ADVISING
Advisor Selection
Although an intake faculty advisor is assigned to each student upon entry in to the program, students should seek permanent advisors by the end of the first year of graduate study.
Rotational students have more than one intake advisor assigned.
The advisor should be a faculty member whose expertise and project/research interests match closely with those that the student intends to acquire. Students are encouraged to gather information from courses, faculty and student seminars, the program website, and publications to help identify faculty with matching interests. While no faculty member is obliged to accept a student’s request to serve as advisor, invitations are usually accepted except in cases where the faculty member judges that a different advisor would serve the student’s needs better. For more information see the Advisor policy from the Graduate School, grad.wisc.edu/acadpolicy/#advisor.
A student who later decides that a different faculty advisor would be preferable should discuss this with the current advisor and then feel free to seek the change. Selection of an advisor, or a change of advisors, should be based on the faculty member’s ability to guide the student expertly into the chosen area of interest/research. When a student has selected, or changed, advisors, please file the appropriate form with your program’s graduate coordinator.
Students may see their official advisor listed in MyUW. (The official advisor is entered in the Student Information System (SIS) by the graduate program coordinator.)
Advisor / Advisee Roles
Advisor:
The advisor serves a dual role: first, to assist the student in acquiring a high level of knowledge and competence in the field; and second, to chair the committee that will determine whether the student has performed acceptably at each of his/ her degree milestones. The chair or co-chair of the committee must be Graduate Faculty from the student’s program. Advisors often play a role in tracking the student’s progress toward degree completion, assisting with course selection and academic planning, and helping students identify possible research mentors, committee members, and opportunities.
Advisee:
Since these roles vary, students should discuss roles and expectations with their advisors or prospective advisors. Both the student and the advisor have a responsibility to make their expectations clear to each other.
Advising Resources
Requirements and timeframes for the Botany Program are laid out in the “Check list of Student Progress, Botany M.S./PhD Degree” form given to the student when they enter the program.
Each student, their primary advisor, the chair of the graduate committee and the director of the graduate program has access to a BOX folder with the student’s required signed forms and their record of student progress. The student is responsible for meeting each of the requirements listed on the document. If they are unable to meet a deadline in a timely manner, they must ask the Graduate Committee for approval for an extension. (See appendix for Botany Graduate Program exception form).
Additional Advising Contacts
Students should always reference the program’s website, this Handbook, the Graduate School’s website (grad.wisc.edu), and the Graduate School’s Academic Policies and Procedures (grad.wisc.edu/acadpolicy/) for answers on various program-related questions. However, when students need further clarification on any of these policies or procedures they should contact the Graduate Program Coordinator. The Graduate Program Coordinator may play a role with issues
including satisfactory academic progress, academic deadlines, graduation completion, program- related forms, advising/course holds and permissions, and course offerings.
Questions to Ask of Prospective Advisors: See Appendix