Help, I need advice3
Ross Woods, 2022
I found out that that the non-chair member wrote a very insulting email to the chair regarding his ability to guide as Chair. But this member recently applied for tenure again, which required input from my Chair, and was denied again. There is tension between them.
I was able to get the Chair to let me talk to the other [third] member because I cannot afford to lose my Chair, but I think that perhaps I could get another committee member. At present, two of my committee members are ready to schedule my defense, one being the Chair. What should I do?
The protocol at my institution is that the Chair has the final word, and I would have to go to him. The others are only supposed to guide the paperwork.
[Based on a real case. Details changed and name omitted.]
Does your school have academic advisors? Can you get advice from one of them?
It sounds like the committee member has a personal beef because their feelings got hurt. Given it is your education on the line, I'd go to the department chair and tell him you expect your committee to act in a professional way and remind him you are paying an arm and a leg for your doctorate. You are their customer. If the department chair won't resolve it, then ask how to file a grievance against the committee member.
The Chair shouldn’t let you defend until he is certain you’ll pass. Some Chairs let students proceed before the student is ready, and it is a recipe for disaster.
Maybe suggest a defence date a few weeks away so that you can have it scheduled but also have time to address the other committee member’s comments?
The Chair knows how detrimental this would be for you at this point in your journey so I'm disappointed that this is their ultimatum. If your Chair believes you're ready but the others don't, have they told you where they think you need more work? You might be more ready than they think if that was cleared up.
A defense could turn out very badly if you have one bad apple trying to fail you, although some schools have rules to either prevent it or annul the effect of the bad apple. It's not all that uncommon; the classic example is the stats specialist who asks questions about obscure alternative ways of doing the stats. What is uncommon is that it is so serious that the chair would resign over it.
Find out what the other committee member wants you to work on to get to a point where he/she would then agree that you are ready for your defence. See if you agree with the feedback, discuss it separately with your chair. If you feel that the extra work would make the thesis better, maybe you would decide that you would like to have the time to implement it before your defence. And without actually taking sides, you could ask your Chair to allow you to put in the extra effort because you would like to, not because someone else demanded it.
Some committed members provide lots of feedback at the proposal and defense stages. Feedback is a gift. The person who gives feedback generously has invested time and effort. Dissertation critique is not fun reading. It is mentally and emotionally exhausting because you want to be both honest and kind. It is better to find out before the defense and fix the flaws so that other do not point them out after you graduate. It is also better to hold on to a committee member because replacing one slows down the process even further and just creates bad blood. The dissertation process is an exercise in solving problems and managing conflict. I am really sad that the chair is unwilling to take feedback. I hope this all works out in the end.
You don't want to lose your chair at this stage of the program. Your defense is crucial. I think you have taken the right step. I hope the non-tenured member will be kind enough to listen to you.
I agree you don't want to lose your dissertation chair. The fact that he wants to resign is not helpful. Honestly your chair should be sticking up for you. To just throw up your hands and say "I give up" is not helping you succeed. Could there be some kind of personality clash between the chair and the committee member? I don't know, but there has to be a reason.
There is probably more going on behind the scenes. Your chair is probably looking for a way out. Get to the bottom of it. You may not get the answers you seek and need. Talk to the whole committee.
Your chair might want to find a new committee member.
In my opinion, the committee member should be booted.
I think the Chair should have the member step down so he could be replaced. The level of seniority should be very visible on the team. Your Chair needs to sit and have a talk with the Committee Members and determine what the problem is that needs to be addressed and give his reason as to why you should move forward. He probably wants you to move forward because he knows whatever needs to get fixed will be addressed during the overall editing.
But it looks like the reason he wants to resign is that he doesn't want that kind of conflict and confrontation.