Getting Started · Lesson 3
Supervisor Expectations and Building a Philosophy
Learn about the key roles and responsibilities of a graduate supervisor to help you define your philosophy and approach to effective mentorship.
Review draft. This page uses Brock University’s wording as-is. Text highlighted like this is Brock-specific and needs a TRU equivalent, confirmation, or removal before launch. Hover over a highlight to see the note.
Module Objectives
By the end of this module, you will be able to:
- Gain an understanding of your responsibilities as a supervisor.
- Examine your role as a supervisor.
- Understand the value of a Statement of Supervising Philosophy.
- Reflect upon the supervisor’s role and responsibilities.
- Document this reflection in a statement of philosophy.
Principles of Supervision
Principles of Graduate Supervision in this Module
This space is reserved for TRU’s Foundations of Graduate Supervision / Principles of Supervision. They will be added here once approved by the Graduate Senate Committee.
Roles and Responsibilities of a Graduate Supervisor
Prior to writing your supervising philosophy, it is crucial to know your role and responsibilities as a thesis supervisor.
- Your role may include being a mentor, an advocate and/or a recommender.
- Your general responsibilities may include sharing knowledge about a certain field of study and academic standards.
Let’s start this exploration of your roles and responsibilities, which will include administrative and logistic considerations as well as personal considerations.
**You may want to get a pen and paper, or open a new document, to record your answers to the upcoming questions.
Documenting Your Roles and Responsibilities
Administrative and Logistic Considerations
As you consider what your actual role(s) and responsibilities are as a supervisor, contemplate answers to the following comments and questions:
- Who is your Associate Dean for Graduate Studies?
- Who is the Graduate Program Director to confirm the supervisor’s responsibilities for your specific program?
- Who is the Associate Dean of your department/faculty?
- Know how to access all administrative forms that are required for your department/ faculty/ethics and connect with Research Services, and/or TRU Graduate Studies.
- You may want to be aware of the various services available at TRU, such as:
- Graduate Studies: tru.ca/research/graduate-studies
- Counselling Services: tru.ca/current/wellness/counselling
- Student Access and Academic Supports: tru.ca/current/academic-supports
- Ombuds: ombuds@brocku.ca
- Accessibility Services: as@tru.ca
- Are there funding requirements? (i.e., annual funding you provide to the student)
- How do you form a Supervisory Committee?
- Who should be on this committee?
- How many should be sitting on this committee?
- What are their responsibilities and commitments?
- Who manages the committee decision-making?
- What are the timelines for thesis completion and completion of the degree?
Personal Considerations
Here are some questions to ask yourself regarding your personal approach as a supervisor:
- What are your goals as a supervisor?
- What resources do you have to offer the graduate student?
- What are your methods/strategies in supervising?
- What advice do you offer on both academic and non-academic careers?
- Can you support postdoctoral fellowships?
- What is your positionality?
Documenting your Administrative and Personal Information
Activity
Document or chart your answers to the questions just presented. You now have a framework to help you prepare for the basic requirements in a supervisor’s role and responsibilities.
Below is a worksheet to help you keep track of your answers in this and the next section. (fillable copy below)
Creating Your Statement of Supervising Philosophy
To begin thinking about developing, designing, and composing a Supervising Philosophy, first consider your role and responsibilities as you have noted so far. Now, shift your thoughts and move past “what” you do and more towards “how” you do it and “why” you do it.
What is your intent?
What are your intentions in taking on the supervisory role of a graduate student?
Take some time and contemplate the following:
- What is your purpose in taking on a student in this capacity?
- To conduct research?
- To develop research?
- To develop the next generation of researchers?
- Is it for institutional requirements (i.e., tenure)?
- Do you have the time to commit to this process?
- Whose research does the student conduct? Yours or their own?
- Do you have a shared research interest?
Student/Supervisor Relationship
The quality and quantity of work that is required between a graduate student and their supervisor hinges on an effective relationship. As a supervisor, ask yourself:
- How were you taught to be a supervisor?
- What are your perspectives regarding power dynamics in this student/supervisor relationship?
- What are the relationship boundaries, how are they communicated, and why are they in place?
- What are the professional vs personal boundaries?
- How do you ensure a non-exploitative relationship?
- How will you plan to resolve conflicts?
- How will you promote well-being?
- How do you manage, navigate, and negotiate your perspective vs the student’s perspective?
Supervisor and Student Expectations
When exploring the expectations of a supervisor and the student:
- Who does the commitment to timelines and deadlines fall upon?
- What is your definition of “regular contact”?
- Consider your communication preferences (email, physical meetings, video, walks, lunch, etc.) and why you prefer them.
- Consider your process for providing feedback. How and why do you do this?
Student Support
When you think about what support you will be aiming to provide the graduate student, ask yourself:
- How do you support the student’s growth and scaffold their preparation and practice towards their day of defense?
- Coaching, training, delegation, direction (i.e., with a high or low level)?
- How do you create a comfortable environment that is supportive and allows space for a student to explore, discuss, and feel understood?
- How would you describe your style of mentorship?
- How do you support scholarship applications and professional development?
Ethics and Networking
Now ask yourself:
- How do you manage ethical considerations, such as informed consent, confidentiality, competence, and record keeping?
- How do you model academic integrity?
- How do you build a network/community for the student?
Personal Information
Personal Information about you as a Supervisor:
- What qualities/features do you look for in a thesis student? Why?
- How do you know you are an effective supervisor?
As you work through your own Supervisor Philosophy, please do not hesitate to reach out to CELT (Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching) for support and guidance.
How can this Supervising Philosophy serve you?
Here are some possible ways that this document, which you have now worked so hard on, can be useful:
- It may help a student consider their compatibility with your way of supervising.
- It clarifies your profile, expectations, and goals as a supervisor.
- It serves as a reflective practice of who you are as a supervisor and where you may want to improve or grow as a supervisor.
- It may be included in your application for tenure and promotion.
Final Thoughts
- Are you putting your philosophy into practice? How, when, where, why?
- How do you reflect on your practice?
- Supervising excellence through mindful reflection, to think critically about your supervision to find evidence of effective supervising, as well as identify potential areas for improvement.
- Develop strategies for self-observation. Identify what you are good at and what you can improve upon.
- Collect evidence that supports your progress and development.
- Reflective supervision is examining one’s beliefs about the supervisory role and responsibilities, and determining the alignment of those beliefs with thesis completion and the road map to getting there.
- Keep your Supervising Philosophy up to date.
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