Committees

Each of the Graduate Program Committees, acting on delegated authority from Graduate Council or by sub-delegated authority to the Graduate Program Committee Chair, is responsible for the general supervision of its program(s). 
For the complete regulations regarding Graduate Program Committees (including membership, duties, responsibilities, and areas of oversight), refer to the School of Graduate Studies Governing Principles.

Membership of the Supervisory Committee
Members of a student's Supervisory Committee may be internal or external to the student's home department or academic unit, with the constraints noted below. 

*In case where there is a co-supervision, the co-supervisors are also co-chairs. A student may only have two co-supervisors.

​Establishment of the Supervisory Committee 
Submit the Establishment/Change of Supervisory Committee form through the SGS Portal to the relevant Graduate Program Office for the initial establishment of Supervisory Committee membership. Once a supervisor has been chosen, the supervisor, in consultation with the student, recommends the composition of the Supervisory Committee.

Table 4: Establishment of the Supervisory Committee by program

Close personal relationships
A close personal relationship (e.g. immediate family, including common-law relationships) between a supervisor and Supervisory Committee member can create a perception of bias in committee decisions and should be avoided when possible. However, there will be occasions where the expertise of a member is highly desirable in order to support a student through their program. In such cases, the following measures will be put into place:

1. The relationship will be disclosed to the student. The rationale for including a Supervisory Committee member with a close personal relationship to the supervisor will be discussed with the student.
2. The minimum complement of the Supervisory Committee laid out in table 3 will be increased by one member. This policy comes into effect on July 1, 2023 and does not apply to Supervisory Committees formed before this date.

Under no circumstances is a Supervisory Committee member to be a person with a close personal relationship with the supervised student.

Changes to an established Supervisory Committee 
Submit the Establishment/Change of Supervisory Committee form via the SGS Portal for changes in membership. The relevant Graduate Program Committee reviews and approves changes to membership.

Duties and responsibilities of the Supervisory Committee
Most programs
The overall role of the Supervisory Committee is to support the graduate student by providing academic and research advice and assessing a student’s progress.

The Supervisory Committee’s responsibilities are to:

• Meet at least twice per academic year (approximately every six (6) months) with the student to discuss progress and issues and submit a statement of progress and standing to the relevant Graduate Program Committee (see Progress and Standing Reports on pg. 21).
• Provide constructive feedback and criticism of the student’s ideas, methods, and performance
• Be accessible to the student for ongoing consultation and discussion
• Participate in the Thesis Proposal and Thesis oral defence
• Be a member of the Comprehensive Examination Committee (for doctoral-level students only)
• Be a member of the Thesis Examination Committee

Each member should make every effort to remain part of the student’s Supervisory Committee until the student exits the program.

Master of Education students completing the Project, the Project Supervisory Committee’s responsibilities are to:

• Meet at least twice per academic year (approximately every six (6) months) with the student to discuss progress and issues and submit a statement of progress and standing to the relevant Graduate Program Committee (see Progress and standing reports on pg. 21).
• Provide constructive feedback and criticism of the student’s ideas, methods, and performance
• Be accessible to the student for ongoing consultation and discussion

See Master of Education Project Route on pg. 52.

Membership of the Comprehensive Examination Committee 
The Comprehensive Examination Committee is unique to each student and consists of the following members:

• A Chair: A faculty member designated by the Department/Faculty/School, often a Graduate Coordinator or Chair of a Departmental Graduate Education Committee.
• Members of the student’s Supervisory Committee

Establishing the Comprehensive Examination Committee

At least four (4) weeks prior to the scheduled date of a comprehensive examination, unless specified otherwise in approved program area Assessment of Comprehensive Knowledge guidelines, the Supervisor recommends the membership of the Comprehensive Examination Committee to the relevant Graduate Program Committee and submits the Comprehensive Examination Request form through the SGS Portal to the relevant Graduate Program Office for approval by the relevant Graduate Program Committee.

Where possible, the Chair will be from the same discipline and a common chair for all Comprehensive Examinations in the department/program area; however, this may not be possible for all departments. In cases where there is a potential or perceived conflict of interest, an alternate Chair must be recommended by the Department and approved by the relevant Graduate Program Committee.

The Chair of the Comprehensive Examination Committee is a representative of the School of Graduate Studies and is required to be familiar with the policies and procedures related to the examination.

Duties and responsibilities of the Comprehensive Examination Committee

The Comprehensive Examination Committee is responsible for developing, administering and assessing any distinct comprehensive examinations required by a given department or program. The Assessment of Comprehensive Knowledge requirement may in some cases include courses that are evaluated by the course instructor(s).

The Chair of the Comprehensive Examination Committee is a representative of the School of Graduate Studies and is responsible for chairing the oral and written components of comprehensive examinations. The Chair is responsible for submitting a report on the results of the examination to the relevant Graduate Program Office in a timely way.

The supervisor must provide the Chair with a copy of the student’s Thesis Proposal.

Where appropriate, the Supervisory Committee and supervisor will also nominate an External Examiner, usually from the University and within the same discipline.

Membership 
All members of the Thesis Examination Committee are voting members, except the Chair.

An additional examination committee member, who has not co-authored any of the papers/manuscripts, must be added to the Thesis Examination Committee when all members of the Supervisory Committee including the supervisor/co-supervisors are co-authors of papers/manuscripts included in the student’s Thesis.

Unless otherwise indicated in the Thesis Defence section, the Dean of Graduate Studies or designate approves the membership of the Thesis Examination Committee. Exceptions to the Thesis Examination Committee composition can be granted by the Dean of Graduate Studies or designate.

Chair 
The Chair is a non-voting member of the Thesis Examination Committee and is a representative of the School of Graduate Studies and, as such, is required to be familiar with the policies and procedures related to the Thesis oral defence.

The Chair is a responsible for

• Chairing the Thesis oral defence to ensure procedural fairness and consistency, and to assist the Thesis Examination Committee to reach an assessment decision (see Making a decision on pg. 44)
• Ensuring the proper process is followed.
• Informing the student of the results of the Thesis oral defence and reporting the results to the relevantGraduate Program Office and the Dean of Graduate Studies immediately following the defence.

The Chair may vote only in cases when the Chair’s vote is necessary to break a tie.

Internal Examiners 
The Internal Examiners are usually the members of the student’s Supervisory Committee, including the supervisor(s). If a Supervisory Committee member is unavailable for the thesis examination, an alternate may be appointed on recommendation of the supervisor(s).

External Examiners 
Thesis Examination Committees may include a required or optional External Examiner who would be chosen for their expertise in the area of research on the advice of the supervisor via the Final Thesis/Project Examination Request form. When an External Examiner is optional, this examiner is external to the home department/academic unit, and may be either internal or external to the University. In programs where an External Examiner is required, the External Examiner must be external to the University.

For doctoral thesis examinations, the External Examiner will normally hold the rank of Associate Professor or above, have demonstrable expertise in the subject area of the thesis, and have experience in the supervision and examination of doctoral students. Exceptionally qualified individuals who lack experience in doctoral education may be considered at the discretion of the Dean or designate. 

The External Examiner must have no academic relationship with the student or the supervisor that constitutes a conflict of interest. To request an External Examiner, the supervisor must submit the External Examiner Request form through the SGS Portal. The External Examiner will be required to complete a conflict of interest and submit their curriculum vitae External examiners are subject to decanal approval.

A conflict of interest will normally be deemed to exist if, within the last five (5) years, the proposed External Examiner

• Co-authored a publication with,
• Collaborated on a research project with,
• Co-authored a grant with,
• Was a student, postdoctoral fellow, or research supervisor (current or former) of,
• Was a member of the same University as

the (co)-supervisor(s) or student, or if the proposed External Examiner was, at any time,

• A current or former employee/employer,
• A relative,
• A current or former spouse,
• In a business relationship,
• In a personal relationship that could be deemed a conflict of interest,
• In any other position that would create a perceived conflict of interest.

An External Examiner may participate remotely, for example utilizing videoconferencing or teleconferencing technology supported by the University.

Table 5: Thesis Examination Committee Membership by program

Establishment of the Thesis Examination Committee
The Thesis Examination Committee is established following submission of the Final Thesis/Project Examination Request form through the SGS Portal and final approval by the Dean, Graduate Studies or designate. See Scheduling the Thesis oral defence for detailed timelines.

Duties and responsibilities of the Thesis Examination Committee 
The responsibility of the Thesis Examination Committee is to assess the completed Thesis, by reviewing the Thesis and conducting the Thesis oral defence in accordance with the procedures developed by the School of Graduate Studies (see Thesis Defence on pg. 37).

The Thesis Examination Committee’s specific responsibilities include the following:

• Reviewing and assessing the completed Thesis, in accordance with the guidelines described in Assessing the Thesis on pg. 41.
• Questioning of the student during the Thesis oral defence.
• Assessing the student, based on the Thesis, and the student’s responses and performance during the Thesis oral defence.
• Providing prompt feedback post-defence if any revisions are required. Comments to be addressed by the candidate will normally be provided to the candidate via the supervisor within one working day of the defence.