Usually the committee consists of four people. The first, the committee chair, should be the faculty member most familiar with the student's research area and will be the student's principal advisor. The function of the third faculty member is to help the student obtain breadth of knowledge and to ensure that the student can explain his or her work to someone outside the research area. The fourth member of the committee is a faculty member representing the minor discipline. At least half of the members of the advisory committee must be members of the graduate faculty.
Membership is listed in the .
Next, obtain the agreement of a computer science professor to serve as principal advisor. Ideally, the principal advisor later becomes the research advisor. The principal advisor chairs the PhD advisory committee and helps in its formation. Notify the graduate secretary of whom you are nominating as principal advisor. This should be done within one month of passing the screening examination.