Good afternoon,
For those of you who are nearing 16 credit hours (or who have already surpassed it but not completed the Committeee Appointment Form), it is time to appoint your Research Director and committee. The rest of this blog post contains a treasure trove of information about how to complete that process.
Hope everyone is enjoying their fall classes!
Piper Hodson
Student Services Coordinator
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Resources for admitted students: http://nres.illinois.edu/current_online
Resources for non-degree students: http://nres.illinois.edu/future_online
If you have earned 8 or more hours toward the NRES online M.S. (including credit taken while non-degree), you should begin considering the appointment of your committee. The role of your committee is to provide guidance on your special project, conduct the final examination, and assess the adequacy of the final special project for fulfilling the degree requirement. Your committee will consist of:
- Research Director: This is the member of your committee most closely involved in guiding the completion of your thesis or project. This person should have expertise that is appropriate for guiding the overall direction of your project.
- Academic Adviser: Dr. Ellsworth (or if you are nearing completion of your degree, you will still have Dr. Briskin) serves as all online students' academic adviser and is a member your committee.
- Third Committee Member: You also need a third faculty member to serve on your committee. This person is selected for his or her ability to provide an area of expertise needed for your project.
By the time you have completed 16 hours in the program, you need to appoint your committee using the Committee Appointment Form (linked in the "Forms" section of http://nres.illinois.edu/current_online).
Finding Your Research Director and Committee Member
You will find a list of faculty members who are available to serve as Research Directors and Committee members at http://nres.illinois.edu/system/files/Available_Research_Directors.pdf. Dr. Ellsworth sent this to some of you last week, but a few more faculty members have signed up, so refer to the online list. These are the steps we suggest in establishing your committee:
- Polish and refine the draft research proposal you created for NRES 594 so that it reflects your current thinking about the direction of your project.
- Think about the areas of expertise that will be useful in guiding you through your project. Contact Dr. Ellsworth at ellswort@illinois.edu if you need assistance determining that.
- Identify faculty on the list at http://nres.illinois.edu/system/files/Available_Research_Directors.pdf who seem to have related expertise. Each name is linked to the faculty profile, and most faculty profiles have a link to his or her research page. Read the research page (or curriculum vitae if they don't have their own research page) for those that seem to be a good match for your project.
- Contact those you think are most appropriate to serve as your Research Director. My advice is to contact them via e-mail, introducing yourself as an NRES online M.S. student who has completed X# of hours in the program. Briefly describe the project you want to do and explain why you think that particular faculty member is a good match (i.e. what research have they done or methodology have they used that you think will be useful for your project). Explain that you are seeking a faculty member to serve as your Research Director to help guide the project and offer to send your full draft proposal for their consideration.
- Once you've identified your Research Director, you should have some e-mail or phone conversation with the Research Director and your Academic Adviser about which faculty members would be good as the third committee member.
- If you don't already have one, you will need to write a 1-2 page summary of your research proposal. Send that to your potential committee members, and ask them, when they are satisfied with it, to e-mail nres-ssc@illinois.edu indicating that they are willing to serve on your committee and approve the summary of your proposal.
- Send the Committee Appointment Form and proposal summary either by e-mail to nres-ssc@illinois.edu or by mail to NRES Online M.S., N-509 Turner Hall, 1102 S. Goodwin Ave., Urbana, IL 61801.
In completing these steps and making good use of your committee, you can avoid mistakes that would slow down your progress toward earning your M.S. The following are some of the mistakes I’ve seen students regret:
- Mistake: Thinking you can get your committee named in a couple of days. This process will take you some time and effort. Even after you have taken the time to carefully select potential Research Directors to contact, you may not get an immediate response, since faculty members often travel and have multiple research and teaching responsibilities to juggle. Allow yourself at least 6 weeks from beginning to read about the faculty to the final signatures and submission of the Committee Appointment Form. Don’t get discouraged if you get a “no” from a faculty member who cannot commit to guiding you at this point. Just move down your list, making sure that your initial e-mail contact is as professional, polished, and persuasive as possible. If you have run through your list, contact Dr. Ellsworth at ellswort@illinois.edu for assistance in talking with potential Research Directors and committee members.
- Mistake: Limiting yourself only to those faculty members with whom you have taken courses. In your first 8-16 hours of coursework, you will have met a very tiny subset of the NRES faculty. The person with the best expertise for guiding your project may not have taught in the online program. It is not at all uncommon for graduate students, whether on campus or online, to have committee members with whom they’ve never taken a course. Use the list at http://nres.illinois.edu/system/files/Available_Research_Directors.pdf to find the most appropriate faculty members to approach.
- Mistake: Wait to put together your committee until you've already got what you consider to be a nearly completed special project. The problem students face when they do this is that they have prepared a document without knowing the standards required for success. No one but the committee can set those standards because they are determined by the particular research topic and specialty in which the student is working. The smoothest path to the completion of your degree involves appointing your committee by the time you've completed 16 hours and consulting the members regularly about your project and progress.
- Mistake: Failing to consult the committee or ignoring its requests and suggestions. When a faculty member signs off on your final examination and special project/thesis, he or she is telling the world that, "In my opinion, this is Master's level research and writing." That is what you are asking your committee to say about your project, so when they request changes or additions (i.e. a particular citation style, an additional statistical test, 10 more interviews, or whatever it may be), keep in mind that they are only trying to guide you in getting your project where it needs to be. All graduate students experience frustration with their committees' requests as they near the completion of their thesis or project. If a request feels undoable or you have reason to believe that you have compensated for that shortcoming in some other way, by all means, discuss it with your committee and reach an agreement about how you will proceed. But don't just ignore the request or avoid contacting the committee in hopes of keeping them from making suggestions and requests.
Whether you have made any of these mistakes or not, NRES Student Services is here to assist you. Just ask us at nres-ssc@illinois.edu or 217-333-5824.
Have a terrific afternoon,
Piper Hodson
Student Services Coordinator
Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Sciences
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Resources for admitted students: http://nres.illinois.edu/current_online
Resources for non-degree students: http://nres.illinois.edu/future_online