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Roles and Compositions of Supervisory Committees And Examining Boards

1. Supervisory Committees (SC)

1.1 Role:

The SC is an advisory committee for the student and supervisor(s) in

  1. reviewing the research proposal (PhD, MScE)
  2. selecting and recommending courses (including audits) for students (all)
  3. monitoring the research and course work progress (all)
  4. facilitating timely completion
  5. providing additional viewpoints, ideas, and resources
  6. ensuring that research products are ready for external examination

1.2 Composition:

The Supervisory Committee for research students (MScE and PhD) must have at least 3 persons, including

Members may be comprised of persons outside the GAU but in limited number and this may preclude their forming part of the Examining Board. For the MScE and PhD, at least one member of the SC and the Supervisor(s) are also on the Examining Board.

The Supervisory Committee for course based students (MEng) shall be comprised of two persons, normally one of which is the Director of Graduate Studies (to ensure requirements are met) and one other GAU member (in the specific field of studies).

Every new student will be assigned a Supervisory Committee on arrival although the composition may change during the course of the program. It is the responsibility of the Graduate Secretary with recommendations from the supervisor(s) or DOGS to assign the committee. New students will also be given a form by the Graduate Secretary to monitor their progress in meeting program requirements. This should be updated and brought to every SC meeting.

1.3 Meetings:

There will be at least one meeting each year with every student and in some cases two or more, depending on the degree being taken and the level of progress. With accommodation made for availability, the meetings will be scheduled as follows:

  1. All new Students: within 30 days of arrival in the program
  2. All MEng students in the first month of each term
  3. All MScE students: at least once a year (usually April or Sept)
  4. All PhD students: at the time of PhD proposal, PhD, general examinations, and then at least once a year (usually April or September)

Additional SC meetings can be called by:

  1. the student if additional input is requested
  2. the Supervisor(s)
  3. the Director of Graduate Studies (e.g., if problems become apparent)

Meetings to Determine whether the thesis is ready to go to the Examining Board: For PhD students the SC shall meet after reading the thesis to determine whether the thesis can be sent externally. This is also a desired course for the MScE thesis but may be waived to expedite the process.

1.4 Requirements of the Students for Supervisory Committee Meetings:

Students should be prepared to present their progress in research and in meeting program requirements at any SC meeting. A presentation may be required by the Supervisor(s). Every student must make copies of the updated progress form (handed out on arrival) available to the SC members.

1.5 Summary of Overall Requirements

  1. On arrival: All supervisor(s) or DOGS should advise the Graduate Secretary of SC provisional SC members (and should advise if any changes occur)
  2. On arrival: All students should receive progress form from Graduate Secretary
  3. 30 days from arrival: A SC meeting will be scheduled by the Graduate Secretary for student orientation
  4. MEng students: A SC meeting will be scheduled at the end/beginning of each term
  5. MScE students: Additional SC meetings will be held at least once a year (normally in April/May)
  6. PhD students: Additional SC meetings will be held at the time of presentation of the proposal (normally May) to advise on research and at the end of the oral examination for the general examinations (normally August/Sept) in order to determine whether the student has been successful in becoming a PhD Candidate. For the remainder of the program, SC Committees will be held annually (normally in April/May).
  7. Progress Forms: Updated program progress forms and possibility presentations must be provided by the student for any meeting.

Note: All research students must file an additional up-to-date progress report form (from Graduate School) every June. The GGE progress form can be used as an attachment.

2. Examining Boards (EB)

2.1 Role and Membership of the Examining Boards

The EB are responsible for the quality of the research for the PhD and MScE degrees.One principle of the EB which affects the number of members is that the Board should be able to have a majority vote over the supervisor(s). Thus if there are 2 co-supervisors, the EB must have 5 members. To overcome the burden of two many members, the co-supervisors can agree to share a common vote.

2.2 Composition of the PhD Examining Boards

The School of Graduate Studies (SGS) selects the EB members on recommendations from the DOGS (and supervisor). Neither students nor supervisors should have any contact with EB members. The members should be at least five in number as follows:

  1. supervisor or co-supervisors (assuming one vote)
  2. one independent member external to UNB (not to have had any involvement with the research)
  3. at least one UNB member from a Graduate Academic Unit (GAU) other than GGE
  4. at least one member of the GGE GAU (in theory this should include one non Supervisory Committee member but due to small faculty numbers will probably be from the Supervisory Committee)
  5. one other member from UNB (GGE or external GAU)

2.3 Composition of the MScE Examining Boards (EB)

The GGE DOGS (on behalf of the GAU) determines the EB based on recommendations of the supervisor(s). The EB may include readers external to UNB but in any case the EB members should not have been involved in the research. The EB shall be comprised of at least 3 members as follows:

  1. supervisor or co-supervisors (assuming one vote)
  2. at least one member of the GGE GAU (in theory not from the SC)
  3. at least one member of another GAU at UNB.