Washington State University graduate students may nominate an external expert as the fourth member of their advisory committee. This policy aims to enhance the student's research, creative work, or professional development by incorporating specialized expertise from outside the university.

Eligibility:

• The nominee must not be a current WSU faculty member.
• They should possess unique expertise, knowledge, or skills relevant to the student's work.
• Typically, nominees are university faculty or professionals from government, business, or industry sectors.

Qualification Requirements:

The graduate program chair or director must verify that the prospective external committee member holds a degree equivalent to or higher than the one the student is pursuing. For example:

For a Ph.D. committee: The nominee must hold a Ph.D.

For a Master's committee: The nominee must have at least a Master's degree

Nomination Process:

Detailed procedures for nominating external committee members, including required documentation, are outlined in the Graduate School Policies and Procedures manual. This process applies to both Master's and Doctoral advisory committees.

Exception:

Please Note:

Adjunct and adjoint faculty who hold Auxiliary Graduate Faculty Status in the Faculty of the Graduate School are exempt from this nomination process.

Please identify the person who will upload the nomination packet to the GRM.

Depending on the graduate program, the department chair or school director may delegate authority to a faculty Graduate Program Director. The next three fields should be directed to the person responsible for signing the approval to add an external committee member.

Please add the name and email address of the person you wish to serve as an external advisory committee member.