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.  At a minimum, MP advisors should plan to commit a cumulative 25 hours to each 2S project and 15 hours to each 3S project.

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

  • Complete and sign the Student- Advisor Contract with your student or student teams.
  • Meet with each of your students or student teams biweekly throughout the academic year.
  • Provide timely feedback to the student throughout the MP writing process. Generally, drafts should be turned around within one week. 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 during the program area seminar and provide specific, constructive feedback. This will occur between the beginning of October and the beginning of November.  
  • Read and provide feedback on the first complete draft, due in February, 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) before the MP symposium, attend the practice presentation, and provide constructive feedback. These practice presentations are held during the program seminars in March of each year.   
  • Attend the student or student team’s final presentation at the MP symposium. Provide formal feedback on the presentation via the evaluation form provided during the symposium.  
  • Review and provide feedback on the final complete draft, due in April. 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 MP executive summary. The MP advisor’s name(s) will appear on the title page of the MP in DukeSpace, which is a publicly searchable database.  
  • Provide a formal review of each student’s MP performance via DukeHub.