Can an adjunct professor or other doctoral scientist serve as a member of my dissertation committee?
Yes, but they must first have been appointed as Special Members of the Graduate Faculty for the purpose of “serving on student committees as approved by the Graduate Dean”. First ask the SOM Graduate Liaison if the person in question has been appointed for such a purpose, and, if not, discuss with the Graduate Liaison whether it would be appropriate to appoint the person with such privileges. This appointment process should generally precede your submission of the “The Report of the Advisory Conference”. In all instances, whether the appointment to Special Member has occured in the past or is occuring concurrently with the submission of “The Report of the Advisory Conference”, a memo from the SOM Graduate Liaison will be stapled to “The Report of the Advisory Conference” form requesting permission for the person to serve on your committee. (The purpose of this is that if the Graduate College discovers that a Special Member is already serving on ten other committees, they may want to as
