Academic Advisors

All course selections require the approval of the PHS PhD Program Director or the student’s academic advisor. The Program Director serves as each student’s academic advisor until the student is matched with a member of the Program Faculty who will serve in this role. Typically academic advisors will be identified by the end of the student’s first year in the program. The academic advisor must be a member of the PHS PhD Program Faculty. UNC Charlotte’s Public Health Sciences faculty are a group of dedicated professionals with a wide a diverse background encompassing many different research interests.

During the first year of full-time study, or two years of part-time study, students are expected to begin to narrow the focus of their research interest to an area of proposed dissertation study. Each student will typically identify a Dissertation Committee Chair during the second year of full-time study. Once the Dissertation Committee Chair is selected, she or he becomes the student’s faculty advisor for the remainder of the program. The Dissertation Chair will advise the student in her or his area of specialization and guide the student in recommending additional courses relevant to the planned dissertation. The Dissertation Chair will also guide the student in the selection of additional dissertation committee members. Note that dissertation advisors must be members of the Program Faculty, or members of the Affiliate Faculty with a Program Faculty member as co-chair of the dissertation committee.