Doctoral Advising Policy

Overview:

Traditional doctoral student advising involves a single faculty member in the academic department, who is responsible for all aspects of a student's progress in the degree program. However, in this era of cross-disciplinary research interests and the establishment of multi-disciplinary research centers and institutes, it is sometimes desirable for a student to be advised by a research scientist or a lecturer, by a faculty member outside the department, or in rare cases by an individual outside the university (including but not limited to a person formerly affiliated with Columbia).

Nevertheless, the Department has a particular responsibility to ensure that every student is affiliated with a budgeted^* tenured or tenure-track faculty member in the department who can fully and consistently represent the student in his or her interactions with the Department and the University. Thus we recognize two distinct roles, research advisor and department advisor, which are explained more fully below.

[Note: ^*The concept of a faculty member being "budgeted" in a given department is related to the university's financial and academic organization, and means that the faculty member's academic-year teaching salary is paid through that department.  The "budgeted" here has absolutely nothing whatsoever to do with that faculty member's research funding (or lack thereof) to support students.]

Research Advisor:

Each doctoral student (MS/PhD, PhD, or DES) must have a mutually agreed upon "research advisor" who supervises the student's research, including but not limited to the thesis proposal and dissertation, as well as academic progress through the degree program's other requirements. Co-advisors (two research advisors) are permitted and indeed encouraged, as long as both separately and jointly take full responsibility for the research and academic progress of the student.

Departmental Advisor:

Every doctoral student must also have a mutually agreed upon "departmental advisor" who is a current budgeted tenured or tenure-track faculty member in the Department of Computer Science at Columbia University. When the research advisor is indeed a current budgeted tenured or tenure-track faculty member in the department, then the research advisor is automatically the departmental advisor.

A separate departmental advisor is designated only when the research advisor is not a current budgeted tenured or tenure-track faculty member in the department (which is why this role is called the "departmental advisor"). In these cases, it is preferred (although not required) that the departmental advisor be tenured. Such a departmental advisor may optionally serve as a co-advisor with respect to research advising, but this is not required and, indeed, it is not always feasible to find a tenured or tenure-track faculty member in the department who actively participates in the student's research area.

The departmental advisor is obligated to keep current with the academic and research progress of the student throughout each semester, and represent the student during the semi-annual doctoral student reviews ("Black Friday"). It is expected that the departmental advisor maintains regular personal contact with the student, rather than just relying on email updates or electronic academic records. Further, the departmental advisor is expected to consult with the research advisor (if different) both before and after each Black Friday - although all research advisors will be invited to all Black Friday meetings and are expected to attend.

Our main motivation in introducing the notion of a departmental advisor, in addition to the conventional research advisor - again only for those cases where the research advisor is not a current budgeted tenured or tenure-track faculty member in the department - is to ensure that every doctoral student has an advisor who satisfies three conditions:

1. The person regularly and routinely participates in "Black Friday" meetings - and not just dropping in for his/her own students or sending in email notes, but is actively aware of the general way things work, what good CS students accomplish, etc.
2. The person is familiar with the general CS doctoral program and process and, at least as importantly, with some of the general reasoning as to why we do things in a certain way ("departmental culture").
3. The person can and does participate in decisions about the doctoral program, e.g., by participating in program decisions in faculty meetings, the PhD committee, etc.

Further, in the case where the departmental advisor is not the same as the research advisor, the two people shall co-sponsor the thesis proposal and dissertation committees (note: this is a GSAS requirement).

It is important to note that faculty members who take on the responsibility of serving as departmental advisor (but are not also the student's research advisor) are not incurring any financial responsibility for the student's support.

Exception for First Year Students:

It is desirable in some cases for new doctoral students to choose their advisor(s) after becoming accustomed to the department and familiar with the research programs of several faculty members and labs. First year students are thus not required to have a research advisor until the end of the first year.

New students who do not enter with a pre-arranged departmental advisor (whether or not there is a pre-arranged research advisor who is not a current budgeted tenured or tenure-track faculty member in the department) shall be assigned a nominal departmental advisor at entrance. The regular departmental advisor shall be determined before or during the first Black Friday following enrollment. In some cases this may be delayed until (but no later than) the second Black Friday at the student's and/or prospective departmental advisor's request. A research advisor, if different from the departmental advisor, must also be designated by the second Black Friday.

Special Cases for Second Year Students and Above:

Second year or above students who find themselves without either a research advisor and/or a departmental advisor, for whatever reason, should discuss the situation as soon as possible with either the Doctoral Program Chair or the department chair. In most cases, the student will be obliged to find a mutually agreed-upon research advisor and a mutually agreed-upon departmental advisor (not necessarily the same person) within a reasonable period of time set jointly by the doctoral program chair and department chair (or if this situation occurs at or shortly prior to a Black Friday meeting, by the full faculty in attendance at that meeting). In all such cases, a nominal departmental advisor will be appointed on a temporary basis, if there is not already one assigned.

Summary:

With the exception of first year students prior to their second Black Friday, all doctoral students are responsible for finding a mutually agreed upon research advisor. In cases where the research advisor is not a current budgeted tenured or tenure-track faculty member in the department, the student must in addition find a mutually agreed upon departmental advisor, who by definition is a current budgeted tenured or tenure-track faculty member in the department.

[Passed by full faculty vote on September 22, 2004. Effective immediately.]

Secondary Advisor Addendum:

Doctoral students may optionally select (or change) their own secondary advisor, independent of the research advisor and/or departmental advisor, who must be a faculty member or lecturer who normally attends "Black Friday" in person, and who agrees to discuss the student's Black Friday results, progress through the doctoral program, and other issues as they arise. The secondary advisor serves no other purpose than as a "second opinion", and does not incur any responsibility for the student's financial support or research/academic supervision.

[Addendum passed by full faculty vote on February 2, 2005. Effective immediately.]