Change of terminology from “Supervisor” to “Thesis Advisor”
10 August 2023
Thesis advisor” is often a more apt description of faculty members’ roles in mentoring PhD students, generously providing advice and engagement, rather than overseeing and directing every step of a graduate student’s work.
As PhD requires independent original scholarship that is a distinct contribution to knowledge, PhD students should also shift from being reliant on instructions from their thesis advisors to becoming more independent in thinking, decision making, and execution in their research.