Master's Program Advising

Each student is assigned a temporary academic adviser upon admission into the program. Students must select a permanent academic adviser no later than the end of the fall quarter of their first year of study. The M.A. adviser helps each student develop a plan of study and supervises the student's research and progress toward satisfying degree requirements. The M.A. adviser also serves as chair of the student's M.A. committee.

The interests of students often evolve to the degree that a change of advisers is indicated. A change can be made with the approval of the program's graduate adviser.

Every student is assigned to an M.A. committee that is composed of program faculty members who have expertise that comes closest to the student's interest. The M.A. committee generally consists of the student's M.A. adviser and two other members of the program's ladder faculty. With the approval of the M.A. adviser, the student's committee may include one member who is not on the program faculty, provided that this fourth member holds a professorial or adjunct professorial title at UC Davis. Lecturers SOE (with security of employment) and lecturers PSOE (with potential for security of employment) may serve on M.A. committees; but instructors who do not hold either of those lecturer titles may not.

The Department of Communication's executive committee directs our M.A. and Ph.D. programs. The chair of this committee is responsible for leading the committee and overseeing the day-to-day activities of the program. The graduate adviser serves as an informal adviser to students, especially in their first quarter of study.

Students who have questions about administrative forms and policies should consult with the program's graduate coordinator.