Thesis advisory committee

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 on 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.

All changes to the composition of the thesis advisory committee requires a resubmission of the committee appointment form.

When a student transfers from MSc to PhD, the committee appointment must be re-approved and may need to be revised according to the regulations.

Meetings with the thesis advisory committee provide an opportunity for discussion and documentation of a student’s progress in their program. The intent is to provide the student with appropriate support and ensure timely and successful completion of the graduate program.

In Pharmacy, meetings with the thesis advisory committee follow a regular schedule and must be documented using the corresponding thesis advisory committee meeting report.

The committee appointment must be fully approved before members participate in formal meetings. The grad coordinator will notify the supervisor and student when the committee appointment has been approved.

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 meet type are set, send an email to phrlobby@uwaterloo.ca to book a room, if needed. 
   2. PHR 7007 is generally used for grad meetings and is the only room equipped for 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 2, above). 
   2. Student is 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 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 supports 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 support of the grad coordinator. For details about the thesis proposal, refer to the relevant section of the student handbook.   

Annually - Annual thesis advisory committee 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.  

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. 

Following each annual thesis advisory committee meeting, students are assessed in the following areas:

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

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 (excellent/satisfactory/unsatisfactory) along with any comments, as recorded on the thesis advisory committee report form once it is fully signed and approved.

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 recommended for a program transfer (e.g. from MSc to PhD)
  • transfer recommendations should only be made if student progress is consistently excellent 

Any time unsatisfactory progress is indicated, in any area:

• all questions, concerns, and difficulties must be noted with corresponding corrective measures that are required by the student
• an ‘action plan’ outlining what the student is expected to do with a specified date of completion must be included
• unsatisfactory reports must be additionally approved by the Associate Dean of Science for Graduate Studies. 

Examples of unsatisfactory progress:

• 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.