Supervisory Committee
Forming your Supervisory Committee
Students should form their supervisory committees before the end of the fall term of their first year, and aim to hold their first supervisory committee meeting before the end of April in the winter term of their first year. This is important so that your committee can provide guidance prior to the first Progress Report deadline on May 15th.
- Graduate Work Supervision Guidelines for Faculty and Students (SGS Guidelines)
- PNB Supervisory Committee Guidelines (additional PNB Guidelines)
Once your supervisory committee is formed, please complete the Plan of Study form to record the composition of your committee. This is very important because committee membership must be entered into the McMaster School of Graduate Studies system.
- Note that the Plan of Study form serves multiple purposes, of which submitting committee membership is just one.
- Plan of Study form
Supervisory Committee Meetings
Your first supervisory committee meeting should occur before end of April of your first year. Subsequent to the first year, every student must hold a supervisory committee meeting once every year, at minimum. The deadline for these annual meetings is November. Each meeting is documented via the Supervisory Committee Meeting Form. Complete all the relevant student sections and bring one copy of the form to your committee meeting. Your supervisor, in consultation with the other members of your committee, will complete the remaining sections. The completed and signed form is then submitted to the PNB Graduate Administrative Assistant, Nancy Riddell.
Note that these instructions will change somewhat when the Supervisory Committee Meeting Form is converted to an electronic form which will be completed online, through a portal provided by the School of Graduate Studies. We think this will be ready soon! (I am dating this prediction on May 3, 2018 ...) We will update this link when the online form is ready. Meanwhile, use this paper form:
Plan of Study
The PNB Plan of Study does two things:
- Records the composition of your supervisory committee.
The PNB Plan of Study provides a structure to plan required courses, comprehensive exam, and modules. It is worked out in consultation with your supervisory committee, and should be approved by your committee and the graduate chair. We suggest that your start the Plan of Study conversation at your first committee meeting, and update the Plan on subsequent committee meetings. It is useful to review your Plan of Study at each supervisory committee meeting.
- Each time you update your Plan of Study you can enter the changes online:
- Plan of Study form
The Plan of Study will ask you for:
- The composition of your supervisory committee.
- Specific plans to fulfill the required courses and the Comprehensive Exam.
The PNB Masters degree requires the following courses:
- Statistics (PSYCH 710, half course = 1 term = 3 units)
- Contemporary Problems (PSYCH 720, full course = 2 terms = 6 units)
The PNB PhD degree requires the following courses:
- Statistics (PSYCH 710, half course = 1 term = 3 units)
- Contemporary Problems (PSYCH 720, full course = 2 terms = 6 units)
- Two Advanced Statistics (PSYCH 711 and 712, quarter courses = 6-7 weeks = 1.5 units each)
- Two Independent Study Modules (PSYCH 713 and 714, quarter courses = 6-7 weeks = 1.5 units each)
- One additional half course (1 term = 3 units)
- Comprehensive Exam
The advanced statistics courses, independent study modules, comprehensive exam topic(s), and additional half course should be chosen with the aim of achieving a reasonable balance between breadth of knowledge across the relevant discipline and depth of knowledge within the student's sub-discipline of specialization.
Progress Reports
This link will take you to a detailed description of Progress Reports, which are due every year on May 15th.