Committee Membership
The Supervisory Committee must have at least four voting members, all of whom shall be UNL Graduate Faculty. Students begin the process by asking a current GKSOM Graduate Faculty Member in their area of specialization to serve as Chair of the Supervisory Committee. In most cases, the chair is the student’s applied studio instructor. (NOTE: Graduate Faculty Associate members may serve on the committee in any role except that of Chair or Co-Chair.) Duties include assisting the student in planning an appropriate course of study, preparing the formal Program of Studies, preparing and evaluating recitals (DMA), organizing the Comprehensive Examination, guiding research for recital artifacts, and serving as chair of the Final Oral Examination.
The student, in consultation with the chair, then asks three additional UNL Graduate Faculty members to serve. One must be a GKSOM faculty member from the student's area of specialization; one must be a GKSOM faculty member from outside the area of specialization, and one must be a UNL faculty member from outside the GKSOM. If the student designates a minor or related area of study, a Graduate Faculty Member from the minor or related area must also be represented on the Supervisory Committee. This committee member may also function as the outside-the-GKSOM member. In special circumstances, the student may petition the Graduate Committee to include an emeritus faculty member to serve as one of the voting members of the Supervisory Committee. Graduate Faculty with emeritus status may co-chair the supervisory committees of doctoral students with a resident Graduate Faculty member.
Emeritus Faculty and Special Members
The student may also petition the Graduate Committee to include additional committee members, including members of the University of Nebraska Graduate Faculty (voting), University of Nebraska authorized emeriti faculty (voting), and members who do not hold Graduate Faculty status, but who are approved by the Graduate College for committee service (voting), who may bring needed expertise to the Committee. In addition, non-graduate faculty members from inside or outside the UN system may serve as consultants (non-voting) to the committee, e.g., a non-graduate faculty member who is authorized to teach graduate applied lessons may be invited to serve as a consultant to the committee.
Supervisory Committee Form Submission
The Supervisory Committee Form must be filed with the Office of Graduate Studies before the Program of Studies is submitted for review. As with all forms submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies, it must first be submitted to the GKSOM Graduate Committee through the Graduate Forms Submission Portal. Once submitted, the GKSOM Graduate Program Coordinator will process the form, route it for signatures, and submit it to the Office of Graduate Studies for final approval.
Committee Membership Changes
Under extraordinary circumstances, students may initiate a change in their Supervisory Committee membership. If the change involves a change in the chair of the committee, students should consult with the GKSOM Graduate Committee Chair (GKSOM Associate Director for Graduate Studies). If the change involves a committee member other than the chair, students should consult with their Supervisory Committee Chair. If it is determined that a change of membership must occur, all parties must be notified of the change and a Change of Supervisory Committee for the Doctoral Degreeform must be submitted to the GKSOM Graduate Committee through the Graduate Forms Submission Portal and filed with the Office of Graduate Studies. Once submitted, the GKSOM Graduate Program Coordinator will process the form, route it for signatures, and submit it to the Office of Graduate Studies for final approval.
Occasionally a student will wish to change their applied music instructor. Permission for any change in applied studio assignment must come from the faculty member designated as area head. It is not admissible to register for a different section of applied lessons without the approval of the area.
Committee Member Roles & Responsibilities
The student’s major professor is responsible for guiding the compositional, conducting, performance, and research efforts of the doctoral student/candidate. The major professor should be well informed in the repertoire and topics chosen for the Doctoral Dissertation Recitals (DMA), the Doctoral Lecture Recital (DMA), and the Doctoral Dissertation (PhD) and should have the necessary command of the discipline of scholarship to guide these compositions, performances, and/or research studies, along with accompanying documents, to successful completion. The Chair exercises vigilant oversight of writing projects to guarantee a comprehensive exploration of the topic, a thorough and complete presentation of the findings, logical organization of the paper, impeccable grammar and spelling, a writing style that meets standards, and adherence to the appropriate format.
Committee Member Attendance at Recitals
Supervisory Committee Chairs must be present in person at all recitals. Other Committee members are encouraged to attend in person whenever possible. Those who cannot be present for a recital may use recordings/videos/livestreaming to participate in the recital adjudication. If it is not possible to use technology to circumvent the absence, the student may secure a faculty member not on the Committee as a substitute to adjudicate the recital, with approval of the Supervisory Committee Chair. Committee Members are responsible for providing comments and a grade. The process for collecting and consolidating comments and grades is the responsibility of the Chair. No grade should be assigned for a recital without the collective input of the committee.
NOTE: The student is responsible for providing a recording of the recital to the committee member who cannot attend in person or for obtaining a faculty member to substitute for any member of the supervisory committee who cannot attend the degree recital. Additionally, it is the responsibility of the student to communicate to each member of the Supervisory Committee any changes to the originally agreed upon time or date of the recital.
Reader Responsibilities
Two members of the committee are designated as Readers. Since dissertation portfolio components are compiled throughout the student’s doctoral program, Supervisory Committee Members designated as Readers fulfill this function for each of the Dissertation Recitals as well as the Doctoral Lecture Recital. Ultimately, the Chair and the Readers have the responsibility of reviewing all Doctoral Dissertation Portfolio documents, offering feedback to the student at the time of each submission, so that submitted artifacts are suitable for a final critical evaluation during the Final Oral Exam (also called the defense). Special Members and Outside Representatives may serve as Readers. Readers are designated on the Supervisory Committee Form and serve in this designated capacity throughout the student’s program. At each stage, all documents must be thoroughly reviewed by the student’s chair before being submitted to the Readers for review.
The Supervisory Committee should not accept documents which have been disapproved or unfavorably reported upon by both Readers until the basis for the disapproval has been removed. If these criticisms involve extensive changes, the question of rejecting the documents entirely or postponing their acceptance until the following semester should be seriously considered by the Supervisory Committee.