Students are required to declare a PhD Research Advisor within the first 24 first credits in the program, or within three years, whichever comes first. Students declare their Research Advisor by submitting a departmental form.

The advisor declaration form must be signed by the PhD Program Director.

The PhD Research Advisor must be a tenured or tenure-track member of the Graduate Faculty in the Computer Science department. Affiliate members of the CS Department graduate faculty may co-advise students along with a tenured or tenure-track member of the CS Department Graduate Faculty.

If the student changes research advisor, a new form must be submitted to the CS Department by the end of the semester when the change occurs.