Dissertation Committee

Dissertation Sponsors

Students usually select their dissertation sponsor and committee members while enrolled in the dissertation seminar in the third year. They typically choose a faculty member with whom they have already collaborated — an academic advisor, practicum supervisor, or mentor in some other type of research capacity. Though the transition from faculty advisor to dissertation sponsor is not formalized until the dissertation proposal is approved, students are encouraged to discuss their dissertation ideas in depth with their selected sponsor during the third year.

No faculty member may sponsor a dissertation unless the Doctoral Program has nominated him or her to GSAS and he or she has been approved by GSAS. Current approved dissertation sponsors can be found listed on the GSAS Website.

Faculty members sponsor dissertations in their own specialized field of current research interest as well as in related subjects in which they have adequate command of pertinent literature and/or research methodology.

Students should receive continuous supervision from their dissertation sponsors. Ordinarily, sponsors are expected to read chapters or groups of chapters in progress rather than only a complete draft of the dissertation. The approved proposal should provide readers with a sense of the whole in order to make the review of drafts of individual chapters valuable. Faculty members should provide written or oral responses on drafts within a reasonable time period. Generally, during the academic year, three weeks to a month should be sufficient time. A full draft of a dissertation should generally be responded to within one to two months of receipt of the material.

While absence from campus during summer months may cause some delay, sponsors should try to continue to provide some supervision. When on leave, sponsors should arrange for continued, regular supervision of doctoral students whose dissertations they are sponsoring. If not possible, the sponsor should ensure that during his/her absence, the second reader will assume primary responsibility for such supervision during the period in which the sponsor cannot be reached.

The Dissertation Committee

A key step in every student's dissertation process is to assemble a dissertation committee. There are five members of the dissertation committee — the dissertation sponsor, the dissertation Chair, a second reader, and two outside examiners. The committee evaluates both the student's dissertation proposal and the completed dissertation. There are specific guidelines to follow in forming the committee:

1. A minimum of three of the five committee members, including the sponsor, must be members of the “Faculty of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences”, or GFAC. Faculty listed among the GFAC have been nominated by their departments or schools, and their presence on this list indicates that they are actively engaged in mentoring roles with graduate students (as advisors, dissertation sponsors, etc.). For a current list of GFAC faculty in the School of Social Work and other schools, please visit the GSAS Website.
    
2. A minimum of three of the five committee members must be School of Social Work faculty. They need not be the same three that are GFAC members. The most senior CUSSW faculty member on the committee serves as the dissertation Chair, while the third CUSSW faculty member (who is neither the Chair nor the sponsor) is designated second reader.
    
3. A minimum of one of the five members must be Columbia University faculty outside the School of Social Work. Occasionally, when the necessary expertise is unavailable among Columbia faculty, one external committee member may be from another university. In order to be eligible to serve on a student's dissertation committee, such examiners must be approved by the Dissertation Office.

Further details on GSAS dissertation committee policies can be found on the following page.

In this case, students should determine whether the potential committee member has served on dissertation committees at Columbia. If so, their curriculum vitae should be in a database at the Dissertation Office, and the Doctoral Office can confirm this. If not, the student must obtain a curriculum vitae from the potential committee member and submit it to the Doctoral Office, who will then contact the Dissertation Officer for review and approval.

Students should plan ahead in assembling their committees. Many faculty serve on numerous committees, so it is to the student’s advantage to secure commitments early. While students are responsible for forming their committee, the Doctoral Chair and Doctoral Office can assist them.