Establishing Communication with Your Doctoral Advisor

One of the most important relationships a candidate has going through a doctoral program is with his/her doctoral advisor. Therefore, it is incumbent upon students to actively communicate with faculty and research faculty’s areas of interest in order to develop and maintain a good relationship with their advisor, or it can help a student choose an appropriate advisor if they need to change for any reason (an interim advisor was assigned, or a new advisor is necessary).

• The advisor should have shared scholarly interests and compatible educational philosophies.
• 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, vitaes, and dissertations to develop a comprehensive understanding of faculty research agendas and personal compatibility.
• Mentorship is one of the primary roles of doctoral advisors; however, mentor characteristics are highly individualized and vary amongst faculty. Additionally, student expectations of their mentors are highly individualized and vary.
  • Students should understand their own needs and expectations from their 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, students should communicate with their advisors at minimum once per semester (a synchronous Zoom sessions is recommended, but at least an email is sufficient).

If you need to select an advisor, students 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 he/she advised a doctoral student before?
• Has he/she served as a doctoral committee chair?
• What are his/her expectations for doctoral students, e.g. frequency of meetings, presenting at conferences, publishing?
• Does he/she assist in finding and submitting to conferences?
• Has he/she published with doctoral students, be 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 a student works full time off campus and is primarily available via email, this might not be compatible with an advisor who expects frequent face-to-face communication. Transparency in communication preferences and expectations will help both students and advisors create a successful relationship.

A student may change advisors at any time. Some possible reasons for changing advisors include discovering a different professor with greater alignment to his/her research and educational philosophies, one’s 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 program area coordinator.