Graduate advisers are tenured faculty appointed by the dean of the Graduate Division for each department, school, or group before the beginning of the fall semester. Graduate advisers: (1) assist students in selecting programs of study; (2) act on petitions for study list changes only; (3) maintain records of all students enrolled under their jurisdiction. In addition, the head graduate adviser: (1) endorses applications for candidacy for higher degrees and for qualifying examinations; (2) approves readmission applications and petitions by graduate students; and (3) assists the dean in the enforcement of regulations, particularly those relating to registration, admission to graduate courses, and maintenance of acceptable scholastic performance.

You may also have an individual or major adviser, usually assigned after you are advanced to candidacy for the doctorate, but frequently appointed in the earlier stages of your training. The individual or research advisers may be the same individuals as the major's official graduate advisers. You should keep in close touch with your individual adviser and should confer with your official graduate adviser about your program of study.