Leadership and Professional/Instructional Practice Committee Requirements

The Research Project of Practice Committee is comprised of three members: the Chair, the Methodologist, and one additional committee member. The Chair and at least one additional member must be LEAD core faculty and possess full graduate faculty status. It is the responsibility of the Chair to guide the candidate in the selection of the remainder of the committee. The Methodologist is typically a member of the LEAD faculty. Additionally, every committee member must hold a minimum of “Special” graduate faculty status at UTC. Relevance and expertise regarding the Research Project of Practice topic and methodology is the rationale for selection of all members; the committee should include faculty whom the committee Chair and candidate believe can make substantive contributions to the candidate’s Research Project of Practice. When appropriate, the Chair is encouraged to invite a committee member from an academic unit outside the LEAD Program to serve as the third Committee Member (typically at the beginning of the Proposal stage). All members of the Research Project of Practice committee agree to utilize the Research Project of Practice course space, hosted on the university’s Learning Management System (LMS) UTC Learn. All communication, draft submission, and feedback are accomplished via the Research Project of Practice course space. The Program Director/Advisor and Dean of the Graduate School shall approve the membership of the Research Project of Practice Committee. Any questions regarding eligibility of committee members should be directed to the Program Director/Advisor.

Applying for Special Graduate Faculty Status

All members of the Research Project of Practice Committee must hold graduate faculty status at UTC and must be approved by the Research Project Chair and Program Director/Advisor. If a proposed committee member does not currently hold graduate faculty status at UTC, s/he will need to apply for “Special” graduate faculty status by submitting the following items:

•    Graduate Faculty Application (with digital signature)
•    Complete copy of CV (or resume)

The Research Project Chair will submit the name and email address of the proposed committee member to the Program Office via email ([email protected]). The Program Office will contact the proposed committee member with instructions regarding the graduate faculty application process. UTC graduate programs have adopted an electronic filing and approval process; therefore, hard copy application materials submitted by U.S. Postal Service or FAX cannot be accepted. The applicant's complete CV/resume and digitally signed Graduate Faculty Application should be emailed to the Program Office ([email protected]) for approval and submission to the Graduate School. Instructions for Digital Signature are available upon request.

Filing the Research Project of Practice Committee Appointment Form

Once the candidate and the Research Project Chair have agreed to the members of the Research Project of Practice Committee, the Research Project Chair will notify the Program Office ([email protected]) to circulate the Graduate Committee Appointment Form to the candidate and committee members for digital signatures. Once the candidate and committee members have digitally signed the form, it will be submitted to the Program Director/Advisor for approval and submission to the Graduate School.