Advising Fifth Year & Beyond Students

A meeting early in the year to follow up the 3rd year A & P serves as a time to discuss year - long plans and begin to address the tasks of program completion. Students who have completed the majority of their academic requirements, are well engaged in their Doctoral Project research, and are deeply invested in their Internship training, are often less present within the program. It remains an important time for an Advisor to initiate contact to maintain a responsible overview of a student’s progress, and, perhaps more importantly, to begin the process of program “termination.”

• Monitor the student’s progress on the doctoral project and function actively as advocate/troubleshooter with the Doctoral Project Committee if necessary (if you are not yourself a chairperson or committee member).
• Your advisee has by now developed an individualized time frame for completing the doctoral project and graduation. While it is possible to graduate in four years, each student needs to plan with his/her personal and professional development individually. A student’s decision to graduate in the fifth year or beyond is acceptable and requires advisory support and consultation
• Although a 4th year A & P may be waived if all academic requirements have been met, students may elect to have a last A & P as a retrospective look at their development over four years and a chance to make plans for the future. Advisors may also require a student to have a full conference if academic concerns remain to be addressed. If the A & P is waived, the advisor and the student must meet together for a final A & P consultation.

Updated 5/8/08