Who Can Serve on My Dissertation Committee?
Final oral exam committees must have five members:
- three active (or within one year of retirement/resignation) UW-Madison faculty members in either Sociology or Community & Environmental Sociology;
- one active (or within one year of retirement/resignation) UW-Madison faculty member from a graduate program outside the two departments;
- a fifth person who may be anyone whom you and your advisor believe will be a useful addition – e.g., another active UW-Madison professor, an emeritus UW-Madison professor, a faculty member from a department without a graduate program, a visiting professor, a professor at another institution, a member of the academic staff, a practitioner in the field who’s not affiliated with an academic institution (i.e., any individual “deemed qualified” by you and your advisor)
Who can Chair my Dissertation Committee?
The departments of Sociology and Community & Environmental Sociology run a combined graduate program. Active faculty, or faculty within one year of resignation/retirement, in either of these departments may chair the dissertation committee for graduate students in the combined Soc/C&E Soc program. Active faculty, or faculty within one year of resignation/retirement, from other departments who have a joint governance appointment with Soc/C&E Soc may also chair a dissertation committee for students in the combined program. Faculty from other departments who are affiliated with Soc/C&E Soc may serve on dissertation committees but may not chair them. Likewise, Soc/C&E Soc emeritus faculty may serve on dissertation committees but may not chair them; they may, however, act as co-chairs along with a current, active faculty member.
Eligible dissertation committee chairs:
Marcia (Marcy) J. Carlson
Position title: Associate Dean, Graduate School; Sewell-Bascom Professor of Sociology
Katherine J. Curtis
Position title: Professor of Community & Environmental Sociology, CDE Associate Director
Jennifer Dykema
Position title: H.I. Romnes Professor of Sociology; Faculty Director of the UW Survey Center
Noah Feinstein
Position title: Professor of Community and Environmental Sociology and Department of Curriculum and Instruction
Mosi Ifatunji
Position title: Associate Professor, Department of African American Studies and Sociology
Christine Schwartz
Position title: Vilas Distinguished Achievement and Emma Welsch Conway Bascom Professor of Sociology
