The Graduate College

Appointment of Committees

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Appointment of Master's Theses, Specialist Project, and Doctoral Dissertation Committees

Graduate students writing a master's Theses, specialist project, or doctoral dissertation as part of their graduation requirements must appoint a Graduate College-approved committee of experts in their field for guidance in their research and approval of the finished work.  

The committee must be formally appointed and approved by The Graduate College no later than the semester prior to the term in which a student plans to graduate. Earlier appointment is strongly encouraged and may be required by some departments. 

The Notification of Appointment to a Theses, Project, or Dissertation Committee Form [.pdf] [.doc]can either be printed as is and typed separately, or filled out on the screen before printing. To fill out the form on the screen, click or tab to each field and type in the requested information. The degree field contains a pull-down menu. If this is the first time you have appointed a committee for your current degree, check the "initial appointment" box. The working title of your study is just that; you do not need to have the final title of your manuscript at this point. For the description of research, you may enter your text on this form or attach a brief abstract from your proposal to this page. 

The following requirements must be met to obtain approval from The Graduate College:

Theses and specialist project committees:

• each committee must have at least three members

• only members of WMU's graduate faculty may serve on committees [link to graduate faculty]

• persons from outside WMU may serve on committees but must be appointed to the graduate faculty as an associate member for service on a particular student's committee  [link to grad faculty section]

Doctoral committees:

• each committee must have at least three members (some departments may require more than three members) 

• only members of WMU's graduate faculty may serve on committees [link to graduate faculty]

• at least one committee member must come from outside the student's home department (the department from which the degree will be conferred)

• the external member may be from outside WMU but must be appointed to the graduate faculty as an associate member for service on a particular student's committee [link to graduate faculty]

The committee form must be initialed by each of the faculty members you have requested for appointment to your committee. The form must then be signed by your department chair, the chair of your department graduate committee (if your department has one), and, if you are a doctoral student, by the dean of your academic college before submission to The Graduate College. 

When the form is submitted to The Graduate College, it will be carefully reviewed to ensure compliance with the committee composition requirements, the eligibility of your proposed committee members, and the presence of all required signatures and initials. If the form is not in compliance with the requirements, it will be sent back to the originating department for corrections to be made and returned to The Graduate College. After approval of the committee, the form will be signed by the graduate dean, and the student and department will receive notice of the approval. The original form will be filed in the Records Office. 

If a change needs to be made to the composition of the committee after the initial appointment, the Notification of Appointment to a Theses, Project, or Dissertation Committee Form [.pdf] [.doc] must be resubmitted. Check the box indicating the revision, fill out the rest of the form as stated above, and attach a sheet describing the rationale for the committee change request. Approval and notification will follow the same procedures above.

Link to committee appointment form [.pdf] [.doc]

 

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