GRADUATE CATALOG - The Petroleum Institute

Graduate Catalog | Academic Year 2013 – 2014Academic Advising and ResearchFaculty Research Advisor AppointmentThe Department Chairman or the graduate studies coordinator will serve as the advisor for all the graduatestudents in their first semester in their respective programs at the Petroleum Institute. Each M.Eng. or M.Sc.student must select, by the end of their first semester, a faculty as his/her research advisor to provide adviceregarding graduate courses and supervision of research work. The student’s Department Chairman and theDean of the Graduate School must approve all research advisor appointments. Advisors must be full-timemembers of the Petroleum Institute faculty and must hold the rank of Distinguished Professor, Chair Professor,Professor, Associate Professor, Assistant Professor, Research Professor, Associate Research Professor orAssistant Research Professor. Upon approval by the Dean of the Graduate School, Adjunct Professors and offcampusrepresentatives may be designated as co-advisors. When appropriate and upon approval by the Dean ofthe Graduate School, faculty members outside the student’s home department may serve as the student’sresearch co-advisor. In either of these cases, a co-advisor must be selected from the student’s home department.Graduate Advisory CommitteeA Graduate Advisory Committee (GAC) that consists of the student’s research advisor and two additional PetroleumInstitute faculty members who are familiar with the student’s area of study is appointed by the DepartmentChairman following the recommendation of the student’s research advisor within a month from theappointment of the research advisor. The Dean of the Graduate School approves the appointment of all GACs.Of the GAC members, two must be from the student’s major department or, in the case of interdisciplinarydegree programs, an allied department. Off-campus members can be assigned to the committee to serve eitherwith full voting status or in a non-voting capacity. Off-campus members with voting status assume all of theresponsibilities of on-campus committee members with respect to attendance of committee meetings, review ofstudents’ work and participation in oral examinations and final defense sessions. If a co-advisor is assigned, anadditional faculty member from the student’s major or allied department must be added to the committee.The student’s research advisor shall serve as the chairperson of the GAC, providing that he/she is a full-timePetroleum Institute graduate faculty member. If this is not the case, another committee member who is a fulltimePetroleum Institute faculty member will serve as the chairperson subject to approval of the student’sDepartment Chairman. The chairperson is responsible for leading all meetings of the GAC, with the exceptionof the student’s final thesis / project defense.Within an academic semester from its appointment, the GAC attends a presentation by the student on his / herproposed M.Sc. thesis / M.Eng. project and approves the proposed work. Any comments by the GAC should betaken into account by the student and his / her research advisor during the execution of the project. Thestudent’s research advisor assumes the primary responsibility for monitoring the program and directing theproject’s work. The student meets regularly with the GAC and presents his / her work progress, discussesproblems associated with his / her work and receives feedback.Thesis and Graduate Project DefenseDuring the intended last semester of his / her studies at the Petroleum Institute, the graduate student receivesapproval from his GAC to write up his thesis / project report. The student submits an initial draft of his or herM.Sc. thesis / M.Eng. project report to his / her research advisor, who will work with the student on necessaryrevisions. Upon the approval of the student’s advisor, the revised M.Sc. thesis / M.Eng. project report issubmitted to the GAC and the defense coordinator. The student should submit his M.Sc. thesis / M.Eng. projectreport to the GAC and the coordinator at least two weeks prior to the defense day.The research advisor should inform the Graduate School on the intention of the student to defend his / her work, atleast one month prior to the intended defense date. In response to the research advisor notification, theGraduate School appoints a Petroleum Institute graduate faculty as the M.Sc. thesis / M.Eng. project defensecoordinator. The coordinator sets up the date of the thesis / project report defense by consulting all the GACmembers. He / she has a non-voting role in the defense process, and ensures that the defense is performed bysatisfying the academic policies of the Petroleum Institute.Students must be in good academic standing and must be registered to defend. Students who are not in goodacademic standing should receive written approval from the Dean of the Graduate School in order to defendtheir thesis. This defense session will be open to the public. Following the defense, the coordinator and the GACwill meet privately to vote on whether the student has successfully defended the project. The coordinator reportsback to the Graduate School the examination result and confirms that the proper examination process wasfollowed.Page 26