Academic Services
Masters and Doctoral Committee Requirements
Both Masters and Doctoral committees must be made up of a minimum of three UC ladder faculty; two of which (including the Chair) must be from the students home department. Graduate Division reviews the eligibility of these first three members nominated to serve on thesis and doctoral committees. Any additional appointments of committee members past the first three is at the discretion of the student's department.
Any persons nominated to serve on or chair committees other than ladder faculty must be approved by Graduate Council. Affiliated faculty are considered to be members of that department and may be nominated to chair or serve as one of the first two required departmental members of a master's thesis committee or doctoral committee.
Faculty members from other UC campuses may serve as either a second or third member of a thesis or dissertation committee if they are members of the UC Academic Senate and are employed in roughly the same discipline at their home campus. Only one of the first three committee members can be from another UC.
- Students nominating committee members for their Master's Thesis must do so using a Master's Form I.
- Students nominating committee members for their Doctoral Committee must do so using a PhD Form I
Departments are asked to indicate the current title and department affiliation of every faculty member being nominated for committee service for either a thesis or doctoral committee when submitting the appropriate Form I to Graduate Academic Services. The Form I must be signed by the Department Chair and Graduate Advisor for the nomination to be acceptable (Masters Form I must also be signed by the Committee Chair).
For more information on who is and who isn't eligible to serve on a students committee consult the Graduate Handbook
Changes in Thesis or Dissertation Committees
Being that changes in committee membership are not unusual, students are to use a Committee Form I-A to add and/or delete committee members for either thesis or dissertation committees. Committee Form I-A is reviewed by Graduate Division staff and approved by the Dean. Students and departments must ensure that their committee forms are up-to-date; a degree cannot be awarded when the thesis or dissertation signature pages bear names different from the committee of record.