In evaluating the faculty you are considering for dissertation chair, you can use the following criteria: Availability Will that professor be available during the period you will be doing your research and writing the dissertation? Here, you consider not only the professor’s reputation for being available for conferences but also the professor’s academic plans. Is he or she coming up for a tenure or promotion review? If so, how will the review process and the ultimate decision affect availability? Is the professor planning a sabbatical? Is the professor close to retirement? Though some of these questions may be difficult to ascertain, knowing the answers to the questions above will increase the likelihood of your successfully completing your dissertation. Reputation for Responding Promptly and Constructively Some professors are notorious for delaying students inordinately. They sit on chapters for weeks without reading them. They demand needless and excessive revision. They change their minds often about what they expect in a chapter. In cases such as this, steer clear of such individuals. On the other hand, also avoid the professor who is considered too easy. Do not invite one who has low standards, who returns chapters without having read them carefully, who wants to process students instead of educating them as researchers. With such an individual, you may finish faster, but your work will not have the quality it would have had with a more demanding chair. Thus, your career advancement may be hindered upon review of your work once completed. This lack of quality may be viewed by future employers as part of your professional work product. Interest in Your Research Topic Your progress will be facilitated if your dissertation chair has a genuine and strong interest in what you are researching. The chair is more likely to devote special time and effort to dissertations on a topic that he or she considers important and relevant. Interpersonal Compatibility All other things being equal, it makes sense to work with a chair with whom you can relate. You will be working together for a year or more, and there is no point in working with someone who does not have much respect for you or is unreasonably impatient with your idiosyncrasies. Research Skills You want to be sure that at least one person on your committee has depth in the methodology you selected. If possible, choose a chair who has that depth. If the professor you are considering for chair meets all other criteria except this one, then you probably should still invite him or her to serve, knowing that you can find the methodological expertise in another committee member. Complementarity Does the chair complement you in important ways - can he or she give you what you need? In a sense, this may be the most important criterion. The student researcher and the dissertation chair are like a team in many respects: What the student lacks, the chair should be able to supply. As you think of yourself as a student researcher, what do you need most from your chair? Research know-how? Access to subjects? Help with your writing? Emotional support? Professional credibility? #prospectus #committee #dissertationcommittee #dissertationprospectus #researchproposal #dissertation #thesis #research #project #graduateprogra #prospectus #committee #dissertationcommittee #dissertationprospectus #researchproposal #dissertation #thesis #research #project #graduateprogram