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Resources - People
The Faculty of the SoMAS is the prime resource available to students in their progress towards a degree. Faculty members are available through lectures, seminars, research supervision, and informal discussions. With some, students can drop in casually; with others, students should arrange scheduled appointments. All members of the Faculty are deeply concerned with the progress of students; they differ only in their personal styles. Faculty members have many different research interests. These can be investigated through informal meetings with them or by reading their Faculty Profiles on the SoMAS web page. For assistance identifying which member of the Faculty should be approached for help with a particular topic, students should consult their Counselor or the Graduate Programs Director. The Counselor is a member of the Faculty assigned to each student upon admission to the SoMAS Graduate Program. The Counselor's principal duties are to help students decide what courses to take the first year, to interpret and clarify degree requirements, and to assist in identifying an Advisor (who will then take over these duties). Counselors are also available for discussion and advice about any other problems their students may experience. Student Mentors are volunteers from among the current student body who have agreed to serve as a resource to incoming students during their first year. Having already experienced being a new graduate student at Stony Brook, Student Mentors should be able to offer practical advice to new students. Each incoming student will be assigned a Student Mentor. The Advisor is a member of the Faculty chosen by each student by mutual consent. For each of their students, Advisors guide research, approve course selections, and oversee all efforts toward degree completion. Advisors are also concerned with students as people and are ready to help solve non-academic difficulties. Clearly, the choice of Advisor is a critical one and perhaps the most important each student will make. Students should choose an advisor by the end of their second semester of study. The arrangement is by the mutual consent of everyone concerned. Once an advisor is found, the student should complete the Advisor Declaration form. If a student chooses to change their Advisor, an Advisor Change form must be submitted. Both the new and the old Advisors must sign this form. The Principal Investigator of a specific research project or study is the Faculty member primarily responsible for the technical or scientific aspects of the project. Students supported by a research assistantship will be working under the supervision of the Principal Investigator (most often the student’s advisor) whose grant is providing the funds. Master's students must have two Readers of their thesis in addition to their Advisor. Readers help the Advisor supervise the research. They must approve both the Master's proposal and the thesis, so it is important to keep them informed of research progress and to solicit their advice in a timely fashion. Normally Readers are Faculty members, but appropriate staff members or professionals outside of the University can also serve if approved by the GPC. All Ph.D. students will have a dissertation committee comprised of the Advisor and several other scientists. Members of the committee should be selected based on their relevant areas of expertise, since they will help both guide the student’s research and test the student’s progress. See the Degree Requirements section for details on the composition of the dissertation committee. Dr. Anne McElroy is the Graduate Programs Director and has overall responsibility and authority for the SoMAS graduate program, including distribution of the SoMAS research assistantships and graduate assistantships, approvals of the composition of examining committees, waivers of Center requirements, and changes in student status. UNDERGRADUATE PROGRAMS DIRECTOR Dr. Mary Scranton is the Undergraduate Programs Director. She coordinates undergraduate course offerings and activities and serves as a resource to students working as Teaching Assistants (TAs) in undergraduate courses. He also coordinates use of ESS 104 for TA office hours. EDUCATIONAL PROGRAMS OFFICE STAFF The Educational Programs Office staff, Carol Dovi and Christina Fink, maintain student records and organize graduation and orientation. The Office is responsible for graduate student payroll, tuition scholarships, registration, applications and admission, and course scheduling. Questions regarding academic procedures can be directed to this office as well as to your advisor and the Graduate and Undergraduate Programs Directors. COORDINATOR OF THE ATMOSPHERIC SCIENCES PROGRAM Dr. Sultan Hameed coordinates the Institute for Terrestrial and Planetary Atmospheres (ITPA) graduate program. His responsibilities include the curriculum for atmospheric sciences, arranging courses of study for students interested in the atmospheric sciences, and serving as an academic resource to those students. Dr. Dong-Ping Wang serves as a resource for foreign students to help them adapt to the U.S. educational system. Foreign students should see Dr. Wang early in the first semester to avoid or overcome problems they might encounter. GRADUATE PROGRAMS COMMITTEE (GPC) The Graduate Programs Committee recommends policy and provides guidance for academic affairs. It is composed of four Faculty members and four student members (Master's and Ph.D. students from both the Marine and Atmospheric track) selected by the Dean and the Graduate Programs Director. Through their GPC representatives, students can have a direct influence on academic and student affairs at SoMAS. Student representatives help advise on policy formulation and decisions and assist in improving the academic program. The GPC reviews all student petitions, which should be submitted well ahead of any deadlines, since GPC usually meets only once a month during the academic year. Current members are Bob Wilson (chair), Bassem Allam, Nicole Riemer, Nicholas Fisher, Owen Doherty, Jessica Dutton, Marianne McNamara, and Christine O’Connell. The Comprehensive Exam Committee (CEC) is composed of 8 Faculty members for Marine Sciences track Ph.D. students and of 3 Faculty members for Atmospheric Sciences track Ph.D. students. The CEC administers the department’s Comprehensive Exam to all students in their third semester. Comprehensive Examinations are scheduled twice each year for Marine Sciences track students and once each year for Atmospheric Sciences track students. Current members of the Marine Sciences track CEC are Bruce Brownawell (chair), Robert Aller, Joe Warren, David Black, Roger Flood, and Bob Cerrato, Steve Munch. Faculty members of the Atmospheric Sciences track CEC have not yet been named for the 2007-2008 academic year (as of 8/22). There are a variety of standing committees dealing with all aspects of the SoMAS operation. Students are invited to serve and encouraged to participate in committee deliberations. Your suggestions, questions, comments or criticisms can be brought before any appropriate committee. The SoMAS Graduate Program operates within the SBU Graduate School. Although we have a fair amount of latitude in the details of how our program is run, there are campus-wide rules that we must abide by. Information on these general policies and procedures, the Graduate Bulletin, and the Graduate School Policies can be found via the main Graduate School webpage: http://www.grad.sunysb.edu/. The Graduate School offers access to a variety of other resources, ranging from housing listings to the format by which theses and dissertations must be prepared. GRADUATE SCHOOL INTERNATIONAL SERVICES The Graduate School provides extensive support for foreign students at SBU dealing with immigration and other issues; please visit http://www.grad.sunysb.edu/intern.shtml for information. The Graduate School will be your most reliable resource for this information. The Graduate Student Advocate is a graduate student working in the Graduate School and answering directly to the Dean of the Graduate School. The Advocate will aid students experiencing difficulties in academic matters or administrative affairs. The Advocate can act as a mediator, ombudsperson, bureaucratic troubleshooter, policy reminder to departmental administrators, and as a moral persuader. If you encounter a problem during the course of your graduate studies and are uncertain how to remedy it, please feel free to contact the Advocate: http://www.grad.sunysb.edu/current/advocate.shtml. The Graduate Student Organization serves to identify and protect the rights of graduate students, advance their interests, provide a forum for public debate, and promote graduate student participation in University affairs. As a graduate student, you pay dues to the GSO through your activity fee. GSO has elected members on most University committees, so it provides students interested in serving the University an opportunity to do so. http://sbgso.org/.
Page last modified on Sunday, September 30, 2007 by George E. Carroll
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