Each student is assigned a Supervisory Committee whose members monitor the student's research program. An M.S. student's Supervisory Committee administers his or her comprehensive examination; for Ph.D. students, the committee conducts the student's specialized comprehensive examination, the oral qualifying examination and the dissertation defense. It consists of three faculty members in the case of M.S. committees, and three to five for Ph.D. committees. At most one member may be appointed from another department. Any regular computer science faculty member may serve as a supervisory committee chair. Other faculty may chair supervisory committees with the approval of the Department Chair. All committee members are generally university faculty. Non-faculty members must be justified and receive approval from the Director of Graduate Studies and the Dean of the Graduate School before being appointed to a committee.
Appointment to the supervisory committee is done by the Director of Graduate Studies, at the suggestion of the student and the advisor, and in consultation with potential members of the committee. Both M.S. and Ph.D. students must form this committee by the end of the second quarter of study, although a committee may be revised later by petition to the Graduate Studies Committee.