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from Doctoral
Degree Requirements
Major Professor
The Major Professor serves as the student’s
advisor and mentor. Students should confer with the department to confirm the
internal process and timeline for the selection and appointment of the Major
Professor. The student must identify a major professor and receive that
person’s agreement to serve as major professor. The selection of the Major
Professor must be approved and appointed by the department as soon as possible,
but no later than the time the student has completed 50% of the program.
Students must have a major professor in order to maintain Satisfactory Academic
Progress. If a Major Professor cannot be identified or in the event a Major Professor
is unable or unwilling to continue serving on the student’s committee, the
student is responsible for finding another Major Professor. Students who are
unable to find a replacement Major Professor should confer with the Program
Director for available options. If no other options exist the student may be
requested to voluntarily withdraw from the program or may be honorably
withdrawn in good academic standing. The student and Major Professor should
plan a program of study which, when completed, will satisfy the degree
requirements specified. A copy of this program, signed by the student and
professor, should be maintained in the student’s department file.
Major Professors must meet the following
requirements:
- Be active in scholarly pursuits as evidenced by at least one referred publication
in the last three years.
- Be graduate faculty, as defined by the University. Faculty who do not meet this
definition may serve as Co-Major Professor with faculty who do
- Be engaged in current and sustained scholarly, creative, or research activities
and have met departmental (or equivalent) requirements
- Have been approved by the Department Chair (or equivalent) to serve as a Major
Professor or Co-Major Professor
The
membership of graduate faculty will be based upon criteria developed within the
appropriate program or department and approved at the college level. These
criteria must be forwarded to the Dean of the Graduate School.
In the event a Major Professor leaves the
University (i.e. for an appointment at another university, due to retirement,
etc.) and the Major Professor is willing to continue serving on the student’s
committee, the Major Professor then becomes a Co-Major Professor on the
committee and another faculty is appointed as the other Co-Major Professor. It
is important that one of the Co-Major Professors be accessible on the
university campus for the student to make satisfactory progress on the
thesis/dissertation. In the event a Major Professor is on temporary leave
(e.g. sabbatical, research, etc.); the Major Professor shall coordinate with
the Program Director to facilitate the needs of the student. In some instances
a student may choose to have two professors serve as Major Professor. In this
situation the faculty are approved as “Co-Major Professors” and jointly serve
in that role. Consequently both faculty must sign approval on paperwork
pertaining to the student’s processing (i.e. committee form, change of
committee form, admission to candidacy, etc.)
Appointment of a (Co)-Major Professor(s) may be rescinded by the Department Chair (or equivalent), with the approval of the appropriate Department (or equivalent) faculty committee (separate from student advisory committee.)
(Co-)Major Professor(s) of the Graduate Student Supervisory Committee
Responsibilities
Available on the Graduate School Website: http://www.grad.usf.edu/policies.asp
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