The UW Graduate School requires that each department have a "Graduate Program Coordinator" and a "Graduate Program Advisor." If you find references to these people, in HCDE the Graduate Program Coordinator (GPC) is Professor Sean Munson and the Graduate Program Advisor (GPA) is Kathleen Rascon, the Director of Academic Services.

Current PhD students may meet with the GPC or their first-year rotation advisors until they have selected their faculty advisor(s). For questions about the HCDE curriculum, the process involved in each milestone, UW Graduate School policies and UW campus resources, contact the HCDE advising team.

PhD Advisory Committee Chair Designation

PhD students may select their committee chair—a faculty member with a primary appointment in HCDE and who holds a graduate faculty appointment with endorsement to chair—as early as mutually agreed upon.

All HCDE PhD students must have a committee chair, or chairs, in in place by the end of autumn quarter of their second year or their fourth quarter in the doctoral program (whichever is later). If a student does not complete this requirement, they will no longer be in good standing and will be placed on academic warning (interim check-in) and then reviewed quarterly. This review may result in probation or final probation, per HCDE's PhD continuation policy, or, if there is ongoing mentorship from HCDE faculty, the review process may recommend no further action. 

PhD Advisory Committee Chair Designation Form
To officially designate a committee chair, PhD students must complete this form.

After a student has selected their committee chair, this person will be assigned in MyGrad as the student's research advisor throughout the remainder of their PhD program.

PhD students will use the same form to declare and/or update members of their HCDE Doctoral Committee. For more information, see HCDE Doctoral Committees.

In the event that either party finds the mentoring relationship unproductive and requests that it be terminated, both parties agree to honor and respect the individual’s decision. The party looking to terminate the agreement should first have a conversation with the other party to express their wishes and then notify the GPC and GPA via email of their decision. Faculty committee chairs and PhD students looking for additional guidance or support to approach this conversation should reach out to the GPC and/or GPA.

Once the relationship is terminated, a PhD student will be reviewed quarterly until they submit a new Committee Chair Designation form to the GPA. During these reviews, the GPC, GPA, and (optionally) members of the PhD Program committee will discuss ongoing mentorship and efforts to identify new mentorship. These reviews intend to support the student, though concerns about finding an adviser may result in probation status and, ultimately, dropping a student from the doctoral program if a Committee Chair Designation form has not been submitted within a year of the termination date.