Doctoral & Master's Committees

Effective Fall 2021, Senate Regulation 715 regarding doctoral committee composition has been revised. The updated regulation applies only to UC San Diego PhD and DMA (SD 717) programs. The committee rules for Joint Doctoral Programs with San Diego State University, CSU San Marcos, and UC Irvine remain unchanged; they are still required to have a five member committee (with the exception of AuD and EdD committees, which remain as they are). A formal request to change the JDP committee rules would need to be submitted by both applicable campuses for UC San Diego Graduate Council review.

For a full description of the revised committee rules, please see the "In-Depth Committee Overview" link in the "Useful Links" section on the right. You may also view the relevant Senate documents here. The Senate website will be updated soon.

Master and Doctoral students should work with their faculty advisor/PI to form their thesis/dissertation committee and let their graduate coordinator know once it is ready for approval. The graduate coordinator will submit it in the Committee Membership tool for Graduate Division approval.

It is highly recommended to submit committees at least two weeks before the student's qualifying exam or defense. This gives ample time for the department chair and Graduate Division to review and approve of the committee.

Useful Links:

Basics of a Master (MA/MS) committee

The full rules are listed on our website.

There must be three UC San Diego faculty members.
At least two members must be from the student's home department/program.

Basics of a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) committee

There must be four UC San Diego faculty members.
Three members must be from the student's home department and one member must be from outside of the department, preferably tenured.

Basics of a Doctoral (PhD/DMA) committee

The full rules are listed on our website.

There must be four UC San Diego faculty members.
At least two members must be from the student's home department/program.
At least one member is tenured or emeritus.
At least one member must have their primary appointment in a different department than the committee chair. Note: faculty with evenly split appointments still have a primary appointment.

Joint Doctoral Program Committees

JDP rules vary by program. Please consult the program directly or contact Sara Miceli in the Graduate Division with any questions. Please refer to the JDP Committee Membership and Table document below, which lists the previous Senate Regulation 715 for 5 member committees.

Determining Faculty Eligibility for Committees

Faculty can serve on committees based on their official UCPath appointments. Faculty appointments can be verified in the committee tool via Committee → Faculty Title Lookup. This tool pulls UCPath appointment information for all faculty on campus.

Once the appointment has been verified, then the Committee Membership Table should be consulted. This table shows the roles and eligibility of faculty appointments. The Committee Membership Table refers to UC San Diego appointments and faculty.

To determine eligibility for individuals outside of UCSD, please refer to the table below:

Frequently Asked Questions

Questions about specific members and their eligibility should be sent to the appropriate Graduate Division advisor. The answers often depend on the specific student's committee composition and cannot be answered generally.

General Doctoral and Master's Committee Rules

Is there a committee table for Master committees?

There is only one committee membership table. Although the table is listed as "Doctoral Committee Membership Table", it is used for Master committees. The difference is that the column for "One of Four UCSD Members" should be applied as "One of Three UCSD Members" for Master committees.

Is there a committee table for JDP committees?

JDP committees will continue to use the former committee table prior to Fall 21. They will not be using the new committee table implemented in Fall 21. The former committee table can be accessed on our website or on this Collab page under "Joint Doctoral Program Committees."

What do I do if a faculty member does not pull in the tool?

Contact one of the Graduate Division advisors. We will verify the faculty's appointment in UCPath. Once the appointment has been confirmed, you can manually enter the faculty's information in the committee tool.

Will the Graduate Division consider any exception to the four UC San Diego committee members?

No. For example, if a student would like to have three UC San Diego faculty members and one UC faculty member, the student will be advised to select a fourth UC San Diego member.

When is a letter of exception needed?

Proposing a person to serve in a role s/he is ineligible for based on official job title. See the committee membership table. Example: a lecturer wants to serve as co-chair.

Proposing a person who has a job title that is not listed on the committee membership table. Example: a scientist or professor from a lab/institute; scientist from a university (no professorial title); individual outside of academia, like Google, etc.

Doctoral advancement exam taken before the committee was approved by Graduate Division.

Letters of exceptions are not needed for faculty at other academic institutions. A justification in the committee tool is sufficient.

What is needed for a letter of exception?

For an exception for a committee member outside of UC San Diego:

CV of the person being proposed.
A letter explaining how the person is a good fit for the committee and what efforts have been made to adhere to the campus requirements (i.e. an explanation of why the campus requirements cannot be met). It should be addressed to the Grad Division Dean, written by the Committee Chair and endorsed by the Department Chair or Vice-Chair (either on the letter itself or within the online tool). The letter can include, but is not limited to: what the person will contribute to the research, if currently collaborating with the student, and commitment to serving through the final defense.

For advancing to candidacy without an approved committee:

A letter explaining the situation. It should be addressed to the Grad Division Dean, written by the Committee Chair and endorsed by the Department Chair or Vice-Chair (either on the letter itself or within the online tool).

Exception letters and CVs should be uploaded as PDFs directly into the online committee tool.

How do I know if a professor is "Professor of Clinical X" or "Health Sciences Clinical Professor"?

Professor of Clinical X includes, but is not limited to, the following title codes: 1453, 1454, 1455. It appears in the Faculty Title Lookup tool as Prof of Clin (see abbreviated title section below).

Clinical Professor includes, but is not limited to, the following title codes: 1732, 1733, 1734, 2000, 2010 2020, 2030, 2040, 2050. It appears in the Faculty Title Lookup tool as HS Clin Prof (see abbreviated title section below.)

How do I know if a Research Scientist can be one of four members?

Research Scientists can only be one of four members (Doctoral) or one of three (Master's) if they also have a Lecturer or Educator appointment. The Lecturer/Educator appointment needs to be active, it cannot be pending approval. Both titles will be pulled up in the Faculty Title Lookup tool. If only the Research Scientist title is displayed it means there is no current Lecturer or Educator appointment and the person is ineligible to serve as one of four members (see below).

If the proposed member only has a Research Scientist appointment, then s/he can only serve as a 4th member (Master's) or 5th member (Doctoral).

I need help understanding title abbreviations for the Committee Membership Table.

Abbreviated titles refer to the titles that show up in the Faculty Title Lookup/Faculty Search Tool in the Committee App in Student Database. This search tool pulls the faculty member's appointment information from PPS. If you believe there are errors you will need to follow up with your academic personnel contact in the department.

Professor series:

Prof - Professor
Assoc Prof - Associate Professor
Asst Prof - Assistant Professor
Prof Emeritus - Professor Emeritus
- Note: this series is not broken down by full, associate, or assistant professor. There is only one rank.

In-Residence Professor series:

Prof In Res - Professor In Residence
Assoc Prof In Res - Associate Professor In Residence
Asst Prof In Res - Assistant Professor In Residence

Professor of Clinical "X" series:

Prof of Clin - Professor of Clinical "X"
Assoc Prof of Clin - Associate Professor of Clinical "X"
Asst Prof of Clin - Assistant Professor of Clinical "X"

Teaching Professor series (including LPSOE and LSOE):

Lect PSOE - Lecturer Potential Security of Employment
Lect SOE - Lecturer Security of Employment
Sr Lect SOE - Senior Lecturer Security of Employment

Acting Professor series:

Act Prof - Acting Professor
Act Assoc Prof - Acting Associate Professor
Act Asst Prof - Acting Assistant Professor

Adjunct Professor Series (Full-Time Salaried Appointments in Health Sciences): **Note: these adjunct professors must have -HCOMP and have a 100% appointment. Otherwise they are considered as part of the Adjunct Series below.

Adj Prof-HCOMP - Adjunct Professor (Health Sciences)
Assoc Adj Prof-HCOMP - Associate Adjunct Professor (Health Sciences)
Asst Adj Prof-HCOMP - Assistant Adjunct Professor (Health Sciences)

Adjunct series (including Non-Salaried Appointments in Health Sciences):

Adj Prof - Adjunct Professor
Assoc Adj Prof - Associate Adjunct Professor
Asst Adj Prof - Assistant Adjunct Professor

Professor of Practice series:

They are pulled as Adjunct Professors in our tool. See the Adjunct series.

Health Sciences Clinical Professor series:

HS Clin Prof - Clinical Professor
HS Assoc Clin Prof - Associate Professor
HS Asst Clin Prof - Assistant Professor

Visiting Professor series:

Vis Prof - Visiting Professor
Vis Assoc Prof - Visiting Associate Professor
Vis Asst Prof - Visiting Assistant Professor

Professor from Another UC Campus or Non-UC Institution (All Series)

Does not pull in our tool. Verify their title from their home campus' website.

Lecturer series:

Lect - Lecturer
Sr Lect - Senior Lecturer

Research Scientist Series (must also have Lecturer/Educator appointment):

Res - Research Scientist
Assoc Res - Associate Research Scientist
Asst Rec - Assistant Research Scientist

Research Associate, Research Fellow, & Project Scientist/Scholar:

Does not pull in our tool. Verify their title on Blink or their department's website.

Committee Member Roles and Eligibility effective Fall 2021

Is it still required to fill out the specialty field?

The specialty field is now optional. However, JDP committees are still required to input the specialty.

What is the attendance policy for qualifying exams and defenses?

The temporary COVID-19 authorization will remain in place through the end of Fall quarter to allow remote participation for all committee members and students. We have asked Graduate Council to review and clarify the rules on committee participation at the qualifying exam and/or final defense beyond FA21; we will provide an update as soon as we know more.

Can the Chair of the committee be from outside the student’s home department?

Yes, unless the department/program has their own rule that requires an internal Chair.

Note: the outside member requirement can never be fulfilled by the committee Chair, as it is the Chair’s primary department that defines whether the other members are “outside”, according to the regulation

If a student’s Chair is outside his/her home department, is a Co-Chair from the student’s home department required?

No, unless the department/program has their own rule that requires a co-chair in this instance.

For professors with appointments in more than one department, how do I know which one is primary?

Looking up faculty in the "Faculty Title Look Up" tab in the committee tool will show you all of their appointments. Their primary appointment can be determined by the column "Job Indicator".

Example:

To satisfy the outside member requirement, may the outside member be the Co-Chair?

Yes, the Co-Chair may fulfill the outside member requirement, if their primary appointment is in a different department than the Committee Chair’s primary appointment. (However, the outside member requirement can never be fulfilled by the committee Chair, as it is the Chair’s primary department that defines whether the other members are “outside”, according to the regulation.)

To satisfy the tenured member requirement, may the tenured member be the Chair or Co-Chair?

Yes.

May additional external members be appointed beyond the 4 UC San Diego faculty?

Yes. Additional external committee members beyond the required 4 UC San Diego faculty members can be requested to serve, including from another UC campus, non-UC academic institutions and industry. Appointment of external members from other academic institutions must be justified with a written explanation at the time of requesting the constitution and must be approved by the Graduate Division. External members from industry, labs, etc. need a formal letter and CV at the time of requesting the constitution and must be approved by the Graduate Division.