Committees & Advisors

Graduate Studies Committee

The Graduate Studies Committee (GSC) is the formal body that oversees the graduate program in HDFS. It includes all members of the graduate faculty in Human Development and Family Sciences and selected faculty members from other departments. GSC members make admissions recommendations, serve on Master's thesis and Doctoral dissertation committees, evaluate the fulfillment of candidacy requirements, and review students' progress annually. Students' programs of study and thesis/dissertation work are subject to the GSC's approval. 

For the 2022-2023 academic year, members of the GSC from HDFS are Aprile Benner, Karen Fingerman, Elizabeth Gershoff, Marci Gleason, Sae Hwang Han, Deborah Jacobvitz, Su Yeong Kim, Elma Lorenzo-Blanco, Elizabeth Munoz, Lisa Neff, Nicole Perry, Stephen Russell, Fatima Varner, and Hannah Williamson.

Graduate Advisor

The Graduate Advisor is the liaison between students and faculty, and between HDFS and the Graduate School. With the assistance of the Graduate Coordinator, the Graduate Advisor is responsible for the day-to-day and long-term functions of the graduate program. In consultation with students and faculty, the Graduate Advisor approves programs of study, academic committees, travel awards, coordinates scholarships and fellowships, and evaluates exceptions to program rules. The Graduate Advisor also processes candidacy requirements; chairs, coordinates, or assists with the various committees that make funding decisions; consults with students who have academic or program problems; is the liaison between HDFS and other units in the university regarding graduate programs. Once a student chooses a Research Advisor, that person performs the role of academic advisor, although the Graduate Advisor may help as needed.  

Su Yeong Kim is the current HDFS Graduate Advisor.

Graduate Committee

The Graduate Committee is comprised of 3 to 5 faculty members who meet with the Graduate Advisor regarding graduate policy, curriculum, petitions, and selection of students for departmental awards. In addition, an Assistant Graduate Advisor, Graduate Recruitment Chair and Graduate Minority Liaison Officer answer queries from potential applicants, coordinate efforts to recruit students, chair, coordinate, or assists with committees that make funding decisions, and helps to match incoming students with a Research Advisor.  The Graduate Admissions Chair coordinates the graduate admissions process, including responding to applicant inquiries, organizing applicant materials, convening admissions meetings, and extending offers. 

Research Advisor

The professor who is supervising a student's ongoing research and is chairing their thesis or dissertation committee is the Research Advisor or Major Professor. The Research Advisor is the student’s principal mentor and must be a member of the GSC in HDFS. Students are free to change Research Advisors. When interested in doing so, they should consult with the Graduate Advisor as well as with the faculty members involved.

Non-GSC Members

In addition to GSC members, other university faculty, lecturers, visiting faculty members, scholars who hold non-faculty positions, and qualified scholars from other institutions can participate in the graduate program, teach graduate courses, and serve on master's thesis or doctoral dissertation committees. With the approval of the Vice President and Dean of Graduate Studies, they may co-chair doctoral dissertation committees. The GSC may invite such persons to attend its meetings, but they do not vote.  

To have a scholar from another institution serve on a master’s or doctoral committee, the student must list this scholar on the admission to candidacy application, which is submitted online to the Office of Graduate Studies, and to complete the steps required by the Graduate School listed here: https://gradschool.utexas.edu/academics/theses-and-dissertations/doctoral-candidacy. It is important to note that this scholar will participate via teleconference or, if in person, that there will be no cost to the University for his or her participation. Benefits of including an outside scholar include maintaining or increasing connections with other leading experts in the field while negatives may include difficulty getting adequate and timely feedback from a distance.