choosing_adviser
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Choosing a graduate advisor is one of the most important decisions for graduate students. Students should consider an advisor's availability, track record of graduating students, funding availability, reputation in their field, and whether they will be a good fit. An ideal advisor meets regularly with students, has experience successfully advising students through to completion of their degrees, can provide financial support, is well-respected in their area of research, and accepts the student. Considering these factors will help students select an advisor well-equipped to advise them successfully through their graduate studies.
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is having high ethical standards and integrity. This may not be an
easy issue to evaluate, but word about potential problems usually
does get around among students and should be considered.
But, as already mentioned, there are other considerations
that can be influenced by an advisor's reputation. That person
will probably be more involved in a variety of activities that
will reduce the time available for his or her students. Included
here is the time spent away from campus, the number of stu-
dents being advised, the research commitments, and other
responsibilities on campus.
The expectations these advisors have of their students can
be higher because of the status their own research has reached.
This is not necessarily a bad thing, but something to think
about. If you’re working on a key area of the advisor’s research
project, it could happen that completion of your degree
depends on satisfying goals in that project that wouldn’t other-
wise be needed for your dissertation. These are tradeoffs that
need to be considered, with the prospective advisor’s reputation
one of the more important factors. Some of the better-known
members of IEEE are known by the number and quality of the
students that they’ve advised, and conversely, by the professors
who have advised them.
Finding an advisor who’s compatible, supportive and
who’ll accept you: Finally, the single most important issue in
choosing an advisor is finding one who’ll accept you as a stu-
dent. If your grades are marginal and you’re barely or not
known even at all to a particular faculty member, the chances
that he or she will agree to become your advisor may be small.
So, if you aspire to an MS and especially a PhD, get acquainted
with several faculty members, as an undergraduate if you plan to
remain at the same university for graduate work. But, double this
effort once you get there if you plan to move to another school.
One way to do so is to take courses from potential advisors.
Another good possibility is to work at one of the laboratories
that are usually found at a university. Besides offering financial
support, you will usually have a chance to work with one or
more faculty members. Attend seminars given by faculty to
become informed about their work and interests, and to see if
you might feel comfortable with their style.
As one personal comment along these lines, during my first
graduate year while working for a MS degree in nuclear engi-
neering, I just scraped by with the minimum GPA to qualify for
my degree. After a year away, I returned to the same universi-
ty, but to the EE program. I also joined one of the EE laborato-
ries there which gave me a chance to work with several faculty
members, some of whose courses I also took. Eventually, the
person I worked with most closely during this time agreed to
become my advisor in spite of my previous GPA problems.
(My grades improved substantially when back in the EE neck
of the woods.) In the same way, I also go acquainted with other
faculty members who eventually agreed to serve on my com-
mittee. Without having worked at that particular laboratory, I
probably wouldn’t have gotten the opportunity that I did, and
things could have turned out quite differently.
Acknowledgement
The author would like to thank Patricia Miller for her topic
suggestions and for her insightful comments regarding the ini-
tial drafts for this column. [Editor's note: this column usually
appears as On the job.]
About the author
Edmund K. Miller is an Associate Editor of IEEE Potentials.](https://image.slidesharecdn.com/2002millerselectadvisor-140328111558-phpapp01/85/choosing_adviser-3-320.jpg)
choosing_adviser
- 1. AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2002 21 Choosing a grad school advisor The decision to attend graduate school to work on a Masters or a PhD degree should not be taken lightly. It involves a potentially long time commitment as well as a substantial financial outlay. Aside from deciding on a disci- plinary specialty/degree at a particular university, perhaps the most important issue is the choice of a graduate advisor. Indeed, this latter choice may be intimately tied up with the selection of a university as well as the degree. This is espe- cially true when seeking a PhD. If the MS degree is your goal, the choice of graduate advisor may not be so critical, at least initially. But it can still very much affect the long- term outcome of your graduate studies. Besides looking for an advisor whose interests, expecta- tions, and work style are most likely to be compatible, the advisor’s track record in seeing to completion previous MS and PhD students is quite important. There are a variety of attributes that comprise that track record and several aspects that should be considered in deciding with whom you’d like to work. Some of them are discussed here and may more- or-less overlap. But they are included individually because of the differing perspectives they provide. Availability: By definition, an advisor is someone with whom you can meet fairly regularly to receive advice and direction, exchange ideas and otherwise be kept on track towards a degree. Advice on elective graduate courses, identification of potential research topics, and suggestions for conducting your research are examples of what an advi- sor should provide. An advisor who keeps only irregular office hours, is often away from campus, or is inclined to keep rescheduling meetings, is not a particularly promising prospect. You may not be able to rely on getting the advice you need in a timely fashion. I should note, however, that some of the more effective faculty advisors that I have known are away from campus a great deal. But, everything else being equal, seriously con- sider what effect a potential advisor’s frequent inaccessibili- ty might have on progress towards your degree. Former students: Among the most reliable sources of information about faculty advisors are their former students. Contacting one or more recent graduates should be invalu- able in getting up-to-date feedback about their own experi- ences with a particular advisor. Once safely awarded the MS or PhD degree, former students are likely to be willing to share that experience without sugar coating it. Number of students graduated: If a prospective advisor has seen none, or just a few, students through to their MS or PhD degrees, this could be a red flag. It might indicate that they’re overly demanding of, or otherwise not very efficient and helpful to, their graduate students. Of course, this is dependent on the opportunities this faculty member has had to guide students to degree completion. A just-graduated PhD starting at the level of Assistant Professor will, under- standably, not have had time to turn out any students. Thus, their potential as an advisor needs to be evaluated from other perspectives. Edmund K. Miller PHOTOCREDITS:©ARTVILLE/PHOTODISC/G.SCHNITZER,COMPOSITE:MKC
- 2. 22 IEEE POTENTIALS Pros and cons of newer faculty: There are various factors to keep in mind with respect to choosing a relatively new Assistant Professor as an advisor. On the one hand, this person is likely to have little history of advising to use for evaluation in terms of your own situation. He or she is also less likely to be well known in his or her area of specialty. This fact might reduce this advisor's ability to find funding to support your research. Eventual publication of your research results might also be somewhat diminished because of this. On the other hand, a newly minted Assistant Professor may bring a greater degree of enthusiasm to the job. He or she might be more highly motivated than someone better estab- lished because of the need to develop a strong record of advis- ing, teaching and research to achieve promotion and tenure. Furthermore, having recently graduated, this person may be more sensitive to the problems confronting someone in your position. Finally, also because his or her dissertation research has been recently completed, this individual could be more knowledgeable about the "state of the art" in the area of your anticipated research. Average time to graduate: You may later look back on attending graduate school as one of the more enjoyable and productive periods in your career. But this time is also generally one of financial depri- vation and other pres- sures. The time need- ed to earn a PhD, especially, can be very dependent on your advisor. Thus, what is the average/range of time it takes for an advisor's graduate stu- dents to receive their PhDs? The numbers can be a strong hint about what you can expect. Faculty who turn out higher-than- average numbers of PhD graduates for their particular school usually have devel- oped a rather methodi- cal approach to advis- ing that might expedite your graduate studies. If the students of a prospective advisor take significantly longer than average to get their degrees, or there is a high degree of variability in this regard, you should factor this into the decision-making process. Area of specialty: Clearly, your intended research area should match well with the disciplinary expertise of your prospective advisor. However, maybe you’re not exactly sure what you want to specialize in, or financial support is unavailable for a topic that you have tentatively chosen. Also, one or more faculty has projects for which they’re seeking student researchers. Being flexible about the specifics of your dissertation topic will likely lead to a wider variety of opportunities, not only for the degree research but, also, for future professional develop- ment. Also, whatever research you do while working towards an MS or PhD degree is not necessarily the kind of work you’ll eventually end up doing after leaving school. For among other things, degree-oriented research tries to teach you how to do research and to help you develop some basic tools needed to succeed. These tools can range from developing expertise in computer programming and data processing to learning the rudiments of numerical analysis and hands-on lab- oratory experiments. How many students does the advisor handle? While some advisors may limit their advising responsibilities to one or two students, others may have a dozen at any given time. Neither situation is necessarily better or worse, depending on how the advisor organizes the work involved. It might be expected, other things being equal, that having fewer students translates into the advisor having more time per student. This is not nec- essarily the case. The advisor may have chosen to spend that time in other ways, of which the university environment offers numerous possibilities. An advisor with many students is likely to carry them only because their research and teaching responsibilities mesh well, and the advisor has developed a very organized approach. The advisor will probably have teams working on related research that provide an opportunity for collaboration among the students and enhance their progress. Obviously, the student load an advi- sor carries eventually becomes evident in how many MS and PhD degrees their students earn over a given period of time. Funding availability: Some lucky students may have their own sources of support from fellowships, work-study pro- grams, co-op arrangements or similar programs. Thus, they will not need significant financial assistance from an advisor. However, most graduate students will probably be in the situa- tion where some kind of funding is needed to cover at least part of the time needed to work on their dissertation. This is in addition to their working part time as teaching or research assistants, i.e., it’s likely that their degree research will be only fractionally supported. As a result, an advisor who can offer a paid position for doing degree research, say at least half time, can be invaluable. The more successful advisors at a university will generally be faculty members who can provide this sup- port. When seeking an advisor, it’s a good idea to keep such financial arrangements actively in mind. Reputation in the discipline: This attribute is related to some already discussed, but the emphasis here is on how the advisor’s reputation might affect you in both the near and far term. Everything else being equal—working for someone with a good reputation and who is well known in the field will gen- erally be helpful to the students whose work he or she super- vises. For one thing, these individuals will be more familiar with what are likely to be worthwhile research areas and the present status of the work being done. Another is the likeli- hood that this person will have, or can find, sponsors for such work. A third consideration is that the results of your own research will be more likely to be publishable in reputable journals, assuming that the advisor’s name will be included as a co-author, as will usually be entirely justified. This advisor will not only know what questions are worth asking, but those for which an answer is not only worthwhile but achievable in the context of a dissertation. Another aspect of a good reputation Choosing the university Deciding on a particular university can involve a number of factors, depending on your circumstances. If courses are to be taken while working part- or full-time, geo- graphical proximity might be given the highest priority. Then again, with the grow- ing number of opportunities afforded by "distance learning," this doesn’t have to be the case, especially if your employer sup- ports this option. (See Mastering e- learning, pgs 33-35.) Probably, however, most graduate stu- dents still follow the more traditional route of taking classes on site at a particular uni- versity or possibly at another location such as their workplace when a course is given off campus. If classes are made available during normal work hours, then the need for taking time off during the work day, and possibly making up the missed hours, will not be a problem. The particular arrangements that are offered will depend both on the employer and the university in question. For example, some employers will not require hours spent taking classes to be made up or taken as vacation, at least up to some limit. Many universities gladly cooperate with the employers in their vicinity since the pool of potential gradu- ate students can be vastly increased. A good rapport can also provide an oppor- tunity for research support for both profes- sors and students. —EKM
- 3. AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2002 23 LE T TH ERE BE LIGHT A Y UNIV E R SIT OF C A LIFORN I A H 18 6 T E 8 is having high ethical standards and integrity. This may not be an easy issue to evaluate, but word about potential problems usually does get around among students and should be considered. But, as already mentioned, there are other considerations that can be influenced by an advisor's reputation. That person will probably be more involved in a variety of activities that will reduce the time available for his or her students. Included here is the time spent away from campus, the number of stu- dents being advised, the research commitments, and other responsibilities on campus. The expectations these advisors have of their students can be higher because of the status their own research has reached. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but something to think about. If you’re working on a key area of the advisor’s research project, it could happen that completion of your degree depends on satisfying goals in that project that wouldn’t other- wise be needed for your dissertation. These are tradeoffs that need to be considered, with the prospective advisor’s reputation one of the more important factors. Some of the better-known members of IEEE are known by the number and quality of the students that they’ve advised, and conversely, by the professors who have advised them. Finding an advisor who’s compatible, supportive and who’ll accept you: Finally, the single most important issue in choosing an advisor is finding one who’ll accept you as a stu- dent. If your grades are marginal and you’re barely or not known even at all to a particular faculty member, the chances that he or she will agree to become your advisor may be small. So, if you aspire to an MS and especially a PhD, get acquainted with several faculty members, as an undergraduate if you plan to remain at the same university for graduate work. But, double this effort once you get there if you plan to move to another school. One way to do so is to take courses from potential advisors. Another good possibility is to work at one of the laboratories that are usually found at a university. Besides offering financial support, you will usually have a chance to work with one or more faculty members. Attend seminars given by faculty to become informed about their work and interests, and to see if you might feel comfortable with their style. As one personal comment along these lines, during my first graduate year while working for a MS degree in nuclear engi- neering, I just scraped by with the minimum GPA to qualify for my degree. After a year away, I returned to the same universi- ty, but to the EE program. I also joined one of the EE laborato- ries there which gave me a chance to work with several faculty members, some of whose courses I also took. Eventually, the person I worked with most closely during this time agreed to become my advisor in spite of my previous GPA problems. (My grades improved substantially when back in the EE neck of the woods.) In the same way, I also go acquainted with other faculty members who eventually agreed to serve on my com- mittee. Without having worked at that particular laboratory, I probably wouldn’t have gotten the opportunity that I did, and things could have turned out quite differently. Acknowledgement The author would like to thank Patricia Miller for her topic suggestions and for her insightful comments regarding the ini- tial drafts for this column. [Editor's note: this column usually appears as On the job.] About the author Edmund K. Miller is an Associate Editor of IEEE Potentials.