Advisor Expectations

MP Advisors should take a leadership role in providing advice, feedback, and expertise to their students or student teams. The advisor is expected to help students put their work into a broader perspective, define a problem, and devise a strategic approach(es). Note that MP advisors must approve and sign off on the MP Proposal before it can be formally submitted. 

It is important to set up a standing bi-weekly meeting schedule at the beginning of the MP Project. At each meeting, students and advisors should review recently completed work and agree on benchmarks to be completed before the next meeting. The MP advisor should evaluate the student or team’s methodological design, data analysis plan and all results of the project as applicable.  

Throughout the entire MP Project, advisors are specifically expected to:

• Complete and sign the Student- Advisor Agreement with your student or student teams.
• Meet with each of your students or student teams biweekly throughout the academic year. It is recommended that the student begin meeting regularly with the advisor during the Spring semester.
• Provide timely feedback to the student throughout the MP writing process. Advisors should work with their advisee(s) to develop a timeline that allows the student or student team and faculty to share and respond to feedback.   
• Provide advice to the student on ways to manage the client and/or group relationship and balance academic and professional standards with obligations to the client and/or peers. 
• Attend the student or student team project status presentation and provide specific, constructive feedback.  
• Read and provide feedback on the first complete draft, which should demonstrate significant progress towards completion of the project and include analysis. The advisor should ensure that students incorporate all necessary elements in the public presentation and final product/report.  
• Review the MP presentation (ppt file), attend the final presentation, and provide constructive feedback.
• Review and provide feedback on the final complete draft. Work with the student(s) on drafts of the MP until the project reaches the required level of excellence of a final MP. 
• Sign the Master’s Project Completion Form provided by the student when the final draft of the MP is complete. The MP advisor’s name(s) will appear on the title page of the MP in DukeSpace, which is a publicly searchable database.  
• Communicate to the DGS the final grade to be assigned to the MP.
• Provide a formal review of each student’s MP performance via DukeHub.