Steve Tippins Ph.D.Helping doctoral students get their dissertation accepted, succeed in their careers, & change the world | Academic Career Advisor | Dissertation Chair & Founder, Beyond PhD Coaching | 35 + years of experience.

The Fastest Way to Get Your Chair to Respond

1 Apr 2026 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

0:35

In this brief advisory video, Steve Tippins Ph.D. shares practical strategies for obtaining quicker feedback from an academic supervisor (the "chair"). He emphasizes the importance of learning the chair’s communication rhythm—identifying the days they typically review student work—and timing outreach accordingly (e.g., contacting on Monday night rather than Thursday). He also advises not to wait the full institutional two‑week feedback window before following up; instead, a polite check‑in after about 12 days signals productivity without being pushy. The video concludes with a call‑to‑action, inviting viewers to comment "help" to receive a link to a free dissertation support community.

Chapters

Use this trick to get faster response times from your chair. Learn your chair's rhythm. Some will tell you directly, "I work on your material Tuesdays and Wednesdays." That means if you write to them Thursday, you won't get a response until the following week. But if you reach out Monday night, they will see it soon. Pay attention, learn the pattern, and use it to your advantage. And if your university has a 2-week feedback guideline, don't wait the full 14 days to follow up. Around a week and 5 days, reach out and say, "Hey, just checking in, wondering how things are going and when I can expect an answer." That is not pushy, that's being productive. Comment "help" and we will send you the link our free dissertation help community. You've got this!