Process
Students will meet with their committee in the fall no sooner than 1 year after passing candidacy. The graduate office will communicate a calendar of staggered deadlines to serve as the timeline for completing the submission of all paperwork for the Annual Review process.
...
The student will complete an Executive Summary that includes an Individual Development Plan and the Annual Review Update Form. The advisor will approve of the materials and then the student will send these documents to the rest of their committee, in whichever format the committee prefers, such as over email. The committee will review these documents and submit feedback to the advisor. The advisor will collect the feedback and discuss it with the student. The student will then schedule meetings with the committee and send a follow up email to the committee summarizing the discussion. The student will then submit all documents to the graduate coordinator, who will file the annual review in the student’s file.
Executive Summary
Students will be required to prepare a 1-page, single spaced executive summary of research progress to date since the last examination. Beyond research, this document should also include an “Individual Development Plan” discussing future plans and strategies for personal and career development (approximately ¼ of the page). The graduate office has provided numerous resources for completing the Executive Summary. The Executive Summary and Annual Review Update Form should be sent to the committee 6 weeks prior to the deadline given by the Graduate Office.
Initial Feedback from Committee
The Graduate Program Coordinator will initiate the feedback process at the beginning of the fall semester.
...
The advisor will collect and synthesize feedback from the committee and discuss this with the student. This will help the student notice trends in feedback. This will also encourage the committee members to be very honest in their feedback. Feedback from the committee should be submitted 4 weeks prior to the deadline given by the Graduate Office.
Action Plan to Improve Performance
If a student’s work is ranked “needs improvement,” the student should design an Action Plan with the help of their advisor. The Action Plan should have concrete and measurable tasks within a manageable timeline and clear deadlines. It should also address all deficiencies recognized by the committee. The graduate office has provided numerous resources for creating Action Plans.
The Action Plan should be concisely presented to the committee in 10-15 minutes. It should contain a clear timeline and metrics for measuring improvement. There are no formatting requirements.
Meeting to Discuss Performance Goals
If a student’s work is ranked satisfactory or, more rarely, excellent, the performance goals notated on the Annual Review Form and within the Executive Summary will be sufficient to initiate discussion with the committee. Committee members can meet individually or within a group with the student. A group meeting may be called by the student, the advisor, or any member of the committee. Group meetings should be short, ideally lasting less than 45 minutes. Individual meetings can be shorter.
When reserving a room for a group meeting, schedule time before and after the meeting for set up and clean up. Room reservations can be done in CPE through the departmental website.
Summarizing Meeting Discussions
The student is expected to take clear notes of the committee’s feedback during the meetings. A single summary email will be sent by the student to the entire committee, including the advisor(s), after the conclusion of the meetings. At this point the committee can offer clarification as needed. This summary process should occur for all students regardless of the way their work has been ranked.
Submission of Paperwork
The student will submit the following paperwork to the Graduate Program Coordinator no later than the date given by the graduate office. This must include, in a single PDF and in this order:
...
Forms can be found at the Forms Page of the handbook.
Timeline
Deadline | Student | Advisor | Committee |
Create Executive Summary and complete Annual Review Form | |||
Approve the Executive Summary and Annual Review Form | |||
6 weeks before given deadline | Send Executive Summary and Annual Review Form to Committee | ||
4 weeks before given deadline | Submit feedback of student’s work to advisor via electronic form sent by Graduate Coordinator | ||
Discuss feedback | Discuss feedback | ||
If feedback is “needs improvement,” create Improvement Action Plan | |||
If feedback is “needs improvement,” approve Improvement Action Plan | |||
2 weeks before given deadline | Schedule meeting(s) with Committee | ||
Completed by given deadline | Meet to discuss student’s progress. Individual meetings should last approximately 15 minutes. Committee member signs the Annual Review Signature Page. If initial feedback was that the student needs improvement, a group meeting lasting no more than 45 minutes should be held. In the group meeting the student presents their Improvement Action Plan with concrete metrics and clear timeline for 10-15 minutes. The committee then provides feedback on the Improvement Action Plan. After all comments, the committee signs twice on the Annual Review Signature Page, once to confirm meeting with the student and again to approve the Improvement Action Plan. Committee members should rank the student’s work as “exceeds expectations,” “meets expectations,” or “needs improvement,” based on the original review of the Executive Summary and Annual Review Form. That is, the committee should rank the student’s work consistently with the feedback originally submitted to the advisor. | ||
Send a single summary email of meeting discussion to committee. If meetings were individual, email should contain a summary of all meetings. If student created Improvement Action Plan, email should summarize discussion and any additions to Plan. | |||
Submit all paperwork (listed below) to Graduate Program Coordinator | |||
Resources
Lynda.com
Lynda.com is an online learning platform that helps anyone learn business, software, technology and creative skills to achieve personal and professional goals. You can login with your EID to learn a variety of skills, such as team management, that will help you through your career path. This link will take you to the UT portal.
Resources for creating an effective Executive Summary
Abstracts and Executive Summaries, Engineering Communication Program, University of Toronto, Faculty of Applied Science & Engineering
...
- in addition to being a good resource for writing the executive summary, this document cites a great style guide, The Elements of Style, co-written by none other than E.B. White, the author of Charlotte's Web.
Resources for creating an Individualized Development Plan
Organized in the order of how I would recommend you learn about creating an IDP
Individual Development Plan Resources, Graduate School, UW-Madison
...
- This is a great resource for understanding generalized faculty expectations. Available in the Grad Office Library!
Resources for creating reasonable tasks, timelines, and deadlines
SMART Goals from MindTools
...
- Available in PCL, and coming soon to the Grad Office Library.
Resources for giving and receiving feedback
Zenger, Jack and Joseph Folkman, "Your Employees Want the Negative Feedback You Hate to Give," Harvard Business Review, January 15, 2014
...