Communicating with the Faculty Mentor & Research Advisor

One of the most important relationships that you’ll have while going through a doctoral program is with your faculty mentor(s) and eventually your research advisor (who may have served as a faculty mentor). Therefore, it is incumbent upon you to actively communicate with faculty about your areas of interest in order to develop and maintain a good relationship. Doing so can help a you find an appropriate advisor if a change is necessary for any reason.

Faculty mentor(s) will be your primary points-of-contact about research questions and topics of interest early in the program. Once you have an official advisor (and supervisory committee formed), they assume the role of faculty mentors.

• The mentors, and eventually the advisor, should have shared scholarly interests and compatible educational philosophies.
• ,Mentor characteristics are highly individualized and vary amongst faculty, but at the very least, they are expected to communicate with you when you reach out to them
• The doctoral advisor should be an active scholar, as defined by having a solid research agenda and evidence of recent published research studies.
  • Students are responsible for researching faculty and reading their publications, C.V.s, and dissertations to develop a comprehensive understanding of faculty research agendas and personal compatibility.
• Additionally, your expectations of your mentor(s) and advisor might be individualized and vary.
  • You should understand your own needs and expectations from your mentors and advisors, e.g. hands-on approach or hands-off approach, and seek an advisor with compatible expectations. Some students need/want significant advice throughout their program while others need/want less frequent advising. Know your needs and be sure that you advisor has compatible expectations.
  • Communication is vital to successful progression through the program; therefore, you should communicate with your mentors / advisor at minimum once per semester (a synchronous Zoom sessions is recommended, but at least an email is sufficient).

When you need to select a research advisor, you should get to know faculty through classes and other conversations in order to further understand research agendas, educational philosophies, and approaches to mentoring. Some questions to consider and/or ask of a potential advisor:

• Has you served as a doctoral committee chair?
• What are your expectations for doctoral students, e.g. frequency of meetings, presenting at conferences, publishing?
• Does you assist in finding calls for submissions to professional conferences?
• Have you published with doctoral students, are you willing to publish with doctoral students (and/or assist in the publication process)?
• What is the advisor’s preferred method of communication?
  • For example, if you work full time and you’re primarily available only via email, this might not be compatible with an advisor who expects frequent Zoom-based communication only within certain hours of the day. Transparency in communication preferences and expectations will help both students and advisors create a successful relationship.

You may change advisor at any time, but doing so after the Comp Exam can be complicated. Some possible reasons for changing advisors include discovering a different professor with greater alignment to their research and educational philosophies, the advisor resigns or retires, or the relationship simply is not working the way either intended or expected. To change your advisor, you can contact another faculty member directly OR you can contact the Research & Doctoral Programs coordinator.