Request an external committee member

Experts outside of the University who do not hold any faculty appointments at the University are eligible to serve on master’s final examination committees, doctoral preliminary oral, and doctoral final oral examination committees, except in the roles of advisor or chair. See the UMN policy on Eligibility to Serve on Graduate Examination Committees. 

To add an external committee member, submit a formal written request.

Advisor or committee member retires or leaves UMN

If your advisor or a committee member retires or leaves the University of Minnesota, they are eligible to continue serving as your advisor/committee member.

Your advisor or committee member and you must agree to this continuation in writing. 

If your advisor is the one leaving, this agreement should outline:

• your advisor’s continued responsibility to you;
• on-campus partners for you (e.g., co-advisor, advisory committee, lab collaborators, DGS);
• to whom you are accountable;
• the source and duration of continued funding support; and
• a timeline for degree completion.

Use a sample memo as a starting point for this agreement.

Submit this agreement to your Graduate Program Coordinator and to CBS College Coordinator for Graduate Programs (Sara Eliason, seliason@umn.edu).

See the UMN policy on Eligibility to Serve on Graduate Examination Committees.