Forming a Thesis Committee

Forming a Thesis Committee Image

With a director in place, you can move to the task of requesting faculty to serve as readers on your thesis committee.  You need two readers.  Again, there is no formal process here for asking faculty to read, but you must select at least one reader from within the department.  If you opt to request a reader from outside the department, you must have that reader vetted and approved by your existing committee and the graduate director.

Readers do not expect to see the thesis until the draft is complete, and their role is secondary to that of your director. Readers generally will either approve your thesis and provide brief commentary; or, if he or she disapproves, will ask for specific revisions to be carried out before his or her approval is granted. Readers may want to discuss a thesis draft with the director, and may ask the director to incorporate the reader’s observations into his or her own comments to the student in order to simplify the process of giving and getting feedback. Some readers are more involved and anxious to give feedback. It varies from reader to reader. That said, you should expect that your thesis readers will want to see a completed draft of your thesis by the end of the first week of the last full month of the semester in which you’re finishing the thesis—so, April for spring graduates or November for fall graduates. At that time, you should provide each of your readers with a hard copy of your manuscript (do not send it as an email attachment unless the director and committee members have asked you to do so).