Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering

Policy on Change of Academic Adviser

Applicability:  This policy applies when a chemical engineering graduate student changes advisers during a degree program.  This policy does not apply when a student completes a degree with one adviser and then starts a new degree with another adviser.  For example, a student may complete an M.S. in chemical engineering with one adviser and start a Ph.D. in chemical engineering with another without penalty.  This policy does not apply if the change is forced by extreme circumstances, such as the adviser leaving the chemical engineering graduate faculty.  Also, a student may change advisers within a center or institute without invoking this policy, although the student or either adviser may request that the Assistant Chair for Graduate Studies invoke this policy in such a case.

This policy affects student support from department, college, or university resources administered by the department or an associated research center (e.g., research assistantship funded by grant to a faculty member, Stocker fellowship/associateship, department graduate assistantship).  This policy does not affect support from stipend or fellowship funds granted directly to the student by an entity outside the department and its associated research centers (e.g., University named fellowship, National Science Foundation Graduate Fellowship).  Policy for a student who changes advisers more than once during a degree program will be decided by the graduate committee in accordance with the spirit of this policy.

Rationale:  A student–adviser relationship is a professional commitment that should not be dissolved lightly by either party.  Graduate students may have legitimate reasons for changing advisers during a degree program.  The management style of the adviser and the work style of the student may be incompatible.  A student may find, having embarked on research in a particular area, that it does not match his/her interests or abilities as he/she had expected.  It should be possible for a student to change advisers for a legitimate professional reason.  The chemical and biomolecular engineering department has legitimate concerns about students changing advisers.

Faculty members invest time, money, and planning in their students, making commitments to funding agencies and coworkers based on those students finishing their degrees in a timely fashion.  Aside from the lost investment, a student leaving disrupts the project and the research program.  The department has a strong interest in discouraging “stipend shopping” and in encouraging students to select an adviser and research project primarily for reasons of professional interest, since this will promote quality in thesis/dissertation research.

Rules for changing advisers:  In general, adviser changes will be initiated by the student.  If a faculty member wishes to cease serving as adviser to a particular student, he or she must provide a written explanation to the Assistant Chair.  In such a case, the graduate committee will determine whether there should be any penalty to the student or the adviser.

A student who engages in unsafe or unethical behavior or fails to make satisfactory academic or research progress will normally be dropped from the program, not assigned a new adviser.  A student may approach a prospective adviser to inquire whether he/she would be accepted as a student.  A prospective adviser is not obliged to inform the student’s current adviser, regardless of the answer.  The prospective adviser may consult the Assistant Chair about funding and stipend levels prior to answering the student. If a student approaches multiple faculty about changing advisers, the Assistant Chair may conclude that the student is “stipend shopping” and notify the current and prospective advisers.

The student must inform his/her current adviser of his intention to change advisers.  The student may do this either before approaching prospective advisers or within one working day after accepting a position with a new adviser.  The student must inform the Assistant Chair when he/she has changed advisers.  The Assistant Chair will notify the college and university of the change when the next adviser report is generated.  Within three weeks of changing advisers, the student must schedule a meeting with the Assistant Chair and the new adviser to work out a revised timetable for procedural requirements (e.g., course of study, proposal, comprehensive exam, etc. as appropriate).  The timetable for the Ph.D. qualifying exam will not change.

During the first two quarters of a degree program in the department, a student may change advisers and be supported by the new adviser at whatever level the new adviser deems appropriate.  Note that many offers of student support are conditional upon the student working in a particular research area or for a particular adviser.  When a student violates these conditions, such as by changing advisers, the offer becomes void.  After the third quarter of a degree program in the department begins, a student who changes advisers must be penalized with a period of reduced stipend/fellowship support from department, college, or university resources.  A student who changes advisers within the third or fourth quarter of a degree program will receive one quarter of reduced stipend/fellowship support.  A student who changes advisers within the fifth or sixth quarter of a degree program will receive two quarters of reduced stipend/fellowship support.  A student who changes advisers later than this will receive four quarters of reduced stipend/fellowship support.  The reduced level cannot exceed 50% of the previous stipend/fellowship level or the amount to trigger a tuition scholarship, whichever is larger.

The prior adviser is entitled to compensation for loss of the student, if he/she was paid from one of the adviser’s research accounts.  The amount of compensation is the difference between the prior stipend level and the reduced stipend level.  The new adviser should contribute in this amount from a research or research incentive account to support a student selected by the prior adviser.  If the new adviser does not have sufficient funds, the new adviser shall forfeit current or future departmental support in the appropriate amount, and the prior adviser shall receive current or future departmental support in the same amount.  The Assistant Chair shall decide when compensation thus organized with department funds shall be paid.

This page last updated on September 10, 2009 by Daniel Gulino.