Advisory Committee Responsibilities

The expertise of advisory committee members typically complements the advisor's research area. The advisory committee's primary role is supporting the advisor's supervision of the graduate student. Additional responsibilities of the advisory committee include:

• Reviewing progress reports as required by the program; 
• Meeting with other committee members and the graduate student as required by the program or as determined mutually by the committee; 
• Providing timely feedback on drafts of research projects (e.g., MRP/thesis/dissertation proposal, MRP/thesis/dissertation chapters, manuscripts); 
• Being prepared to fulfill administrative tasks such as required paperwork for graduation, and where appropriate, letters of support and/or reference for award nominations, scholarships, and other scholarly endeavors for which the student requires the assessment of their advisory committee; 
• Being prepared to potentially take on a more active role should the primary supervisor not be able to continue in their role; 
• Determining whether the MRP/thesis/dissertation is ready for examination; 
• Participating in the defence of the comprehensive exam (as Dissertation Examining Committee), MRP/thesis/dissertation proposal and MRP/thesis/dissertation defence.