Forms: 2/3/2013
PROJECT COMMITTEE GUIDELINES
Membership on the Committee
1. Participation on project committees is an academic obligation required of all faculty.
2. The project chair shall be a member of the graduate faculty in the graduate student’s major department. He or
she shall have primary responsibility for the supervision of the student’s work, and shall assume the role of
“principle investigator” when the student’s research involves human subjects and ensure that university policies
in this area are carefully observed.
3. A minimum of one reader of the committee should be a member of the student’s major department. If the
proposed project involves significant research in more than one area, then a reader expert in the area outside
the student’s major department may be asked to serve on a committee. To include a committee from off
campus, a vita of the individual is needed.
4. Lecturers and field instructors may be committee members.
PROJECT COMMITTEE STRUCTURE AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Basic responsibilities for procedural arrangements, content, and organization of the project rest with the student and
members of the committee. Once the committee has been formed and the project form has been submitted to the
Department, the student, in consultation, with the committee chair, should set a timetable for researching and
completing the project. The student should purchase a copy of the Publication Manual of the American Psychological
Association (Version 5), which will be used for reference and special stylistic pointers.
The committee chair has primary responsibility for advisement in the project process and is responsible for assigning the
student’s final grade. However, the student is reminded that careful communication with all committee members is
essential for final committee approval. It is advisable to clarify at the outset the precise role and responsibilities of each
member on the committee. In turn, students and committee members should be aware that each committee member’s
signature on the required approval pages of the final copy represents that member’s approval of all aspects of the
candidate’s project or thesis: content, methodology, form, and style.