About IPER PhD Student Annual Reviews

IPER’s Annual Review process is intended to make it easier for students to communicate their needs, progress, accomplishments, and concerns to their advisors and to the Program. The process also clarifies requirements, milestones, forms, and deadlines; and enables the Program to understand student progress and needs more deeply; facilitates communication between advisors and IPER staff and leadership; and provides a mechanism through which students and faculty can give feedback on the Program's overall effectiveness.

Students complete the Annual Review Student Section Form, specific to their year, and a student’s two Lead Advisors complete the Annual Review Lead Advisors Section Form as well as review and sign their student's self-completed section. The Forms will be announced at the beginning of Spring Quarter and are due by the last day of Finals Week. First-year students should bring their completed form for discussion and signatures to their Big Picture Advising Session; second-year students should bring their completed form for discussion and signatures to the Meeting of the Minds; third-year students, having just gone through the qualifying procedure, complete a modified form which does not require signatures. The Annual Review of fourth- and fifth-year students is not coupled with any particular milestone or meeting; however, advanced students are encouraged to meet with at least their Lead Advisors together to ensure progress and agreement about the scope of the student's dissertation research.

Disbursement of the summer stipend (regardless of funding source) will be enabled upon receipt of the student-completed Annual Review Form and all degree progress forms due in the current academic year. If an extension of any kind (i.e. BP or MOM sessions, forms, milestones, the annual review) is needed, the IPER associate or assistant director must be contacted to make arrangements in advance of the Annual Review due date. 

It is the goal that the face-to-face student-faculty discussions the Annual Review process intends to foster will provide an opportunity to reflect on the past year, to think about the next, and to ensure that students and their advisors are in agreement about progress. These reviews are shared with IPER’s Faculty Director and Executive Committee because, having ultimate responsibility for the academic well-being of the Program, they have an interest in seeing the overall degree progress of the IPER student body and must be privy to individual cases of concern so they can work with staff, the student, and the student's advisors to devise solutions to the issue(s) in a collaborative manner. Advisors may opt to share their review form with their student, though they are also given the option to submit it confidentially.

We really appreciate your time, thoughtfulness and candor, and are certain this process benefits IPER advisors, the Program and most importantly, IPER students!