Academic Advising

Navigating the MA and PhD Programs

The primary advisors for questions concerning coursework, degree requirements, fellowships, teaching, and more, are as follows.

For all students in the first year of graduate study (Freestanding MA and PhD-track):

For students in the MPhil stage and PhD candidates:

If you have questions or concerns that you do not want to address to the DGS, ADGS, or Graduate Coordinator, please contact the Department Chair (for academic or policy matters) or Director of Academic Administration and Finance (for financial and administrative matters).

 

Academic Advising

  1. MA Year

Early in their first semester, all MA students are assigned a faculty member who will advise you on course selection and other academic matters, such as developing the topic of your MA Essay. Every attempt is given to match students with advisors from their own fields, though sometimes faculty research leaves or administrative duties make this impossible.

Advisors and advisees should meet in person twice per semester, once during the registration period and once before classes end. The first meeting should focus on course selection, distribution requirements, and foreign language proficiency. Later meetings should include discussion of the MA Essay and post-graduation plans, as well as coursework and other requirements.

  1. MPhil Stage

Students in second year generally continue to work with their MA advisor. To request a new advisor, please contact the DGS. 

In the spring of the second year, MPhil students assemble a three- or four-person Oral Exam committee, which will typically include future dissertation committee members. Although students should continue to seek advice from the DGS and other faculty, most MPhil students naturally come to depend on their Oral Exam committee members for academic advising as they begin the transition to doctoral candidacy.

  1. Doctoral Candidacy

In spring of the third year, students who wish to continue to doctoral candidacy assemble a three-person dissertation committee with whom they develop their prospectus. That committee, generally drawn from the Oral Exam committee, will generally take on the main work of academic advising over the final three years of the PhD program. Doctoral candidates should, however, continue to seek out the advice of the DGS and other faculty members.

For more on the composition and responsibilities of the Dissertation Committee, see the online guide to the Dissertation.
 

Advisor Responsibilities

Faculty serve as academic advisors to graduate students in many capacities: as Dissertation Advisors and Readers, Oral Exam committee members, MA Essay sponsors, and more. In all these capacities, faculty advisors are responsible for offering timely feedback (oral and written) on graduate student writing, as well as to make themselves available for meetings to discuss students’ writing, academic progress, and professional development. If one or more of your advisors is not meeting the standards laid out here, please contact the DGS or Chair. 

Advisors have a responsibility to schedule meetings promptly and to respond to student emails within a week, even during the summer and winter breaks. Dissertation Committee members ought to make themselves available (in person or online) for advising and chapter meetings when they are on leave or on sabbatical (exceptions may be made in cases of personal, family, or medical leaves). Advisors are expected to provide feedback on student writing (especially dissertation chapters) within a month of submission.

 

Advisee Responsibilities

It is, however, the advisee's responsibility to communicate regularly with the advisor, to make regular progress towards agreed deadlines, to initiate and schedule regular advising meetings and chapter meetings, and to observe the high academic and ethical standards expected of a doctoral researcher at an R1 university. See the online guides to the MA, MPhil, and Doctoral Candidacy for specific requirements regarding advising meetings and chapter meetings.  

Students who do not keep in contact with their committees, or fail to hold advising and chapter meetings on the required schedule, will fall out of Good Standing with GSAS and risk being placed on academic probation or dismissal from the university.

 

Academic Careers Advising

For advice regarding academic careers, including postdoctoral research positions as well as faculty jobs, please contact:

In addition to providing advice and coaching on job materials, job market strategy, interview preparation, and more, Professor Peters leads a seminar for students on the job market that provides intensive feedback and peer support to all doctoral students looking for academic positions. The seminar runs every spring and is open to students in years five and six, with students in year four encouraged to audit.

 

Careers Beyond Academia

For advice regarding non-academic careers, and to access the graduate school’s professional development programs, visit the website of the GSAS Compass Graduate Career and Professional Development service.

 

Other Advising Services

For advice on academic writing, including accountability and writing groups, see the website of the GSAS Writing Studio.

For advice on building knowledge and experience as an educator, see the website of the Center for Teaching and Learning. 

 

Mail Folders and Bulletin Boards

Everyone has a mailbox outside of 602 Philosophy. Students also should check the bulletin boards on the 6th floor of Philosophy Hall (and elsewhere in the building) for announcements of courses, conferences, talks meetings and other items of potential interest.

E-Mail Account and Listserv

Students should activate their Columbia University e-mail accounts immediately at http://cuit.columbia.edu/. Information on deadlines, meetings and special events are posted electronically. Students also are part of the department's Graduate Student Listserv. To send messages to all members of the group, one should address e-mails to [email protected].
 

Student Services Online

https://ssol.columbia.edu/) every mid-semester and follow up on any unregistered changes immediately.

Check the department website for announcements and upcoming events.