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[birainia]

I'm in a large department, and there is one colleague that I have trouble working with on doctoral committees for which I am the major professor. He/she is very controlling, and essentially tries to become a co-director. This pulls students in two directions. I would say we don't really like each other, but we are always very civil and friendly.

I have tried to go with the flow for several years (we both have tenure). But I have reached the end of my rope. Can I -- diplomatically -- let advisees know that if they choose to have him/her on their committee that I can't direct it. I am happy serving as a co-committee member.

Typically, I would feel that such behavior is unprofessional. Is this a completely unreasonable stance, or do others have one or two people in the department that they actively avoid having serve on committees they are directing?

Edited to add: Also, how can I get him/her off of committees I am currently directing?

[aside]

Have you addressed the problem with your colleague?  This is where you need to start, as unpleasant as that approach might seem, rather than talking to potential advisees. If you try to address the problem indirectly, word likely will get back to your colleague, and you'll be in worse shape than before.

[birainia]

I suppose you're right. He/she is fairly intractable, and has a history of this sort of behavior. He/she just really messed with one of my doctoral students, so I think I'm more frustrated now than usual. It's really the worst combination: controlling (even with students in a different specialization) and semi-lazy. I know lazy is a judgement, but I hate when colleagues say that they can't read a 9.5 page piece of work without weeks of lead time. Yes, we're busy. I am too. But just do it.

I am obviously going to need to wait a couple of weeks to talk to my colleague. I don't know exactly what I'll say, but right now I'm too angry.

[zharkov]

I think it is entirely OK to tell students that for you to be director, you need to vet the other committee members, and ask them to suggest some names for you to pick.  I  believe that the director (or chair) should have some say in the membership, and you don't need to provide any explanation to the students about why you did not select the Ogre.

[seniorscholar]

I have no advice for the current situation (I too hate having confrontations), but I certainly have, for years, said quite openly to people who ask me to direct their dissertation that we need to have a conversation about the rest of the committee. I tell them frankly when I have objections to someone: e.g., "I tend to see things very differently than  Prof. Obstinate, and that can slow down progress on the dissertation." And since there are not always two other people in the department actually well-versed in the central field/area of the proposed dissertation, I try hard to come up with someone unexpected who knows one aspect -- methodology, allied texts in another country, whatever -- to add to the committee.

[lizzy]

Will your department chair and DGS support your vetting of committee members? What about cases when the annoying colleague's areas dovetail with the students' areas of research?

Can you set up a meeting with the colleague and your DGS?

For this to work, you'll need to be very specific about the behavior you're objecting to. Bring examples. Put together a list of specifics about what you would like the colleague to do/not do. Also, be clear about how the colleague's behavior has been detrimental to students; you'll need to be ready to counter the colleague's likely assertion that s/he is only helping, upholding appropriate standards, and so on.

In other words, you'll need to be able to show that the colleague is overstepping his/her role in ways that interfere with your ability to effectively direct doctoral students toward a quality dissertation, not just that the person is annoying.

Best of luck to you and your students.

[birainia]

My department chair would certainly support me. We have an excellent relationship, and I am not the only one who has struggled with this colleague's approach to issues. And given that he/she is usually a 3rd or 4th committee member (very different area of specialization), there is no occasion in which he/she has been essential. Thus my annoyance when he/she tries to control the dissertations.

I like the idea of "vetting" -- I think that will work. And it is in students' best interests. One student is in danger of having to stay an extra semester -- with a finished dissertation and no more funding -- because of this colleague. Hopefully it won't turn out that way, but at this point the student can't burn bridges with him/her because of job letters, the difficulty of finding a new committee member, etc.

[msparticularity]

I like the idea of "vetting" -- I think that will work. And it is in students' best interests. One student is in danger of having to stay an extra semester -- with a finished dissertation and no more funding -- because of this colleague. Hopefully it won't turn out that way, but at this point the student can't burn bridges with him/her because of job letters, the difficulty of finding a new committee member, etc.

I would like to suggest that in this particular case, replacing the committee member must become a priority--for you and your chair as much as for the student. Finding a new committee member who will consent to the prior decisions of the rest of the committee--especially when no particular expertise is needed--should not be all that difficult, and I think that in this case the chair should do it (if s/he is not already a committee member). If not the chair, then you need to call in a favor from a colleague. This is simply unacceptable.

[shrek]

I have someone on my faculty who rarely (and then only after I tell students it's not a good idea but, ultimately it's their choice) is on my student's dissertation committees. They can be on earlier committees (we have a committee to approve the student's course of study; another is the examination committee), but for the dissertation I move the faculty terror(ist) right off. It's not worth my time (or my student's).

[larryc]

Don't speak a word against a colleague in front of a student. Not ever.

You can however steer the students. I would not make it as formal as "vetting." Ask the students who they would like to work with. If they mention your unpleasant colleague you say "Uh-huh. Who else? Let's make a list, let's get a big group of names to choose from!" Then you say "Alright, let's work with B and C!" Somehow unpleasant colleague is never on that list.

[birainia]

Thank you, everyone. This is proving to be a trying semester in terms of committees. I will let said colleague take a couple of more weeks, and then intervene if it becomes certain that his/her behavior will prevent graduation for the student.

I do need to be sure not to let frustration/negativity slip in front of students.

I have another committee question, and will start a new thread for it.

[prof52]

Thank you, everyone. This is proving to be a trying semester in terms of committees. I will let said colleague take a couple of more weeks, and then intervene if it becomes certain that his/her behavior will prevent graduation for the student.

I do need to be sure not to let frustration/negativity slip in front of students.

I have another committee question, and will start a new thread for it.

My feelings are a little different on this issue.  I definitely would not complain about a colleague in front of a student, but I don't think it's necessarily a bad thing to let students know that you and that colleague don't make a good supervisory/committee team.  You don't need to make your colleague out to be the bad guy.  I think with graduate students, we do them a disservice by making all of our reasons so opaque.  I agree with the "do not badmouth they colleagues in front of students" rule, but the prohibition against "I'll be honest, you'll regret it if you try to work with both of us" seems like unnecessary obfuscation.  If you can put it neutrally and stress that there is mutual respect, etc, you'll be helping a student make some clearer choices about pursuing his or her doctoral path in your department.

Just my two cents.  That's probably all it's worth.

[aside]

I agree with the "do not badmouth they colleagues in front of students" rule, but the prohibition against "I'll be honest, you'll regret it if you try to work with both of us" seems like unnecessary obfuscation. 

I did not see this prohibition in any of the posts on this thread.  It was not the intent of mine, which was meant only to caution the OP against making things worse for OP and OP's current advisees that have Prof. Obstinate on their committees by telling potential future advisees that OP will not chair their committee if they put Prof. Obstinate on it, as OP proposed (there are more diplomatic ways to handle the issue, as other posters have suggested).  My recommendation for OP to address the issue with Prof. Obstinate also had OP's currrent advisees in mind more than future ones.

[arty_]

I remember being a very frustrated graduate student, because several professors refused to serve on my committee if various other faculty members were on it. In this case, it was a very fractious department. It sure reduced my esteem for all of them tremendously, and frankly, still does. As usual, Larry C's advice is spot on. If you must vet, make it opaque to the student.

[msparticularity]

I remember being a very frustrated graduate student, because several professors refused to serve on my committee if various other faculty members were on it. In this case, it was a very fractious department. It sure reduced my esteem for all of them tremendously, and frankly, still does. As usual, Larry C's advice is spot on. If you must vet, make it opaque to the student.

I think that making some things opaque to students is a disservice in the longer term. For example, some people approach research in ways that are entirely incompatible, or understand a field in ways that are so different that it would render them very problematic as fellow committee members. This is a fundamental fact of faculty life, and we do our students no favor if we obscure it. There is a vast--and very significant--difference between bashing one's fellow faculty members, and being honest with one's students (and one's self) about differences in approach.