Supervisory Committee Roles

Major Advisor – Committee member with the primary advising responsibility. Typically the faculty supervisor for the lab in which your research is conducted. Do not select this if you have co-Major Advisors.

Co-Major Advisor –Two committee members who share the role of primary advisor. You cannot have a committee member designated as “Major Advisor” and at the same time have a committee member listed as “Co-Major Advisor”. Both committee members are listed as Co-Major Advisors.

Committee Member (KSU) – Select this for committee members who are in the Department of Agronomy (i.e., same academic discipline as your major advisor). Select this also for committee members who are adjunct faculty in Agronomy.

Outside Committee Member (KSU) – Select this for committee members who are not in the Department of Agronomy (i.e., outside the academic discipline of your major advisor). Select this also for committee members who are adjunct faculty in departments other than Agronomy.

External Committee Member (Not at KSU) – Select this for committee members who are not either faculty or adjunct faculty at K-State. These committee members must be approved by the graduate school prior to submission of the program of study. To obtain approval for an External Committee Member, please send an e-mail to the graduate program director with the following information:

• Name, title, organizational affiliation, and contact information for the External Committee Member.

• Brief description of the individual’s background, credentials, and experience with research and/or graduate advising.

• Description of why you would like to include the individual on the supervisory committee and/ or a description of the specific expertise the individual will contribute to the graduate committee.

• Current CV for the External Committee Member.

The graduate program director will send this information to the graduate school requesting that the individual is approved to serve on the committee and will notify the student concerning the outcome of the request. NOTE: External Committee Members DO NOT fill the requirement for an Outside Committee member on doctoral committees unless it is overwhelmingly obvious that they are not from the discipline of Agronomy (i.e., this individual would not likely be associated with an Agronomy department).