Annual Review

An annual review is a requirement for all graduate students.  The only exception for not completing an annual review will be if you have filed your “Application to Graduate” on gradforms.osu.edu to Graduate for the current term. If you do not graduate this summer, you WILL need to complete your Annual Review by September 30th.   The deadline to contact your committee members to schedule your review is August 1st.

STUDENTS:

Complete the Physics Graduate Studies Annual Review Form and schedule a meeting with your advisor and all of your advising committee.  <Coming soon: document link to form>>

Please contact your committee and set up your meeting by August 1st.   These meetings typically should run about 15 minutes for students in their 3rd and 4th years and 30 minutes for students in their 5th and 6th years. Please note that most faculty will likely have these annual review meetings scheduled back to back in some cases and it would be appreciated if you would request meetings for a 30 minute time block.

Graduate Studies highly recommends meeting with all 4 of your advising committee members in person if possible but can also be all on Zoom or a combination of in person and on Zoom.  If you need to meet with 3 out of 4 members of your committee then later meet with the 4th person, that sort of set up is OK with the advanced approval of your advisor.   Your review form will be considered “complete” after you have met with your advisor and the other 3 members of your advising committee, AND your form is signed by all committee members. Incomplete forms will be returned to you and your advisor to add the missing info or signatures. If a committee member is out of town, have him/her email you that he/she approves your annual review, print his/her name on the signature line noting email attached and included a copy of the email with your GS Annual Review Form.  You should contact your committee no later than by August 1st to schedule your Annual Review, and the review must be complete with the signed form, copy of your research summery (see below) and your updated C.V./Resume EMAILED to Kris Dunlap no later than September 30th.  No paper copies will be accepted.  

Prepare a 3 to 5 page progress summary in Power Point, PDF, Word or your preferred document program for a 5 minute talk that should be a high level overview, and please include your C.V. as the last page. Forward the documents to your committee members before your meeting. (See Appendix below for more details for the recommended contents and suggested order.)  Send electronic version to your advising committee in advance of your annual review meeting. It is not recommended to use a projector or share a screen on Zoom at your meeting unless your committee prefers that format. Please check with your advisor for the preferred presentation format.

After meeting with your advising committee, scan or image your Annual Review Form to PDF with the signatures from your meeting and save it with a file name “ReviewForm LAST name_First name AU19” (example:  “ReviewForm Smith_Robert  AU19.pdf”). Email this PDF form (including any committee email approvals), and also a PDF or PPT of your 3-5 page summary that you provided to your committee.  This 3-5 page research progress summary should be named Last Name_First name Review Summary AU19 (example: “Smith_Robert Review Summary AU19.pdf”).  You must send these files via EMAIL to the Physics Grad Studies office to Kris Dunlap at dunlap.151@osu.edu no later than September 30th.  No paper copies will be accepted. 

Your advisor and advising committee’s signatures on this form serve as approval of your research progress toward your Ph.D. Your advisor and/or advising committee members may sign your form but include some comments about conditional approval or areas of concern.  Your annual review document will be reviewed by the Graduate Program Coordinator and may be later assigned to a Graduate Studies Committee faculty member and if needed, any issues or concerns will be discussed by the Graduate Studies Committee.  Should any follow up with you be required, we may contact you to have a meeting with the Vice Chair of Graduate Studies and/or the Co-Chair of the Graduate Studies Committee to discuss.

THESIS ADVISOR:

You should meet with or have an email conversation with your student before the review meeting with the full advisory committee to discuss the contents of the filled-out annual review form and the student’s progress summary.  Please be sure to both discuss and provide information for question 6 about financial support for your student(s), and please include comments on current/future funding if you feel that would be appropriate. 

Your student will revise and update the Physics Annual Review form, prepare his/her overview and C.V., and forward all documents electronically (email) to you and the advising committee before the annual review meeting. 

Advisors are asked to leave the review before it ends to allow the student to talk privately with the rest of the Review Committee, in case there are issues that that the student or the committee would like to discuss without the advisor present.

Please note that by signing the form, you are certifying the student’s progress to Ph.D. is satisfactory.  If there are any issues or concerns, you should note these concerns under your signature as a comment. For example: “approve conditionally” and then follow up with the student on what issue(s) need to be addressed (including a timeline for addressing these issues), and please send a copy of this communication to Graduate Studies Office.  Please also contact the Vice Chair for Graduate Studies and/or the Program Coordinator if you have concerns about the student’s progress, or other issues that should be addressed.

ADVISING COMMITTEE MEMBERS:

Please work with your advisees to schedule the annual review meeting and include your meeting format preference of in person or on Zoom. Graduate Studies highly recommends meeting with all 4 of the advising committee members in person if possible but can also be all on Zoom or a combination of in person and on Zoom. If you cannot be present for the review please do schedule another time with your advisee for an individual meeting. 

Suggested topics to cover during annual review meeting:

  1. Review milestones accomplished over last year.
  2. Review funding plan/student support for coming year.
  3. Review plans for future presentations, conferences, workshops, summer schools, and publications.
  4. Review career goals post Ph.D. and the plan(s) to achieve them.

Before the annual review meeting ends, the Graduate Studies Office asks that the Advisor leave the room to allow the student to talk privately with the rest of the Advising Committee in case there are issues that the student or the advising committee would like to discuss without the advisor present.

  Suggested questions to ask students in the private section of the annual review meeting:

  1. What are you concerned about?  (e.g. working conditions, climate, your future, etc.)
  2. Are you clear on expectations for progress and graduation?
  3. Are you satisfied with your progress?
  4. Do you get adequate feedback?  (Can include feedback from advisor as well as group members and collaborators.)

At the end of an annual review meeting, please note any comments or concerns on the student’s copy when you sign it. If you think private communication is needed, please send email to the Vice Chair of Graduate Studies and/or the Program Coordinator with any issues or concerns you have.

By signing the form, you are approving the student’s review material and their progress toward finishing their Ph.D. In addition you are approving that you have discussed any concerns with the advisor, other committee members, and/or the Graduate Studies Office. In the case of minor concerns, you can note your conditional approval next to your signature with a brief note about the item(s) of concern.

APPENDIX for document order and Overview preparation:

  1. Graduate Studies (GS) Annual Review Form saved as PDF with file name “ReviewForm LAST name_First name AU22.pdf.       Example: ReviewForm Smith_Robert GS AU22.pdf
  1. A 3 to 5 page PDF document with your progress summary/overview with file name: Last name_First name ReviewS Summary AU22.pdf:

Page/Slide 1-2: Your name, area of research and year you started in program. Summarize or bullet-point your research progress/accomplishments made toward your degree in the past year.  Please include such things as:

  • Highlights of your research activity/project(s)             
  • Any scholarships or awards you received. (ex: poster competition awards or a fellowship)
  • Conferences or workshops you attended                  
  • Published or submitted papers (including name and full authors list (if fewer than 10 authors), noting whether or not you are first author, and journal)
  • Presented or were a named contributor to a poster or talk (please indicate title of the talk, name of the conference, and whether you presented the poster or talk                      
  • Participated in outreach activities and/or events (Polaris, State Fair, Breakfast of Science Champions, URSA, school visit, etc.)
  • You are an officer or serving member of an OSU student organization. (Includes Polaris ,SWiP, PGSC, CGS, etc.)
  • Other activities related to progress toward your Ph.D.

Page/Slide 2-3: Remaining objectives for completing your research and dissertation and give a time table for achieving them.

Page/Slide 3-4: High level work plan. Please specify both student and advisor’s input where appropriate.

     3.   1 to 2 page C.V. in the style or format of your choosing.  

Annual Review meetings must be completed no later than September 30, UNLESS prior permission for delayed submission from the Graduate Studies Office (Kris Dunlap) is received before September 30th.  Please include the circumstances causing the delay.