Role of the Advisor
The graduate advisor is a mentor for all aspects of the scientific and professional education of the student. This implies frequent, substantive interaction with the student. While the student is expected to contribute to the mission of the mentor's laboratory, research group or other scholarly activities, the mentor serves the student, not vice versa.
Requirements
- The advisor must be a full-time faculty member at the University of Maryland, College Park.
- The advisor must fulfill Graduate School requirements for supervision of graduate students.
- The advisor must be a NACS faculty member.
If the advisor ceases to be a member of NACS but remains on the University of Maryland, College Park faculty after matriculation of the student, the student may remain in the NACS program as long as he/she continues to meet all the requirements of the program.
If the advisor leaves the University of Maryland, College Park, the student must choose a new advisor willing to accept all the duties listed below. The former advisor can serve as co-advisor or as a committee member, if appropriate.
Duties
The primary role of the advisor is as scientific mentor to the student.
The advisor serves as chair of the student’s doctoral committee and is responsible for scheduling the required meetings.
The advisor tracks the student’s progress to insure that requirements of the program and of the student’s committee are completed in a timely manner.
The advisor assumes all other responsibilities typical of a graduate advisor in NACS and the home department.
Procedure for changing Advisors
The student may change advisors at any time, and in most cases, the student will make the transition before the qualifying examination. The student may make the change by discussing his/her wishes with both the former and proposed new advisor and submitting a written statement detailing the arrangements to the Graduate Director.
- For instances in which the student wishes to sever ties with his/her advisor before a new advisor has been identified, the student may prefer to discuss his/her plans with the Graduate Director, who can convey the change to the former advisor.
- If the student has not made arrangements for a new advisor, the Graduate Director will appoint an interim advisor for a period of no more than four months.
- It is the student’s responsibility to establish a working relationship with a formal advisor within this four-month period; failure to do so may result in the student’s dismissal from the program.
The student should provide a letter to the Graduate Director requesting a change of advisor and briefly stating the reasons.
The new advisor must indicate to the Graduate Director in writing that he/she is willing to have the student in his/her laboratory or research group and will assume all of the responsibilities of the advisor detailed above.
Approval by the Graduate Director is required for a change in advisor after a student has passed the qualifying examination. If the Graduate Director is either the student’s old or new advisor, the Graduate Director should turn over the approval decision to the Graduate Committee. The Committee may require additional information from all parties involved. If the student wishes to challenge the decisions of the Graduate Director or the Graduate Committee about advisor assignment, he/she may address concerns to the NACS Program Director.
For further information, contact:
Pam Komarek, Graduate Coordinator
2131 Biology-Psychology Building
University of Maryland
College Park, MD 20742
Phone: 301-405-8910
Fax: 301-314-9566
Email: NACS@umd.edu
Amanda Woodward, Graduate Director of NACS
Professor, Department of Psychology
2147B Biology-Psychology Building
