Dissertation, Thesis, and Field Study Committees

Introduction

Herein is a general description of the responsibilities and membership of the committees supporting Theses, Field Studies, and Dissertations. In principle, the description is considered a general guideline from the College of Graduate Studies. In some circumstances for specific graduate programs, additional responsibilities and Graduate Faculty Status criteria may be warranted. Minimally, all committees are composed of at least three (3) members with no specific limit on the maximum number of members.

Charge

Each member of the committee is responsible for supporting the graduate student in pursuit of a quality manuscript containing relevant content impacting the discipline. Additionally, committee members are responsible for ensuring original work was produced by the graduate student. Should graduation requirements necessitate an exit exam, then the committee members for responsible for crafting the exam, execution of the exam, and evaluation of the graduate student’s performance. The chairperson of the committee is ultimately responsible for the organization of necessary meetings, dissemination of materials needed to evaluate the graduate student’s performance, and forms required to satisfy graduation requirements.

Membership

The chairperson of the committee must be a faculty member of APSU and meet or exceed the minimum expectations of Graduate Faculty Status criteria. All but one (1) committee members must be APSU employees and met or exceed the expectations for Graduate Faculty Status. Only one (1) person on the committee may be a non-APSU employee, however, this person still must have credentials and/or professional experiences aligned with his/her specific role(s) on the committee. Any exception to the Graduate Faculty Status criteria must be approved using the Exception for Faculty Credentials Form.