Advising

The Department of Statistics is committed to providing academic advising in support of graduate student scholarly and professional development. When most effective, this advising relationship entails collaborative and sustained engagement by the advisor and the advisee. As a best practice, advising expectations should be periodically discussed and reviewed to ensure mutual understanding. Both the advisor and the advisee are expected to maintain professionalism and integrity.

Faculty advisors guide students in critical areas such as selecting courses, designing and conducting research, developing teaching pedagogy, navigating policies and degree requirements, and exploring academic opportunities and professional pathways.

Graduate students are active contributors to the advising relationship, proactively seeking academic and professional guidance and taking responsibility for informing themselves of policies and degree requirements for their graduate program.

The advisor-student mentorship takes many different forms, including, but not limited to, programmatic consultation and degree progress, and support and collaboration relating to research, conferences, publications, and academic and professional opportunities.

From the student’s arrival until the selection of a dissertation research advisor, the department’s Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) monitors the student’s academic progress. Each student should meet with the DGS at least once a quarter to discuss their academic plans and progress toward choosing a dissertation advisor. When the dissertation advisor is confirmed, it is then the student’s responsibility to meet with them at least once per quarter during the academic year to discuss academic standing and graduate degree progress. In addition, the DGS remains available to PhD students for consultation.