Dissertation Committee

Part III: Appointment of Dissertation Committee

Part III involves the Dissertation Committee. This official OGS dissertation committee (aka doctoral committee) helps conduct the qualifying examination, supervises the preparation of and passes upon the acceptability of the dissertation, and administers the final examination.

The student nominates the doctoral committee (with department chair approval) when he/she has completed the Qual Paper proposal/defense and is prepared to propose their dissertation. The Chair of the dissertation committee will normally be the student’s advisor.

The committee should be appointed no later than November 1 of a student's fourth year. This is accomplished by filing the appropriate form with OGS, available via the Graduate Coordinator. You are strongly encouraged to check in well in advance of submitting your dissertation committee paperwork to ensure that the members meet all requirements. Your advisor is also a very helpful source of information and assistance.

Note: This committee is different from qualification committee, but the same faculty members may serve on both committees.

A dissertation committee consists of five or more officers of instruction, with no fewer than four holding titles in the professorial ranks. The committee will consist of three members from the Department of Psychology (one of whom is your advisor) and two outside members from different departments. One of the Psychology faculty and one outside member must be tenured. One adjunct faculty can serve on a committee. The adjunct faculty can be from Psychology or an outside department.

You can establish your committee by using the following guideline:

Psychology Member 1: tenured professor (Psychology)
Psychology Member 2: assistant, associate, or full professor (Psychology)
Psychology Member 3: assistant, associate, full professor, or adjunct (Psychology)
Outside Member 1: tenured professor (non-Psychology)
Outside Member 2: assistant, associate, full professor, in-residence professor, or adjunct (non-Psychology)

Remember, for these 5 members, only one may be an adjunct professor (either Psychology Member 3 or Outside Member 2). Additional members beyond these 5 can be added to the committee. They can hold any professorial title (regular, adjunct, or in-residence), but they must be affiliated with UC.

Example of a committee:

Donald MacLeod, Professor - Psychology (Advisor)
George Koob, Adjunct Professor - Psychology
Sharon Amos, Assistant Professor - Psychology
Jessica Simpson, Professor - Music
Kyle Nelson, Assistant Professor – Cognitive Science

Only University of California faculty and adjunct faculty can serve on a doctoral committee. No faculty from outside the UC System can serve on a committee.

The committee is personally reviewed and formally appointed by the Dean of Graduate Studies. Student should make initial contact with prospective committee members.

For more information, please consult the Grad Adviser’s Manual section on Doctoral Committee Membership.

To download the Appointment of the Doctoral Committee form please click here.

Reconstituition of the Doctoral Committee

Occasionally, committe members are no longer available or no longer meet the needs of the committee and you will need to reconstitute. All requests must be submitted to OGS to be approved by the Dean of Graduate Studies.

To download the Request for Reconstitution of Committee Membership form click here.