The Committee on Studies

As soon as the first or second semester in the program, you choose three of the department's tenure-track faculty members (Assistant, Associate or Full Professors) to serve as your primary advisors during the first phase of your degree. They advise you each semester about course selection. They also set and grade your Comprehensive Examinations, which means that they are typically specialists in the fields you have selected. You may have an additional member from outside the department, if you wish. Often, but not always, these same faculty members serve later on your Dissertation Committee.