Graduate Student Advising Report

GSO Procedures for Verifying Graduate Student Advising by Faculty Applying for Promotion and/or Tenure (P&T)

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Receiving Information from the Faculty Member
2. Performing the Verification
3. Creating the Draft Report
4. Sharing the Report with Faculty Members before Finalizing
5. Submitting the Final Report (Accounting for Any Faculty Input)

1. RECEIVING INFORMATION FROM THE FACULTY MEMBER

To start the verification process, the P&T dossier must be submitted to the Office of the Provost. Specific details must be provided about every graduate (Master’s or PhD) student that the faculty member has advised or is advising in research; the Graduate Studies Office (GSO) can only verify data for graduate students enrolled at NJIT. If students from other universities have been advised by the P&T candidate, pertinent documentation should be included in the application dossier for the P&T committee to review.

Graduate students advised by the P&T applicant must be grouped in sections as follows (Note: students must be listed in reverse chronological order in each section).

• Role: Primary Advisor (also Committee Chair) or co-Advisor for Doctoral Dissertation. Include student full name, UCID, academic program, graduation year (if applicable), and the title of dissertation (tentative title if the student has not graduated). Also, explicitly state co-advisor role, if applicable.
• Role: Member of Doctoral Dissertation Committee (students not advised directly by the P&T applicant). List student name, UCID, academic program, primary advisor name, and the graduation year (if applicable).
• Role: Primary Advisor (also Committee Chair) or co-Advisor for Master’s Thesis. List student name, UCID, academic program, graduation year (if applicable), and the thesis title (tentative title if the student has not graduated). Also, explicitly state co-advisor role, if applicable.
• Role: Member of Master’s Thesis Committee (students not advised directly by the P&T applicant). List student name, UCID, academic program, primary advisor name, and the graduation year (if applicable).
• Role: Course Instructor for Independent Study or Master’s Project Course (students advised by the P&T applicant for credit-bearing research). List student name, UCID, academic program, and Independent Study course or Master’s Project course (course number and semester).

2. PERFORMING THE VERIFICATION

The GSO carefully checks the faculty self-reported data against official records. 

The GSO verification process includes:

• ETD Report Comparison: GSO analyzes Electronic Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) records for listed students who have submitted their final master’s thesis or PhD dissertation document to GSO.
• Role Confirmation: GSO cross-references GSO and institutional records to confirm the faculty member's specific designation as:
  • Primary Advisor or Co-Advisor
  • Committee Member
  • Research Course Instructor
• Discrepancy Resolution: If the ETD report and the faculty-provided list do not match, the GSO will flag pertinent entries for clarification by the faculty member.

3. CREATING THE DRAFT REPORT

Once the initial verification process is complete, the GSO prepares a draft report. This report organizes the faculty-reported student data into a standardized format that reflects the candidate’s history of student research advising and thesis/dissertation committee service.

4. SHARING THE REPORT WITH FACULTY MEMBERS BEFORE FINALIZING

The GSO works with the faculty member to finalize the report.

• Draft Review: The GSO emails the draft report to the faculty member for their review and their chance to point out any discrepancies.
• Administrative Oversight: A copy of this draft is also sent to the Dean of Graduate Faculty (and Vice Provost for Graduate Studies).
• Feedback Loop: Faculty members are expected to review the draft for completeness and potential inaccuracies. The GSO will update the report, as deemed necessary, based on the verification of feedback provided by the faculty member.

5. SUBMITTING THE FINAL REPORT (Accounting for Any Faculty Input)

Once GSO has accounted for the P&T applicant’s input, the report will be updated.

• Final Distribution: The GSO’s final report is emailed to the faculty member. Faculty members are encouraged to submit any additional materials directly to the Provost's Office (for student advising that cannot be verified by official records available to Graduate Studies). 
• Official Copies: Carbon copies (CC) are sent to the Provost’s Office and the Dean of Graduate Faculty. 
• The Provost’s Office includes the GSO’s final report in the applicant’s dossier. 

Point of Contact: Ester Flaim, Assistant Director for Graduate Studies, ester.flaim@njit.edu