4. Program Advising
During your doctoral studies, the Graduate Group Chair (GGC) will serve as your overall advisor, assisting you in outlining a course of study, evaluating prior coursework for transfer credit and approving key performance milestones. In your first year, you should initiate meetings with Graduate Group faculty whose scholarly interests coincide with yours, aiming to formulate your examination areas and dissertation topic. You should begin these conversations early and, even though you may not have a fully developed dissertation proposal in mind, the process of discussing your ideas will aid in defining your research focus. To begin this exploration, the GCC will assign an advisor from the Graduate Group to you. You may select this advisor as your principal advisor or choose someone else during the first year.
By the end of your first year and with the approval of the GGC, you should ask one of the members of the Graduate Group to serve as your principal advisor to work with you to form your Examination and Dissertation Committees, groups that should be in place by the end of your second year (fourth semester). When you have reached an agreement with a faculty member to serve as your principal advisor, please send an email to them (copying the GGC), recording their willingness to accept this responsibility and asking for their confirmation via return email, copying all.
The Graduate Group monitors all doctoral students’ progress. It meets at the end of each academic year to review each student’s record. For those in coursework, it reviews their progress reports and evaluates their grade-point averages, Qualifying Examination status and rates of meeting the preparatory requirements. For candidates (those who have passed the Candidacy Examination), it reviews their progress reports that includes their dissertation schedules and performance. Any student not making satisfactory progress may be asked to withdraw from the program or be advised that such an action is under consideration. The GGC will notify a student in writing of any problems identified in the evaluation. Should you receive such a letter, you must contact the GGC to discuss remedies.
4a. Graduate Group Faculty Interests
PhD students develop their programs of study with faculty advisors based on common interests and approaches. Weitzman School of Design faculty who work closely with PhD students. You can find descriptions of Graduate Group members and their interests here.
