Sometimes your supervisor will be able to get it back to you sooner. Tell your supervisor in advance when he or she can expect your paper, and then count on waiting between one and two weeks to get it back, in most cases. You should also be aware that your supervisor will need time to read, edit and make comments. If your supervisor has to spend time correcting grammar and typos, he or she will have less time to concentrate on the more substantive issues in your paper.

When you get your draft ready to show your supervisor, make sure you edit it thoroughly first.

It is much harder to edit effectively on the computer screen alone. Get into the habit of printing your drafts and using a pen to mark it up. This is different from undergraduate papers where you typically spend most of your time writing the first draft, and relatively less time in making changes.Įditing your own work is an acquired skill, and practice is the only way to learn. In fact, you will probably spend as much or more time editing your paper as you did creating the first draft. Graduate students are often surprised by how long the editing process takes. The second reader may be consulted informally in the early stages of the student’s project and may offer advice if it seems appropriate. The supervisor/student will need to approach the potential second reader well in advance of the defence to ensure availablity (more on defence timeline below). A second reader is decided upon by the student and the supervisor.

Second readers: A second reader is someone else from the History Department who reads the major paper and is present at the defence to ask questions along with the supervisor. If a student has co-supervisors, a second reader is not needed for the defence. While subject area and ability to supervise a particular topic is the main consideration in assigning supervisors, the size of the faculty member’s existing supervisory load must also be taken into consideration.Ĭo-supervision: If a student’s project would benefit from the expertise of two faculty members, and the faculty members are in agreement, a co-supervision can be arranged. Supervisors are decided after discussions involving the student, the Graduate Coordinator, and faculty members (and whoever is teaching 504). By that time, the student has a clearer idea of his or her major paper topic. Supervisor: Deciding on a supervisor usually happens in the second term of the graduate program.

Jr writer major paper