Dissertation Committee

Dissertation Committees

The requirements for dissertation committees are set by the Vice Provost for Education. For full information, see: Academic Rules for PhD Students 

Upon advancement to candidacy, each student has a Dissertation Committee consisting of at least three faculty members (including at least two members of the graduate group). At least half of the members of the Dissertation Committee must be members of the graduate group at the time of appointment to the committee. Faculty who are not members of the graduate group may serve only with the written approval of the graduate group. The authority to approve membership on committees may be delegated to the Graduate Chair. A graduate group may establish additional requirements, such as a requirement for outside reviewers on the Dissertation Committee. [The Department of English does not compensate faculty external to Penn for serving on dissertation committees.]

The Chair of the Dissertation Committee must be a member of the Standing Faculty in the graduate group. If the Chair of a Dissertation Committee leaves the Standing Faculty before the dissertation is completed, then a new chair from the Standing Faculty in the Graduate Group must be appointed as chair. The Dissertation Committee chair is responsible for convening committee meetings, advising the student on graduate group and university expectations, and assuring the graduate group chair that the group’s requirements have been met. [Please see the English Department's Mentoring Guidelines for expectations related to meetings.] The Dissertation Supervisor may serve as Chair of the Dissertation Committee, but is not required to do so. [In the Department of English, the Dissertation Supervisor is the Chair of the committee].

The Dissertation Supervisor is the person primarily responsible for overseeing the student’s dissertation research. A student may have both a Dissertation Supervisor and a Dissertation Co-Supervisor, or two Dissertation Co-Supervisors, if that responsibility is shared equally. Dissertation Supervisors, and Dissertation Co-Supervisors, must be members of the Standing Faculty at Penn, with special approved exceptions. A member of the Associated Faculty (such as Research Faculty or Adjunct Faculty) may be permitted to serve as a Dissertation Supervisor with prior approval of the Vice Provost for Education on a case-by-case basis. The Graduate Group Chair may petition the Vice Provost for Education, in advance, for an exception. In such cases, a member of the Standing Faculty in the graduate group must be appointed as the Dissertation Committee Chair.

The dissertation committee meets at least once annually with the student to review the student’s progress. The student prepares an Annual Dissertation Progress Report and the committee gives timely feedback (within one month) and confirms whether progress is satisfactory. A copy of the signed progress report is submitted to the Dissertation Supervisor and Graduate Group Chair and is documented by the School in the student’s academic record. The committee feedback contributes to the determination of a mark of S (satisfactory progress) or U (unsatisfactory progress) to the student’s dissertation status course.