Graduate Program Advising
Graduate student advising involves the roles of faculty advisors, department support staff, and the central office of graduate programs to support graduate students.
Advising Roles
Graduate Faculty Advisor
Your faculty advisor is your most important point of contact with matters related to research, academic progress, concerns, and problems within your program. Communicate regularly with your faculty advisor (and committee members for MS and PhD students) and request clear guidelines of expectations on courses and research activities, including timetables for deliverables.
Graduate Program Coordinators
Your program’s Graduate Coordinator is also an important person for you to become familiar with. In addition to your faculty advisor, this will often be the first person you should go to with questions. The Graduate Coordinator is your primary point of contact for approval forms (degree milestones), inquiries regarding enrollment and funding, and many of the common questions that graduate students have.
Director of Graduate Programs
Each academic program has designated a faculty member who is the Director of Graduate Programs (sometimes also called Director of Graduate Studies). This individual is the primary liaison between graduate students and the Department and School. You should contact your Director of Graduate Programs with questions or concerns that cannot be resolved by your advisor, and is the primary point of contact for students who may need to make special requests regarding academic requirements or to change your program or degree.
VEO Contacts
Students in the Virginia Engineering Online program have a designated Graduate Online Programs Administrator, and each program has a faculty member appointed as Academic Advisor.
Department and Program Contacts
Graduate Directors
- Biomedical Engineering - DON GRIFFIN and KEVIN JANES (Admissions)
- Chemical Engineering - STEVEN CALIARI and ROSEANNE FORD (Admissions)
- Civil Engineering - MAJID SHAFIEE-JOOD
- Computer Engineering - MIRCEA STAN
- Computer Science - FELIX LIN and MATTHEW DWYER (Admissions)
- Electrical Engineering - ZONGLI LIN
- Materials Science and Engineering - STEPHEN MCDONNELL
- Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering - HAIBO DONG (PhD/MS), PETER GRIFFITHS (ME), JASON FORMAN (Admissions)
- Systems Engineering - LAURA BARNES and MATTHEW BOLTON (PhD, MS), ROBERT RIGGS (ME), MATT BURKETT (AMP)
Graduate Coordinators
- Biomedical Engineering - KIM FITZHUGH-HIGGINS
- Chemical Engineering - SAM CANEDA
- Civil Engineering - MICHELLE BUSBY and PAUL MILLER
- Computer Engineering - ANISEH BURTNER
- Computer Science - JAI MAUPIN and MARION HIGHT
- Electrical Engineering - ANISEH BURTNER
- Materials Science and Engineering - BRYANA AMADOR
- Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering - MAEOFFICE@VIRGINIA.EDU
- Systems Engineering - CHANTEL GROSS
- Virginia Engineering Online (VEO) - JENNIFER MAULLER
Online Education Advisors
The VIRGINIA ENGINEERING ONLINE (VEO) Professional Master's Degree program is a part-time degree program offering Master of Engineering degrees in the disciplines listed below:
- Chemical Engineering - STEVEN CALIARI
- Civil Engineering- JOSE GOMEZ
- Electrical Engineering- ZONGLI LIN
- Materials Science and Engineering - LEO ZHIGILEI
- Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering - PETER GRIFFITHS
- Systems Engineering - ROBERT RIGGS