Guidelines for selecting External Members

Qualified scientists working at institutions not affiliated with Boston University who become the “External Member” of PhD dissertation steering committees and/or PhD Final Oral Examination committees play many important roles.

External Members influence the department through furtherance of the norms and standards for PhDs in our scientific fields, acting as independent checks-and-balances of the research and dissertations expectations of our PhD students, and assessing the degree to which our program standards are comparable to those of other institutions. External Members benefit our students by using their experience and scientific knowledge to help our PhD students design and execute their dissertation research, helping our PhD students gain access to additional social/scientific/career networks, and helping with the career development and future opportunities for our PhD students.

A “classic” model of an External Member is someone in a tenure-track faculty position at a university of similar or higher quality than BU (“peer” or “peer-plus”) working in the same scientific field as the PhD student but who is not currently affiliated with the PhD student’s research group or BU faculty advisor.

But, there are other models as well. These can include scientists at national labs/observatories, such as NOAO, Gemini, NRAO, Haystack Obs, or the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics. Here, because many of the personnel in these labs do not work regularly with graduate students, additional care is needed. While a senior-level scientific manager will likely have built up plenty of relevant experience and could bring great value as an External Member, a newly minted postdoc with just their own recent dissertation experience to hearken to would be far less suited to this role.

Selecting an External Member ideally should come about from a collaboration of the PhD student, their faculty advisor, other members of their PhD dissertation steering committee, and even the DGS. Moot many names, discuss the strengths and weaknesses of each candidate, and establish a ranked list. Discussion between the PhD student and their faculty advisor can establish who will approach the candidate to ask them to serve as an External Member. Be patient and be prepared to move down your ranked list if top candidates plead they have no time to give. The key is to have a list so that a declination isn’t overwhelming.

When to bring on an External Member is again best answered via a collaborative discussion among the PhD student, advisor, and steering committee. Getting an External Member onto your PhD dissertation steering committee early allows them to help during the initial stages of project selection that is aimed at getting to your dissertation Prospectus document. That early inclusion of the External Member helps them ‘buy-into’ your project and to be a champion for it and for you over a longer time period. Hint: this could lead to an all-important and strong letter of recommendation from a non-BU, well-recognized expert, which is a good thing! Alternatively, some PhD students bring on the External Member after the Prospectus has been submitted and a significant fraction of the dissertation work has been completed. This helps hide the early years of struggling to get the dissertation outlined and into Prospectus form and reveals to the External Member a nearly done, promising, young scientist worthy of being hired (by the External Member, say). There are many points in this continuum that ranges from early inclusion to late inclusion of the External Member. Find what works best for you and your career.

Again, talking with others (advisor, steering committee, DGS, other faculty) works best to help uncover good candidates for your External Member and for deciding when to bring them into your PhD journey. And ask yourself, “who can help me most in my dissertation effort and in my near-term career?”

How do I nominate an External member and what approvals are needed? The following options are organized by time to dissertation defense, from greatest to smallest. Note that External members may have multiple roles, so the following are not mutually exclusive.

  • To add an External member to a PhD dissertation steering committee, you will need approval by your adviser, the existing internal members of your PhD dissertation steering committee, and the DGS or Chair, collected on the AS PhD dissertation steering committee membership form (on our Forms webpage). This addition could occur as early as right after the initial meeting of the student with their dissertation steering committee.
  • If you wish your External member to be a Second, Third, or Fourth Reader of your PhD dissertation (remembering that not all readers or committee members need to be official “Readers” and that External members are not normally First Readers) that person should be listed on the GRS Dissertation Prospectus Approval Form (on our Forms webpage). You must sign the form and the the DGS or Chair must also sign the form. The form will be submitted to GRS along with your dissertation Prospectus. Although not listed on the form, your entire PhD dissertation steering committee should have approved of the Prospectus prior to submission of the form to the DGS or Chair (the GRS website says “DGS and Chair” though the form says “or”). The fully signed form must be received by GRS no later than 6 months before the dissertation defense but we advise submission much, much earlier.
  • For an External member to serve either as a Reader or member of your Final Oral Examination Committee, that member must receive a GRS Special Service Appointment (on our Forms webpage) making them in essence a temporary BU faculty member. Complete the form and include the professional CV of the External member before forwarding both to the DGS and/or Chair for submission to GRS. It is wisest to be sure this has been completed at least 3 months prior to the dissertation defense.
  • Finally, listing all the members of your PhD Final Oral Examination Committee must be done at the time you submit your GRS Dissertation Abstract and Schedule Form your Oral Examination (on our Forms webpage), again using a form that needs the signatures of your adviser, the DGS, and the Chair prior to being conveyed to GRS. The abstract and form must be submitted to the DGS at least 5 weeks before the dissertation defense date.