Dissertation Advisory Committee

Within six months of passing the Qualifying Examination, a student must select a research advisor and agree upon a research topic. The research advisor will request that the Department Chair nominate additional members of the Advisory Committee.

The dissertation advisory committee is composed of at least four members. It is permissible and desirable to have a highly qualified individual from outside of Stevens serve as a committee member. A Stevens faculty member from another department or program may also serve as an external member.

The Chair or Co-Chair of the committee must be a tenure-track, full-time professor, professor emeritus or a non-tenure track faculty member who has been approved by the Office of the Provost to serve as a Dissertation Advisory Committee Chair. The list of faculty approved to serve as Dissertation Advisory Committee Chair can be found on the Graduate Faculty Intranet page under Graduate Academics & Student Success. Generally, the student’s Dissertation Advisor serves as the Chairperson of the Dissertation Advisory Committee. The student and Dissertation Advisory Committee are required to meet at least once a year.

Doctoral students in an Interdisciplinary doctoral program are required to have 5 committee members. The committee must consist of 2 co-advisors, 1 member from outside of both programs but within Stevens, and 2 members from within each program.

Once the Dissertation Advisory Committee has been formed, the Doctoral Dissertation Advisory Committee Nomination Form must be completed and submitted to Graduate Academics & Student Success on Workday for final approval.