Step Three: Ongoing Committee Management and Assessment
Committee management and assessment is an ongoing process. Sometimes committees come together great, give great feedback, and everyone happily and successfully manages the process. Other times, things...don’t go that way.
So, keep evaluating the committee throughout the exam process and before you enter the dissertation phase. You can change committees at any time, and there are lots of good, legitimate reasons to change your committee (change in focus, problems wth personality, workstyle issues, etc.). You just need to keep working and evaluating so that you don’t stick with a group that’s no longer a good fit.
If you sense problems arising with any of the committee members during your exams, be sure to be open and honest about your concerns with your chair. See if the chair can help you resolve issues with communication or responsiveness; work on your own and with your existing contacts to develop relationships with scholars and experts outside of Mason if you feel more expertise is required on a technical or content area.
If you sense problems arising with your chair, do the best to manage those as they arise, but always be open to changing course there as well. No one should be offended by any change of committee or plan, but you just want to make sure that you make and break connections in a way that is professional. You are early in your career; avoid burning bridges.
For more advice, see Resources.
Back to Student Resources.
So, keep evaluating the committee throughout the exam process and before you enter the dissertation phase. You can change committees at any time, and there are lots of good, legitimate reasons to change your committee (change in focus, problems wth personality, workstyle issues, etc.). You just need to keep working and evaluating so that you don’t stick with a group that’s no longer a good fit.
If you sense problems arising with any of the committee members during your exams, be sure to be open and honest about your concerns with your chair. See if the chair can help you resolve issues with communication or responsiveness; work on your own and with your existing contacts to develop relationships with scholars and experts outside of Mason if you feel more expertise is required on a technical or content area.
If you sense problems arising with your chair, do the best to manage those as they arise, but always be open to changing course there as well. No one should be offended by any change of committee or plan, but you just want to make sure that you make and break connections in a way that is professional. You are early in your career; avoid burning bridges.
For more advice, see Resources.
Back to Student Resources.