Each student must have a Guidance Committee. The purpose of a Guidance Committee is to serve as a personalized mentoring body for a student as they move through the program.  The committee also is responsible for helping the student find solutions when problems occur.  Problematic situations, when they occur, may center around poor grades, difficulties in research or practicum placements, the necessity to remediate comprehensive examinations, or any other aspect of the student’s doctoral work; sometimes these problematic situations include personal or family issues that may necessitate an adjustment or modification in the student’s program.  It is the responsibility of the student to keep the Guidance Committee apprised of any situation that may affect their work, performance, or progress through the program.

All students are required to nominate a three-member faculty guidance committee no later than by March 31st of their first year. 

Specifically, the role of the committee is to:

  1. Become familiar with the student’s academic goals and needs in order to help the student tailor their Joint Doctoral Program experiences accordingly.
  2. Monitor and facilitate the student’s progress through the program, including promptly identifying any areas of difficulty the student may be having, and helping the student design a remedy which addresses problematic areas.
  3. Prepare an annual formal evaluation that is given to both the student and the program directors. Completion and submission of an evaluation form from every student’s Guidance Committee is required each year the student is in the program, excluding the year a student is on internship.  An annual written evaluation of each student is a requirement of the Commission on Accreditation [Office of Program Consultation and Accreditation, American Psychological Association, 750 First Street NE, Washington, DC 20002-4242, Telephone (202) 336-5979; Fax: (202) 336-5978; email: apaaccred@apa.org] as well.
  4. Work with the student to ensure timely completion of all necessary steps for proper Advancement to Candidacy prior to the student applying for internship.  The program will not certify that the student is ready for a clinical internship unless they have been Advanced to Candidacy.

Until a Guidance Committee has been formally established, the Program Co-Directors, and the student’s major research supervisor will serve as an ad hoc Guidance Committee should any issues need to be discussed or resolved.

Guidance Committee Requirements & Procedures

Committee Membership Requirements
  • The major research supervisor serves as Chair
  • All Guidance Committee members must be JDP faculty
  • Both universities must be represented on the committee
  • At least one member of the committee must be a clinically trained psychologist
  • *Guidance Committee requires only 3 members; occasionally a student may request a fourth member for a specific reason

Typically, a student’s mentor will serve as both guidance committee and dissertation chair; if for some reason a dissertation chair is selected who is not a member of the guidance committee, they will automatically be added to the guidance committee.  Any other committee changes will be made by the Directors as necessary.

Committee Nomination Procedure

The procedure to appoint a Guidance Committee is as follows:

  1. Discuss the intended appointment with all parties involved;
  2. Email both Program Coordinators with the following information;

    Guidance Committee Chair:
    Guidance Committee Member:

    Is this member a Co-Chair (Yes/No)?

    Guidance Committee Member:
    Guidance Committee Extra Member (if applicable):

  3. The SDSU Program Coordinator will prepare and route the electronic Guidance Committee Membership Nomination form to the student;
  4. The student will complete the required form fields (student name and signature);
  5. The form will automatically route to the student committee members;
  6. Once the form is signed by the student and all committee members, the form will automatically route to the JDP Co-Directors for approval and,
  7. All parties will receive a final copy once completed.
Committee Change Request Procedure

The procedure to change/replace a Guidance Committee member is as follows:

  1. Discuss the intended appointment or change with all parties involved; if the desired outcome is to replace a member of the Committee, this must be discussed with the person being replaced before it can be approved;
  2. Email both Program Coordinators with the following information for the NEW Guidance Committee;

    Guidance Committee Chair:
    Guidance Committee Member:

    Is this member a Co-Chair (Yes/No)?

    Guidance Committee Member:
    Guidance Committee Extra Member (if applicable):

    Reason for Committee Change Request:

  3. The SDSU Program Coordinator will prepare and route the electronic Guidance Committee Membership Nomination form to the student;
  4. The student will complete the required form fields (student name and signature);
  5. The form will automatically route to the student committee members;
  6. Once the form is signed by the student and all committee members, the form will automatically route to the JDP Co-Directors for approval and,
  7. All parties will receive a final copy once completed.
  8. If a student has already advanced to candidacy and then wants to make a change, the student must have the UC San Diego Co-Director’s signature on the Spring Evaluation form prior to submitting it the graduate coordinator in the UC San Diego JDP office.

Annual Progress Review

The Guidance Committee meets with a student a minimum of once a year to evaluate his/her progress. The committee also meets at any time when the student, a committee member, or the Co-Directors or Steering Committee requests a meeting. At the end of each academic year, each guidance committee must have a formal meeting to assess the student’s progress. Students should organize and coordinate these meetings in a timely fashion to meet the UC San Diego deadline, which is generally the Friday before Spring Quarter ends.

Spring Student Evaluation

Students should refer to the Spring Student Evaluation webpage (under Student Handbook/JDP Forms) for the most up-to-date evaluation procedure and instructions on what to bring to the Guidance Committee Meeting. Students should contact their committees to conduct the meeting sufficiently early to ensure that UC San Diego registration is not blocked because of failure to file the spring evaluation form with the Graduate Division.

In addition to the annual Guidance Committee review of progress, all first and second year students are evaluated by faculty mentors, course instructors, and (where appropriate) clinical supervisors in the late spring of each academic year. All areas of the student’s work are discussed including coursework, research, and practica. The student is informed in writing if everything is proceeding appropriately or if there are areas that need improvement.