Supervisory Committee
Forming your Supervisory Committee
Students should form their supervisory committees before the end of the fall term of their first year. As soon as you have your committee in place, send the member list to Nancy Riddell (pnbgrad@mcmaster.ca). Students should 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 Progress Report deadline.
- Graduate Work Supervision Guidelines for Faculty and Students (SGS Guidelines)
- 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 this information 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 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 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 then update the Plan on subsequent committee meetings. You should include an updated copy of your Plan of Study with each Progress Report.
Each time your Plan of Study is updated you can enter the changes online: