Progress Reviews

Whenever it is time to do progress review, I hear moaning regarding why graduate students have to do this.  For some reason it is difficult to do these for students, whether it is because they spent the last year working on everything but their thesis or because getting their committees together in the same room is as hard as herding cats, but all joking aside, Progress Reviews are a crucial part of your graduate program, and here's why...

• It is a Dean of Graduate Studies requirement
• You get two opportunities a year to meet and discuss the program with your entire committee
• You can set realistic goals
• Opportunity to seek help where needed
• Keeps you on track
• Its a kick in the pants
• Encourages interaction with people other then your supervisor
• Much needed direction

Tips For A Successful Progress Review

• Plan Ahead-Make sure you set up meetings with your committee early on.
• Absent Members?-With todays technology there is absolutely no excuse as to why you could not meet with your committee.  Try using Skype or telephone conferencing for anyone that is out of town.  Just because they are due in September and February does not mean you have to meet that month, plan ahead and do it in August or January if those times do not wok for your committee members.
• Get Into It!-You can make your progress reviews interesting...  Dongya has a great way of doing his progress reviews with his students, where they prepare a powerpoint presentation and then the student has to come up with three questions to ask the committee.  It really encourages discussion and interaction amongst the committee.

Progress Review Logistics

The Dean of Graduate Studies requires that the progress of each student be reviewed annually, and that the student be notified of the outcome of this evaluation. The Archaeology Department requires graduate students to undergo Biennial Progress Reviews, which take place at the end of September (Interim Review) and the end of February (Annual Progress Review).

In early September and early February the Graduate Programme Assistant distributes forms on which students record their activities since the last review. The forms are also available at www.sfu.ca/archaeology/forms/index.html. It is important that students complete these forms and submit them promptly to their supervisory committee. Each student should then arrange a meeting with his/her supervisory committee in which the student's progress is reviewed, objectives for the following six months are outlined, and anticipated problems are discussed. Meetings can be held via telephone conference or through email if individuals are away on fieldwork.  Supervisory committee members then record their recommendation on the forms, and the student's progress is evaluated as "satisfactory" or "unsatisfactory". Students who receive an unsatisfactory are informed in writing about what they are required to do to remedy the outcome.

Both the Interim Review and the Annual Progress Review are discussed at an annual meeting of the GPC held in early March. A student who receives two consecutive "unsatisfactory" evaluations in their Annual Progress Review (February) may be required to withdraw from the programme. An "unsatisfactory" received in an Interim Review (September) should be taken as a temporary warning, and can be upgraded to a "satisfactory" in the Annual Progress Review the following February. Procedures and appeals are outlined in the SFU Calendar. The criteria employed in the evaluation are similar to those used for Graduate Fellowship applications, which are outlined in Appendix A.