How to Email a Potential PhD Advisor | Dissertation Committee Request Email

Today I want to talk about contacting potential dissertation committee members. I hear from people frequently who are saying, I'm worried, I'm nervous, I stay up at night about contacting people to be on my committee. We're going to go through steps needed in order to help people agree to be on your committee. My name is Dr. Steve Tippins. I've served on over 300 dissertation committees. So I've been asked 300 times to be on a committee. I've coached over 100 people to completion of their dissertation. And I'm here today to help you get the members of the committee that you want. So why is it important to set up your committee properly? Why don't you just accept whoever you're given, move forward and finish? And you know, that would be nice. But there's research that shows that a good relationship with your committee members and your chair means you can finish faster and easier, and that if you have a poor relationship, it can lead to people not finishing their degrees. So it's really important to set up your committee properly. Another reason you want to set up your committee properly is there's an old saying that the only good dissertation is a done dissertation and the people that allow you to be done, to use that term again, are your committee members. So. So you want people who want you to finish and understand your topic. And potentially even more important, you want people that get along with each other. I've seen too many committees over the years where people have said, I'm going to choose Dr. So and so because they're an expert in the field, and I'm going to choose doctor Something or other because they're an expert in this methodology. But they never considered whether Dr. So and so and Dr. Something or other actually like each other or actually agree with each other or are potentially philosophically opposed to what each other want to do. What can happen in that situation is your dissertation becomes a battlefield for them and their egos to play things out. That's only a recipe for disaster. So it's really important to set up your committee properly. So once you have found the person you want to be your chair and the other members of your committee, how do I move forward? When you're looking for a chair, if you're at an institution that grants tenure, the first thing you should look for is you want your committee chair to be tenured. And that isn't really that important to you and your dissertation, but it is important to how you move forward because a non tenured chair needs the votes of your other committee members in order to get tenure. So if it comes to a point where your chair has to, you know, maybe use a little leverage or convince people to know, help you move forward, they may not be in the position to be able to do that because it's their self interest to keep these people happy. So you want people who are tenured as your chair, first of all, the next thing you want is someone who has a reputation of getting people finished. There's, you know, always other doctoral students. You can ask, how did you work with this person? How long did it take? How quickly did they respond? All these types of things are important because there are some people who are dissertation chairs who aren't fast or are incredibly busy with their own work and don't seem to have the time to help people, even though on paper they may look to be the perfect dissertation chair. A perfect dissertation chair that takes you three years more to finish, is that really worth it? As opposed to someone who's, you know, pretty good but can get you finished three years earlier and you're, you know, done paying tuition and you're out in your career and you're moving forward with your dreams. In my mind, that's the way to go. So you want someone who is good at helping people complete the work. You're also looking at somebody who has an interest in what you're doing. If it's too far from their research or too far from their experience, they may not be very helpful in the process and may not be very interested. So these are things to think about before you even contact someone. Somebody. Now, how do I contact somebody in today's world, more often than not, it's an email. You want to send an email that shows one, you understand that they're busy, two, you understand who they are, and three, you can briefly explain what you want to do. So if I'm going to contact Dr. Jones, let's say I might start by saying, hello, Dr. Jones, my name is Steve Tippins. I'm entering my dissertation phase here at what's a Matter University. I'm exploring for a dissertation chair. I've looked at your research on and include a topic or two, and I believe that my topic in this area and your research would be a very good fit. What you've done so far is you've said, I understand you've researched in this area and that you are a really good person in this area. So you're, you're basically looking at their ego. Then what you want to do is suggest a meeting. We have a Template for a letter that we've created, which you can modify. If you click the link below, you'll be able to have that available for you to use as a guide to begin the process. But you'll notice that it doesn't fully say, hey, will you do this sign off right now? It says, I want to get to know you. Basically, you want. You need to get to know me. I'm just out looking for initial interest in this. I think you should not contact 4, 5, 6, 7 people at the same time. And here's the reason why. Let's say you find three people who are potential chairs for you, and you contact all three of them at the same time, and one gets back to you and you have a conversation and you say, you know, yeah, that's what I want, I think. And that person says, I'll do it. And now a week later, somebody, the other two have been busy and they get back to you, they've looked at their schedule, they've looked at what you're doing, they've taken a little bit of time, and you then say, oh, I'm sorry, I've already found somebody. They can may feel like, well, why did you write me? You know, why did I waste my time? Also, if somebody says no, they could be a second or third committee member late. You know, they may not have time to be chair, but they could be a second or third committee member. But if you've asked them to be your chair and you said, no, I've already got somebody, and they said yes, well, they may just say, okay, I'm done. I don't want to be on your committee. So contact them one at a time, in my experience, is the best way to go. If you look at the template. Dear Dr. So and so, Please let me introduce myself. My name is, and I'm a doctoral student at your university, working on my dissertation. So it says, hi, here's who I am. As opposed to getting all the way through trying to figure out what's going on. My topic is so quickly, hey, here's what I'm doing. And they can quickly say figure out in their head, okay, not me or whatever. I know you're busy, but I've looked at the committees that you've worked on in your research. Again, look, I know you're important. I've looked at what you've done. I'm flattering you, I'm letting you know. And academics have egos. So if you let them know that you think that they're good and important, they're much more likely to say, oh, yeah, I'll give you some time. And I think that your membership, the membership of you on my committee or you being part of my committee could be very beneficial for my research for me, you know, things like that. Again, you're important. It's going to help me a lot. It's a lot easier for people to say yes once you've realized how good they are. If you have any interest, I would basically love to set up a time to talk and we can get to know each other. I'm not going to try to take too much of your time now. I just want to know, do you have interest? Can we meet? And from there you get to know me and I get to know you a little more. And one other point I want to make is faculty members get to be busy sometimes. They don't look at email that much. So you, you know, it's okay to follow up in a week to 10 days if you haven't heard anything. I wouldn't follow up in an hour and a half, but give them a little bit of space and then follow up. If you're on the dissertation journey and you found you know what we're talking about to be interesting and helpful and you're looking for more, join our free groups because we have master classes and more information like this. All you have to do to join is click the link below and we'd love to have you in the community. If you are at the beginning of this dissertation process, you're thinking of ideas and you're thinking, I need a committee. It's exciting, it really is, but it can also you think about the fact that this is a journey. It's not a straight line, but you will be able to make it. And there's many people out here who are on your side and willing to support you, so good luck.