to the advisory committee in advance of the meeting. A copy of the progress report should be sent to the grad coordinator (either ahead of the meeting or directly following the meeting) to be added to the student's electronic record as evidence of their academic progress.  

The PhD comprehensive examinations are a distinct milestone requirement and do not serve as a substitute for the annual meeting.

Additional meetings

Students should feel at liberty to consult their committee on a more casual basis, at any time!

More frequent meetings are required if there are ongoing concerns of any kind, including when students are beyond the normal program time limits. 

Progress of students who have been granted extensions will be reviewed every term. Program extensions may not be approved if the student has not had regular meetings with the advisory committee. 

Student research progress is assessed in the following areas:

• current understanding of the material
• ability to handle the discussion
• research progress
• overall progress   

For any unsatisfactory assessments, reports must detail:

• required corrective measures to address all questions, concerns, and difficulties;
• an ‘action plan’ outlining what the student is expected to do, with a specified date of completion included.

Progress reports should also note:

• any thesis title/topic changes
• any requests to program changes, including if a student is going from full-time studies to part-time studies, or any recommendations for a program transfer (e.g. from MSc to PhD)
  • transfer recommendations should only be made if student progress is consistently excellent

Upon conclusion of the meeting, the committee will deliberate and comment on the student's progress using the Annual Thesis Advisory Committee Meeting-Student Progress Report. Students will be notified of their academic progress and provided feedback as recorded on the thesis advisory committee report form once it is fully signed and approved. Unsatisfactory reports are reviewed by the Associate Dean of Science for Graduate Studies.

1. Students and supervisors who have not met their annual meeting requirement will be given a warning by email indicating that they have 4 months within which to hold a meeting, after which time they will be placed on conditional status (unofficial probation).
2. Once a student is on conditional status, the student has four months within which to schedule their annual advisory committee meeting and obtain a satisfactory report.   
   1. If the student fails to hold a meeting within this time, the supervisor will schedule a meeting to be held at the earliest availability of the committee.
      1. If the student does not attend the meeting as scheduled by supervisor, the student will be notified in writing that they are required to withdraw.
         1. The student may petition this decision through the petition process.
   2. If the student attends the meeting and obtains an unsatisfactory standing, they will be placed on probation for four months.  Between four and six months following probationary status, the student will have the opportunity to meet with the committee again to reassess their progress.
      1. If the committee deems the student’s progress satisfactory, the student is no longer on probationary/conditional status.
      2. If the committee deems the student’s progress to be unsatisfactory, the student may be required to withdraw.
3. All students who are behind will be provided information about resources to support their progression (accessibility, campus wellness, conflict management).

• Failing to achieve the minimum required grade (>70%) for “good standing” in course work.
• Failing a program milestone, such as the thesis proposal examination or comprehensive examination.
• Unsatisfactory progress reported by the advisory committee.

Potential consequences of unsatisfactory progress

1. Involvement of the graduate officer 
   • The advisor(s) and/or advisory committee may also bring concerns about a student’s academic progress to the attention of the student and, if appropriate, meet with the student and the graduate officer.
   • In such instances, the graduate officer in consultation with the advisor(s) will inform students, in writing, of their unsatisfactory progress and provide the student with an “action plan”; including a reasonable timeline outlining what the student must do to remedy the situation.
2. Student required to withdraw
   • Two consecutive unsatisfactory progress reports may result in requiring the student to withdraw from the program. 
   • Where the advisor feels that the student will have serious difficulties finishing the program, the advisor, in consultation with the advisory committee, will inform both the student and the Graduate Officer, in writing, of the nature of the problem(s), suggested remedies, and may recommend withdrawal from the program. 
   • If the committee recommends that the student withdraw, it must be noted on the thesis advisory committee meeting report that the committee "recommends to the Faculty Associate Dean, Graduate Studies, that the student be required to withdraw."
3. Voluntary withdrawal
   • A student may submit a completed change of enrolment status form (available on the graduate studies forms web page) to voluntarily withdraw from the program, if they are experiencing difficulties that prevent them from continuing their graduate studies.