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Upon initial admission, you will be assigned a TE faculty member to serve as your advisor. The initial assignment of the advisor is based on considerations such as student and/or faculty preferences, compatibility of student and faculty research interests, and faculty advising loads. You should contact your advisor to discuss your program’s requirements and to determine which courses to register for. As you become acquainted with additional faculty members within your program, you will form a doctoral committee that will guide you to develop a program of study during your first two years in the program. It is expected that a program of study approved by your doctoral committee will be on file in The Patton College Office of Graduate Student Affairs no later than the end of the spring semester of your second year in the program. The Program of Study is important to complete because it establishes the contractual agreement regarding required courses for the doctoral degree.

If the student or the advisor determines that it is no longer desirable for the adviser-advisee relationship to continue, the student or doctoral advisor should notify the PCOE Graduate Records - Student Affairs Office and complete the "Request for Change of Advisor" form on the Forms Page.

In the event the decision to discontinue an advisor-advisee relationship originates with a faculty member – including a faculty member's decision to retire or leave the University – it will be the responsibility of that faculty member to assist the student in identifying and obtaining a new doctoral advisor. If no new doctoral advisor can be identified, the matter will be brought before the program faculty for resolution. If the decision originates with a student, it will be the sole responsibility of the student to seek out and gain the consent of another faculty member to serve as their doctoral advisor.

Students who seek to change advisors do so for a variety of reasons. Often, as students complete coursework in their programs, they learn about the research interests of faculty members other 6 than those of their initial advisor. Alignment of research interests, compatibility of temperaments, and faculty members' availability to provide support for the dissertation are all good reasons for changing advisors. Changing advisors in the middle of the dissertation process occurs much less often than during the coursework phase of the program. It is typically a result of a change in the faculty dissertation chair’s status (e.g. medical situation, fellowship leave, or move to another institution). A change in dissertation chair for other reasons must be considered carefully, in consultation with the chair of your department. Such a request requires approval by both the department chair and the Office of the Dean.