• Be aware of the inherent power imbalance in the relationship you have with your students.
• Behave professionally.
• Communicate appropriately.
• Provide a safe, healthy environment free from harassment, discrimination, and intimidation.
• Foster productive scholarly work, curiosity, and freedom of expression.
• Have sufficient time and resources (as appropriate for your field) to support student’s work effectively.
• Ensure that your students have safety training appropriate to carry out all work safely, and in accordance with standard operating procedures, once properly trained.
• Help the student develop a realistic thesis/research plan.
  • Reasonable plans balance exploration with achievable, manageable and focused goals, and allow completion of scholarly work “in time.”
• Be aware that a student might experience changes in motivation and productivity.
• Be prepared to adapt your mentorship approach to promote success in a range of different situations.
• Be aware of accommodation policies, procedures and support services.
  • Support students with disabilities in designing and organizing accommodations.
  • Be respectful of graduate students who are dealing with stressful situations and personal difficulties.
  • Direct the student to campus resources and other supports when appropriate.
• Promote a culture of respect and collaboration.
• Encourage timely conflict resolution when disputes arise.
  • This may require consultation with the supervisory committee or others (e.g. head of the graduate program).
• Regularly communicate and have face-to-face meetings with your student to provide feedback on progress, strengths, weaknesses, gaps in knowledge, and how well they are addressing deficiencies.
• Prepare written feedback when there are significant deficiencies.
  • When a student is struggling with meeting graduate program/thesis work expectations, a supervisory committee meeting should be scheduled early to assess progress and plans, and to provide a clear statement of requirements to meet expectations.
• Provide students with timely feedback (Note: timely, not instant.).
  • As an example, corrections to a thesis chapter, major research project, or a manuscript optimally should occur within a few weeks.
  • Respond to a draft of the thesis within the timelines outlined in the graduate calendar.
    • Review and provide feedback on materials that a student produces prior to external review or defence. (Note: you are not expected to be a copy editor)
• Communicate to your graduate students, and graduate student applicants, the plans to provide supervision during research leave or other leaves.
  • Name an alternate faculty member, with graduate supervisory privileges, who will have day-to-day responsibility and signing-authority for students if you will be away from campus for extended periods of time must
  • Encourage increasing independence as a student progresses through graduate work.
• Acknowledge student contributions to research in accordance with the university policies and the norms of your academic discipline.
• Encourage your students to submit their graduate work for presentation at conferences and workshops, and for publication, when feasible and appropriate.
• Recognize that there are multiple career paths available to different students.
  • Be respectful of your student’s choice of career path, and provide advice, where appropriate, on the best way for your student to reach their career goals.
  • Be aware of professional development opportunities for students offered through the department/program, Faculty, or university, and encourage your student to take advantage of such opportunities.
• Be aware of all requirements, regulations, and guidelines outlined in the Graduate Calendar and university policies.

As per section 3.1 of Graduate Calendar, it is the responsibility of the department/program to:

• Ensure that every graduate student has, at all times, a faculty advisor or a properly constituted supervisory committee. The supervisor must be declared within the first 5 months of study and the supervisory committee must be declared within the first 12 months of study.
• Ensure that the members of a supervisory committee are sufficiently competent and experienced to serve at the required level.
  • In identifying a supervisory committee, the department/program should consider the following, among other things: the balance of the committee by rank and experience; publications and other demonstrations of competence in scholarship or research on the part of the supervisor. Supervisory committees for PhD candidates shall be reviewed annually by the department/program. Supervisory committee members are assumed to continue their participation on student committees unless otherwise replaced by the associate chair or graduate advisor.
• Ensure there is a formal regular meeting of each PhD supervisory committee at least once within the reporting year (December 1 to November 30), and possibly more often, to discuss the student’s progress, and formally document the supervisory committee’s assessment of the progress of the student’s program.
  • For PhD students who have entered or transferred into the PhD effective January 1 or May 1, they must have a PhD supervisory committee meeting completed no later than November 30 of that same calendar year; those entering September 1 must have at least one meeting by November 30 of the next year.
• Forward annual PhD supervisory committee progress reports to the School of Graduate Studies.
• Prepare a set of guidelines for supervisors and students.
  • The guidelines should deal with the selection and functioning of supervisory committees and should cover the joint responsibilities of faculty members and graduate students. The guidelines may be attached to or incorporated in department/program handbooks which give regulations supplementary to those in the calendar. Items relevant to graduate supervision should be approved by the appropriate Faculty committee on graduate admissions and study.
  • A copy of the guidelines shall be given to each faculty member and each graduate student.
• Approve or deny requested changes to the supervisor or the membership of a supervisory committee.
  • Supervisors and/or supervisory committee members may not resign without the department’s/program’s approval. A change in supervisor is at the discretion of the department/program, not the student or supervisor.
• Be available for consultation on matters of supervision and, refer students to speak with the appropriate associate dean of Graduate Studies about problems not resolved at the program level  (see Section 3.4.2 – Supervision).

• The supervisory committee must approve thesis project plans, including those that are part of a larger collaborative project led by others (e.g. research team members or collaborators).
• Provide students with timely, but not instantaneous, feedback. As an example, corrections to a thesis chapter, major research project, or a manuscript optimally should occur within a few weeks, and to a draft of the thesis within the timelines outlined in the graduate calendar.
• Duties of the Supervisory Committee as per Section 1.2.4 of Graduate Calendar:
  • to assist in planning and to approve the student’s program of courses and research;
  • to approve the thesis proposal;
  • to decide, within departmental regulations, on the timing of the comprehensive examination and, where applicable, of the language and other examinations;
  • to maintain knowledge of the student’s research activities and progress;
  • to give advice on research, usually through the student’s supervisor;
  • to provide the student with regular appraisals or progress or lack of it;
  • to perform such other duties as may be required by the department;
  • to report on the above matters annually, in writing, on the approved form to the department, which in turn will report to the Faculty Graduate Committee on Admissions and Study;
  • to initiate appropriate action if the student’s progress is unsatisfactory, including any recommendation that the student withdraw, for approval by the department and the Faculty Committee on Graduate Admissions and Study;
  • to decide when the student is to write the thesis and give advice during this process;
  • to act as internal examiners for the student’s thesis;
  • to act as members of the examination committee for the final oral defence when so appointed.