Graduate Program Coordinator, Advisor & Advisory Committee

Thesis students will have an advisor and a committee member (or two co-advisors) to guide them through the program. By default, the Graduate Program Coordinator functions as the advisor for all students in the course-based option.

Please read the University of Guelph Policy on Responsibilities of Advisors, Advisory Committees and Graduate Students and Graduate Student-Advisor Mediation Procedures.

Your Advisor

If you are in the thesis program, you are expected to have secured a faculty advisor prior to admission to the program.

In the case that you wish to change advisors, it is your responsibility to secure a new advisor and to inform your former advisor of such changes. You should have a permanent advisor in place by January.

For students in the course-based option, the graduate program coordinator will act as your de facto advisor, monitoring your progress through the program.

Advisors are normally faculty members from either the Department of Political Science or Department of Sociology & Anthropology, though co-advisors may be from other departments or even other universities.

Committee Member

If you are in the thesis program, your committee member should be someone who is able to provide general feedback and guidance related to your area of research interest.

Normally, committee members are not as frequently engaged in providing guidance and feedback as your supervisor. Your advisor will help you to choose a committee member.

Committee members may be faculty members from the Department of Political Science or the Department of Sociology & Anthropology, faculty in other departments at the University of Guelph or even faculty in other universities.

Individuals who are not designated as "graduate faculty" at the University of Guelph must be designated as temporary graduate faculty for the purposes of advising, co-advising or being on a committee — the graduate program assistant and graduate coordinator can help facilitate this process.

Your advisory committee will help you find an external examiner for your thesis defence.

Forms and Meetings

When you have formed your committee, you must fill out the advisory committee form and the graduate degree program form by the end of February of your second semester.

This form must be electronically approved by your advisor, the graduate program coordinator, and yourself. When all approvals are present, copies of this form will be maintained in your department file and by the Office of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies.

All students must meet with their committee at least once per semester. However, students are encouraged to see their advisor more frequently.

While the CJPP graduate committee and, ultimately, the chairs of the Department of Political Science and the Department of Sociology & Anthropology are responsible for monitoring your program and progress, the day-to-day responsibility is delegated to you, your advisor and advisory committee.

The advisory committee has major responsibility for assessing your needs and in helping you develop your program and your timetable. At a more formal level, your committee reviews your progress and performance at the conclusion of each semester and reports to the CJPP graduate committee.

You will receive a copy of this progress report and a report of any recommendations made by your advisory committee, the graduate committee, or the department.

Changes to Advisory Committee or Plan of Study

As you progress through your program, there may be compelling reasons for you to modify your committee or course plan. You should not request changes without giving careful thought to their overall implications for completing your degree on schedule.

Any changes in your program should be made in close consultation with your advisory committee (thesis) or the graduate program coordinator (course-based). The proposed changes are then submitted to the graduate program coordinator for further disposition.

The Board of Graduate Studies will not allow you to register if you go beyond the specified time for completion, which for a full-time MA student is six (6) semesters, without a completed Plan of Study document.