Graduate Faculty Mentoring

For Thesis/Dissertation Chairs

General Chairing Responsibilities

While every mentor/mentee relationship will look different, here are some guidelines for best practices.

When a faculty member considers chairing a student’s thesis or dissertation, they should talk to the student about work habits.

For example, the faculty member should let the student know how often the faculty member responds to emails. The student should share their work habits with the potential chair. Things students and potential chairs should discuss: how will the potential chair view and support the student’s work? How will the potential chair’s epistemology affect their reading of the student’s work? I.e. How well do the potential chair’s values match up with the student’s? If the potential chair subscribes to any specific schools of thought that might inform how they read a student’s work, then the student should know that from the onset.

Once a faculty member agrees to chair a student’s thesis or dissertation, they should start meeting together at least once a month until the thesis/dissertation is defended. If the faculty member is not going to meet or at least chat/email over the summer, they should let the student know. If possible, monthly communication over the summer between the student and chair is encouraged.

Meetings between the student and chair could happen in lots of ways. If possible, meetings should be held on campus during regular business hours (9:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m). There may be times when the student and chair need to be flexible about this, but chairs should try their best to meet these criteria to set a good standard for professionalism and boundaries for the student.

As part of these meetings, the chair should be sure to communicate with the student on the following:

  • Forming a thesis/dissertation committee (refer below for more advice)
  • Forming Thesis/dissertation ideas. Many students are often confused and uncertain about how to come up with a thesis topic, and a mentor can play a key role in guiding them through this process and introducing them to faculty who can help them, depending on their research interests.
  • Drafting a thesis/dissertation. Including the differences between Plan A or Plan B thesis (for master’s students) and the differences between an article-based dissertation and a monograph for PhD students.
  • Developing a thesis/dissertation timeline (based on student’s specific academic plan). Best practice is to schedule the thesis/dissertation defense as soon as possible for early March in their last semester.
  • Working with IRB processes (if applicable) If, in your thesis conversations, it sounds like your mentee might be interested in pursuing a project that requires IRB approval, you should alert them to this and make them aware of what the IRB process is and what it involves.
    • Chairs can also direct students to faculty who have experience with IRB approval (e.g., Afsane Rezaei, Jared Colton, Lisa Gabbert, Joyce Kinkead, Rebecca Walton, Ryan Moeller, Avery Edenfield)
  • Professionalizing as a graduate student including professional behavior in academic spaces like conferences (refer below for more advice)

A student’s chair will be an integral part of the students’ academic career. Faculty members should work to empower their mentees to make their own decisions and take confidence in those decisions in their graduate career. While the mentoring relationship is a wonderful way to provide advice and support, faculty members should make sure that they are also encouraging students to think and act independently and provide them with opportunities to listen to advice and then make their own decisions.

Helping Form a Committee

Once a faculty member has agreed to chair a thesis/dissertation, they should also be helping the student find committee members.

This might happen in a lot of ways, but chairs should work to help their students talk about their thesis with other people, and coach them on how to ask faculty members to be part of their committee. To facilitate these conversations, the chair might consider an email to introduce their student to faculty members in the English department or a department related to their scholarly interests whom they have not met before.

Help prepare the student for these introductions by discussing useful questions and conversation topics that will be productive for meeting a new faculty member or colleague. For example, chairs should help the student prepare their “elevator pitch,” or how to discuss their research in two minutes or less (i.e., balancing information with conciseness).

Planning for a Thesis/Dissertation Defense

Going into a students’ final year, chairs should remind their student to speak with the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) to ensure that they have the necessary paperwork completed to graduate. There are multiple forms to fill out in a timely matter; chairs should refer to the academic forms for graduate students for an idea of how much paperwork each student must complete to graduate.

Chairs should help their student plan a defense date in early March, if possible, to ensure they will be able to graduate on time.

Students should not have many revisions after a successful defense—little if any, really. The thesis chair should have read and approved the version of the thesis that is being sent to the rest of the committee for the defense. Most of the coaching should happen before the defense and before the other members of the committee read the thesis/dissertation. The thesis/dissertation sent to the committee should be a polished document. The thesis/dissertation should be sent to the rest of the committee at least two weeks (preferably 3-4 weeks for dissertations) before the scheduled defense date.

Thesis Chair Checklist

The checklist below will be given to faculty when they agree to chair a thesis. Ideally, a student establishes their thesis chair, forms their thesis committee, and writes their proposal before the end of their first year in the graduate program. This will not always happen. You may need to adapt the checklist below due to the student’s needs. For example, if you do not agree to chair their thesis until their third semester, then each task in the first year will need to happen as soon as possible. It is still very possible for your student to finish on time, even if they don’t get this process started until their third semester. So don’t panic! 

After agreeing to chair a student’s committee, you need to do the following within their first year: 

  • Begin meeting with your student at least monthly.
  • Help the student choose additional committee members as soon as possible.
    • Remember that two members of the committee come from within the student’s program while one member must come from outside the student’s program. Ideally, choosing committee members happens early in the student’s second semester. 
  • Once committee members are chosen, instruct the student to complete their Supervisory Committee Approval Form (SCAF) with the DGS as soon as committee members are chosen. Ideally, this happens mid-second semester.  
  • Advise the student in writing their thesis proposal, usually a 7-12 page document, depending on the predicted length of the thesis.
    • This proposal usually includes an introduction to the project topic, a lit review, the student’s project exigence, timeline for project, etc. The area of interest and the committee’s preferences will impact what the proposal looks like. For example, a creative writing proposal will look different than a folklore proposal.
  • Once the student’s proposal is in good shape, send it to the other committee members and schedule a proposal approval meeting where the committee can give the student feedback and writing advice. There is no form required for this meeting to take place. Meeting in-person is encouraged but meeting over Zoom is permitted.
  • After the committee verbally approves the thesis proposal, instruct your student to contact the DGS to complete the Thesis Proposal Approval form, which requires the student to submit an abstract; if IRB approval is necessary, discuss this with your student. Thesis credits cannot be registered for until this is done. Ideally, this happens by the end of the second semester.  
  • Be sure to discuss summer communication expectations with your student.
    • Many faculty members are on 9-month contracts and should not be expected to maintain communication about the thesis over the summer; however, some thesis chairs may want to check in with the student a few times because it can make starting back in the fall a smoother process.

The second year requires the following: 

  • Continue meeting with your students at least monthly, though meetings may be more or less frequent given the stage of the project.
  • The student should start drafting their thesis by the beginning of their third semester, so that they have a completed draft by early in their fourth semester. Have your student contact graduate program assistant Jenny Mansfield for thesis formatting guidance.
  • Encourage the student to attend at least one thesis information session from the Graduate School (available online and in-person), as well as the monthly graduate student information sessions with the DGS, where thesis processes, requirements, and forms will be discussed regularly.
  • Once you think their thesis is ready for defense (i.e., you anticipate minimal revisions, if any), contact the other committee members to schedule the defense. Try to hold your student’s defense the first half of March of their fourth semester.
  • If your student is not close to a defensible thesis by the end of February/early March, then contact the DGS to discuss an alternate schedule of events.
  • Advise your student to contact the DGS in order to schedule the defense using the Appointment for Examination form, which also must be submitted to the graduate school at least 10 business days before the defense date. The other members of the committee should receive a copy of the thesis to read at least two weeks in advance of the defense date.
  • Once the student defends successfully, you must inform the DGS in an email. A Record of Examination (ROE) form will then be sent around to the student and committee to be signed.
  • Once students have defended their thesis and completed any required revisions, they must submit the thesis to the graduate school and/or Digital Commons.
    • Instruct your student to contact graduate program assistant Jenny Mansfield for more information. Jenny will guide the student through the formatting and submission process.
  • Advise your student to continuing working with the DGS to complete all forms required for graduation. After the graduate school has been informed of your student’s successful defense, they will send your student a graduation checklist. Please advise your student to complete the items on the list as soon as possible. You may be asked to (digitally) sign additional post-defense documents as part of this checklist, so continue to check your email. 
  • Finally, remember that your student is taking thesis credits with you listed as the instructor of record. You may even need to submit a grade for a previous semester if the student took thesis credits before the current semester. P/F/T are your options: pass/fail/temporary. If you have a student taking thesis credits in the fall who has not finished their thesis, award them a T grade until their thesis is successfully completely and defended. (Note: The thesis credits in Spring will not show up in your regular list of courses to grade, so you will need to use Service Now to change the thesis grade from a T to a P in Spring.)

General Mentoring Advice

Communication with Students

  • As a faculty mentor, faculty may remind students (if applicable) that faculty members are on a nine-month contract, especially if they will not be able to respond to emails during the summer months.
  • If faculty members don’t reply to a student’s email within a few days (excluding weekends), a student should feel comfortable sending a reminder email to them, and faculty members should communicate this to their student.

Helping Students to Find a Balance Between Teaching and Scholarship

Our graduate students who are also instructors often struggle with finding a balance between the demands of teaching and the demands of their coursework and research.

Faculty members should emphasize that graduate students are students first (though obviously, their teaching is very important as well!). For GIs, teaching should be 50% of their time. Chairs should listen to the students they are working with and invite them to talk about their struggles and strategies when it comes to balancing their teaching and scholarship. The better time management they have, the better they’ll be able to write a strong thesis/dissertation.

Of course, any specific questions about teaching ENGL 1010/2010 should be directed to the Director of Composition.

Advising on Courses and Registration

The DGS will make sure that students are taking the courses needed to graduate; however, you should welcome the chance to be involved in these decisions, especially with electives, internships, etc.

Students may ask for advice on which electives will be most helpful to their graduate career and you should offer what you feel comfortable saying about which courses may be helpful.

Encourage Students to Present Their Work at Conferences

As appropriate, encourage your graduate students to present their work before they graduate, whether locally at USU, regionally, or nationally; for PhD students, encourage them to attend at least three national academic conferences during their time in the program.

If your students are presenting, consider supporting them in the following ways:

  • Give some feedback on proposals for conferences
  • Provide general advice for presenting and networking at the conference
  • Talk to students about the conferences that you regularly attend and share your own experiences of applying to conferences and writing conference papers, providing examples of your proposals, abstracts, and conference papers
  • Help students locate conferences and CFPs in their areas of interest, pointing them to useful websites, listservs, etc.
  • Host a “practice session” for students to give conference presentation(s) and provide feedback and advice.
    • You might talk to the DGS and others about hosting a larger, collective “practice session” if there are several students who have a conference coming up.

Students should reach out to the DGS for information on what is currently available for funding for academic conferences.

Career Goals and Planning

Talk to your students about their career goals—what do they want to do after they graduate? How can they focus their coursework and thesis/dissertations in ways that will prepare them for these career goals?

You might provide students with resources for exploring careers, which might include getting them in touch with alumni or former students and colleagues, introducing them to the resources available at Career Services, and others, such as exploring opportunities for jobs, fellowships, and internships.

In particular, if a master’s student is applying to PhD programs directly after graduating with their master’s degree, applications can be due as early as December of their second year, and they should begin preparing their applications as soon as possible. Please help them on their materials in the fall; provide feedback on letters of intent and writing samples, and advise them on soliciting recommendations, for example.