Major Advisor:  To ensure timely direction, a student is accepted into the Master program only if a tentative major advisor has been arranged.  The assignment of a tentative major advisor occurs during the admission process (see Admissions).  Students interested in working with two faculty members can be assigned co-advisors.  A student has no obligation to retain the tentative major advisor assigned during the admission process.  Each student has the freedom to change their major advisor through petition to the Graduate Coordinator of the Department of Biology.  Such a change does not negatively affect a student's ability to receive financial support or complete the degree, although it may delay completion of the thesis research. In all cases, a student must have a major advisor by the end of the second academic semester.

Supervisory Committee:  The committee, selected by the student in consultation with his/her major advisor, must always include three members from the Biology Graduate Faculty. A typical Committee consists of a Major Advisor and two additional Committee members. Special requests can be submitted to replace one member of the committee with a tenure-track faculty member from outside the Department of Biology, provided that the person (1) holds graduate faculty status in their home department and (2) is a participant in one of the curricular programs housed in the Department of Biology (e.g. the Biotechnology Program; the Interdisciplinary Doctoral Program in Biology, etc.) or for which Biology is a participating department (e.g. the INES Doctoral Program). The committee may include a fourth member, including Adjunct Faculty, only if that person has Graduate Faculty status.  If the Major Advisor is not a member of the Biology Graduate Faculty, one of the three members from the Biology Faculty must serve as Co-Advisor. All Supervisory Committees must be approved by the Graduate Committee . The composition of the Supervisory Committee can be changed at any time through petition to the Graduate Coordinator.