Graduate Student Mentorship & Advising

USU Policy Statements

• The following USU policy statements regarding faculty can be referenced directly:
  • USU faculty code does not directly address the relationship between graduate students and their faculty advisors, but there are sections in Policy 4002, notably section 4002.2.3.1, that are relevant.
• It is important to note that as of the 2023-2024 academic year, these policies apply not only to traditional courses, but to “graduate committee decisions, practicum or internship placements or evaluations, and other discipline-specific activities that impact the students’ academic record or progress,” (see the archived Academic Grievances section in the 2023-2024 General Catalog, which details the grievance process if a concern arises).
• The mentoring relationship between faculty and graduate students does constitute a discipline-specific activity that impacts students’ academic progress.
• Accordingly, for any of the language below, when the word “course” is used, it can be read as any of the above activities.
• Because faculty enact their professional obligations in mentoring students, supervising graduate assistants, and serving on committees that determine students’ academic progress (e.g., dissertation committees), the School of Graduate Studies considers obligations to serve in these capacities as both obligations undertaken to students and obligations to the institution.

Expectations on Graduate Student Mentorship

• The School of Graduate Studies requires that all members of the Graduate Faculty engage in the supervision and mentoring of students using best professional practices that support student learning, cultivate professional identity development, and safeguard emotional well-being.
• As a core element of the university’s mission, these responsibilities constitute obligations undertaken both to individual students and to the institution as a whole and must be undertaken with diligence and reasonable care.

Responsibilities of Faculty to Students per USU Faculty Code Standards of Conduct (Policy 4002.2.3.1)

Note: Faculty code (Policy 4002) was originally written with a focus on courses. As graduate education has become a larger focus at USU, non-course learning experiences have become more central to student-faculty interactions. During the 2022-23 academic year, the Committee on Academic Standards, formally ruled that these policies apply not only to traditional courses, but to “graduate committee decisions, practicum or internship placements or evaluations, and other discipline-specific activities that impact the students’ academic record or progress.” To enhance clarity here, we have augmented or replaced references to classes in the original 4002 text with additional language in italics.

• Faculty members engage in reasonable and substantial preparation for the teaching of their courses, mentorship/advisement, and supervision of assistantships/internships/practica, appropriate to the educational objectives to be achieved and consistent with the standards of the discipline.
• Faculty members meet scheduled classes and meetings related to mentorship/advisement, student committees, and supervision of assistantships/internships/practica. Schedules are altered or classes canceled only for valid reasons and only after adequate notice is given to students and the faculty member’s direct academic supervisor.
  • Failure to meet a class/committee without prior notice to students is excusable only for reasons beyond the control of the faculty member.
• Faculty members will select course, assistantship, and other academic requirements based on the legitimate pedagogical goals of the course, assistantship, curricular activity, etc. and discipline and inform students of the general content and evaluation criteria in the syllabus, mentorship agreement, or comparable documentation at the beginning of any course/activity they teach/supervise.
  • Faculty members evaluate student course or supervised work promptly, conscientiously, without prejudice or favoritism, and consistently with the criteria stated at the beginning of the course/activity in the course or mentorship agreement documentation and related to the legitimate pedagogical goals of the course/activity.
  • The documentation for the course/activity should identify, to the extent possible, the writings, lectures, films, presentations, performances, or other course/activity requirements in sufficient detail to allow the student to identify requirements that may conflict with the student's sincerely held core beliefs.
  • Faculty will not always be able to predict in advance requirements that may conflict with the sincerely held core beliefs of a given student or group of students.
  • If conflicts arise, Policy 4002.4, Procedures for Alternative Course Requirements due to Conflicts with Sincerely Held Core Beliefs, provides guidance to students and faculty for the resolution of conflicts.
• Faculty members with teaching/supervision/mentoring responsibilities maintain regular office hours for consultation with students, or they otherwise assure accessibility to students.
• Faculty members do not plagiarize the work of students.
  • When faculty members and students work together, appropriate credit is given to the students.
  • Faculty members do not limit or curtail the right of any student to publish or otherwise communicate the result of the student's own independent scholarly activities.
• Faculty members do not use their positions and authority to obtain uncompensated labor or to solicit gifts or favors from students.
  • Faculty members do not ask students to perform services unrelated to legitimate requirements of a course unless the student is adequately compensated for such services.
• Faculty members do not reveal matters told to them in confidence by students except as required by law, Interim USU Policy 3012: Required Reporting of Sexual Misconduct, or issues related to safety and then only to persons entitled to such information by law or institutional regulation.
  • Faculty members may, however, report their assessment of a student's performance and ability to persons logically and legitimately entitled to receive such reports.
• Faculty members create and maintain environments in which students are provided the opportunity to do original thinking, research, creative work, and writing.
• Faculty members avoid the misuse of the classroom by preempting substantial portions of class time for the presentation of views on topics unrelated to the subject matter of the course.
  • Faculty members do not reward agreement or penalize disagreement with their views on controversial topics.
• Faculty members do not engage in the sexual harassment of students, or any other forms of harassment prohibited by USU Policies (2100 Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity, Interim USU Policy 2101: Discrimination based on Protected Characteristics, Interim Policy 2102: Title IX Sexual Misconduct in an Employment or Education Program or Activity and its sub-policies, and USU Interim Policy 2103: Non-Title IX Sexual Misconduct).
• Faculty members do not engage in discrimination against students (Policy 2100, Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity, and Interim USU Policy 2101: Discrimination based on Protected Characteristics).
• Faculty members do not intimidate, humiliate, or abuse students (for definitions, see Policy 3002: Respectful Workplace).
• Faculty members exercise Reasonable Care in meeting their commitments to the institution and to funding agencies where appropriate in research, publication, or other professional endeavors.

Definition of Reasonable Care

This term, which is familiar to the law, means that the level of performance required of a faculty member is that which is recognized in the profession as reasonable in the light of the obligations which the faculty member has assumed, competing demands upon their energy and time, nature and quality of their work, and all other circumstances which the academic community would properly take into account in determining whether the faculty member was discharging their responsibilities at an acceptable level.

Graduate Program Coordinators

• Graduate Program Coordinators are a student’s first point of contact with their department.

Academic Nepotism

• A faculty member is not to participate in admission or graduate assistant employment decisions, serve as major professor, or serve on the supervisory committee of a relative, including a person with whom the faculty member has or has had an amorous relationship.
• Graduate students may enroll in classes taught by a relative only under special conditions.
• For information, contact the department head or the School of Graduate Studies.

Matriculated Graduate Students

• A matriculated graduate student has been accepted by a department, with the approval of the Vice Provost of Graduate Studies, into a graduate degree program and enrolled at the University.
• A student may be accepted on a conditional basis when:
  1. information, such as official undergraduate transcripts, has yet to be received by the School of Graduate Studies, or
  2. when a missing prerequisite or academic deficiency must be remedied.
• The conditions and time limit for remedying these deficiencies must be specified to the student in writing at the time of admission.
• If the conditions are not met as specified, the student’s participation in the degree program may be terminated.
• A full-time matriculated graduate student must be one of the following:
• Registered for 9 or more graduate credits.
• Registered for 6 or more graduate credits if employed as a 0.5 FTE (20 hours per week, typically) graduate assistant.
• Registered for 3 graduate credits* meeting one of the following:
  • All required coursework is completed and only the research component of the degree remains.
  • The semester of final thesis or dissertation defense.
• The last semester of coursework required on the student’s Program of Study for non-thesis students.

*Students registered for 3 credits must have an approved Program of Study and an approved Full-Time at 3 Credit form.

• NOTE: For questions about matriculated students below full-time status and the effect on student loans, please contact the USU Financial Aid Office for further assistance.
  • A matriculated probationary graduate student may be placed on Academic Warning or Probation due to inadequate progress in their degree program.
  • Individual departments are responsible for determining and communicating the conditions to be met and the time limit for meeting them.
• These conditions must be specified to the student in writing at the time the student is placed on probation by the supervisory committee or program advisor and approved by the department head.
• If the conditions are not met as specified, the student’s participation in the degree program may be terminated.