Doctoral Research Committee
For DM students, the Research Committee is appointed by the director of graduate studies from a list submitted by the student as part of the topic proposal approval process. (Procedures differ for composition and piano majors.)
For PhD students, the Research Committee is appointed by the dean of the University Graduate School (see the University Graduate School's bulletin for details) based on the recommendation of the student's department and the director of graduate studies.
This committee approves the topic proposal, approves the dissertation or final project written component, and conducts the defense or final project public presentation; see the topic proposal procedure details for more information about the committee and how it is appointed.
The Research Committee consists of three members from the student's major field department, one of whom acts as chair, and one member from a field outside the major field department. The outside member does not necessarily have to be a faculty member from the Jacobs School of Music, but does need to be a member of the IU faculty. Members of the Research Committee do not need to be members of the Advisory Committee, but they may be. For DM students, the studio teacher ordinarily serves as chair of both committees, however.
A research committee should include permanent members of the faculty. Lecturers/senior lecturers are not ordinarily appointed to doctoral committees, but their departments may petition the director of graduate studies to allow exceptions if they regularly teach doctoral students.
One member of the committee serves as Research Director; the student chooses who to appoint as the Research Director with the agreement of that faculty member. The choice of a Research Director is usually based on the nature of the topic and the expertise required. The Research Director is the first person to read and approve each aspect of the final project, piano essay, or dissertation.
Composition and Piano majors
Research Committees for Composition and Piano majors are three-person committees that ordinarly consist of the three major-field members of the student's Advisory Committee, but are appointed separately and need to be updated separately if there are any changes to either committee. See the topic proposal procedure details for more information about the committee and how it is appointed.