Policies and Practices for Change of a Student’s Advisor

Students sometimes change advisors over the course of their time in the program. There can be many reasons for such a change, including (but not limited to) changes in a student’s research shift in the intellectual interests or research methods, a change in needs or expectations, an advisor’s departure from the university, or an unresolved academic or professional issue that impacts the advising relationship. Below we outline the principles guiding the process, followed by the step-by-step description of the process. (Note that if this change constitutes a change to a dissertation committee which has already been filed with Rackham, additional steps will be needed).

Principles

1. PhD students are assigned an advisor at the beginning of the program. They can change their advisors. While this does not happen often, it can, and it is a normal part of graduate education. The expectation is that the faculty and student will work jointly to make the transition as smooth as possible. To facilitate the work between student and advisor, advisors should make their expectations clear when taking on students. A good way to start the mentoring relationship is for the student and the advisor to attend the MORE mentoring workshop.
2. When a decision is made to change advisors, the student will inform the current advisor. In exceptional circumstances, the student may not be comfortable informing their current advisor. In these cases, the Graduate Program Director will inform the current advisor. 
3. The student will also inform the Graduate Coordinator about the change.
4. Various issues might arise due to the change of advisor, such as the status of current joint work. It is expected that the current advisor and student will resolve any such questions in a responsible manner. The Graduate Program Director might be asked to help if needed. 
5. While there is no specific time frame in which this change needs to take place, the process should take place reasonably quickly (within a few weeks) so that the student is not delayed in their work.
6. A student’s funding will not be affected by advisor change (i.e., the original commitment of the department, as specified in the offer of admission, stays in place). Note that if the student holds a GSRA position at the time of advisor change, the funding will still hold for the remainder of the semester and the student will continue to work on the GSRA project.
7. Note that while a student’s funding will not be affected by a change in advisor (the original commitment of the department, as specified in the offer of admission, stays in place), a change in advisor might mean a larger or smaller change in research direction. In such cases, a student’s progress might be somewhat slower. The new advisor and the student should work together to minimize these effects, if possible.
8. If there is no suitable advisor for the student, the student might be placed in jeopardy of probation, since a student does need an advisor to succeed in the program.
9. While the department cannot guarantee that an advisor will be available for the student, the Graduate Program Director will work with the student and faculty to try to avoid this situation.
10. When a change of advisor involves the Graduate Program Director as advisor, the Department Chair may help coordinate the advisor change process.

Step-by-step process

1. The student sets up an initial meeting with the Graduate Program Director for the student to review and ask questions about the process and discuss potential new advisors.
   • Before any such step, the student might already talk to their current advisor or another faculty member. Their current advisor might in many ways be best positioned to help identify the new advisor.
2. The student reaches out to potential new advisors; if the potential new advisor agrees, the student notifies the Graduate Coordinator, the Graduate Program Director, and their current advisor.

In rare cases, the student might not feel comfortable discussing advisor change with their current advisor. In this case, students should ask the Graduate Program Director to inform the current advisor about the change.