The importance of supervision and support

Here at the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies, we know how much of an impact supervision and support can have for students who choose to pursue graduate studies at Université Laval.

Consistent, quality supervision and support play a vital role in graduate student success. For faculty members, supervising a graduate student is one of the most challenging and rewarding responsibilities in an academic career.

Supervisory committee

When you start a graduate program, a supervisory committee is formed to provide supplementary mentoring and support in addition to the guidance you receive from your research supervisor. The committee is also responsible for evaluating your progress. 

The supervisory committee’s role is to support you as you progress through your program. To this end, your committee will start working with you as soon as possible after you start your program, meeting with you periodically to help you develop and strengthen your research proposal.

Subsequently, your committee will assist the program director with periodic evaluations of your progress.

Your supervisory committee provides effective support and offers access to a broader range of subject knowledge and expertise in relation to your research area, thereby increasing your chances of success.

Training workshops for faculty

To better support faculty members in their supervisory role, the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies has developed a series of training workshops based on faculty input and Université Laval’s strategic objectives.

The workshops are offered on a rotating basis every semester and cover themes such as : 

• supervisory relationship,
• supervising graduate student writing,
• supervising in a context of diversity.

In the event of a discrepancy between the French and English texts, the French version prevails.