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Our Supervision System

What is a Supervisor?

Every student at the University of York has a supervisor, who is a member of the academic staff of their main department.

Your supervisor is someone to whom you can turn with any problem. He or she is normally your first port of call if you have an academic problem; but supervisors deal with personal problems as well, and can be called upon to give references for accommodation, banking, employment, and so on.

(There is a parallel system of support given by your college, and it is up to you which to use on any occasion. If your college finds out that you are ill, they will normally tell your supervisor, and vice versa, but if you have a problem and wish an approach either to your college or to your supervisor to be kept confidential, it will be.)

At the start and finish of every term, in every year, you will meet your supervisor individually, to discuss your academic progress and to make known any personal problems. You will also see your supervisor similarly, individually, in the middle of each term, for an update. You can also go to see your supervisor at any time if you have a problem, or even if you don't.

You normally keep the same supervisor for the first two or three years of your time at York; but you can change your supervisor if you feel that you have reason to do so. Also, you will normally change your supervisor for your final year if your project supervisor is going to be someone different from the supervisor you already have. (See below.)


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What is a Project Supervision?

During your final (third or fourth) year, you will meet your supervisor once a week, individually, to discuss the progress you have been making on your project. Such a session is called a 'project supervision'.

Since projects are normally very specific to members of academic staff, you would normally have changed supervisor to the member of staff who proposed the project that you chose to undertake.

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