Aaron's Philosophy on Supervision

As your academic supervisor, my responsibility is to oversee some aspect of your academic work at Dalhousie University—whether this is a one-term independent study project, an honours thesis, a 5 (or more) year graduate degree, or something else. This primarily includes supervising you in a research project, and in so doing, training you to be a (better) scientist and critical thinker.

The Nature of the Relationship

Supervisory relationships can be complicated, because they can range from very formal to less formal, and can include social interactions both in the context of the lab and university, and sometimes outside of it. However, my primary responsibility to you, the trainee, is as your supervisor and so there may be times when more social aspects of the relationship are secondary to the supervisory one. As well, our interactions are governed by several of Dalhousie University's policies, including the Conflict of Interest policy, Code of Student Conduct, and many others. In other words, while we will hopefully be on friendly terms, our interactions may at times be dictated by our roles in the university rather than by friendship or norms you have for other personal relationships.

In particular, as your supervisor it is my duty to advise you on research and academic matters, and your career goals and trajectory. However, it is not my place to be involved in, or give advice on, your interpersonal relationships, personal finances, mental or physical health, or other personal topics. This is not to say you shouldn't share details of your personal life with me — to the extent that you feel comfortable, I hope that you will keep me up to date on any personal struggles (or highlights) you encounter, especially if they may affect your academic performance, or your mood or mindset, in the lab, in meetings, etc.. To the extent that I am aware, I can provide advice on where to seek help on a range of matters, but it is important to remember that the role of academic supervisor is specific and limited, and that there are other people, offices, and supports on campus for other aspects of student life that fall outside my role your supervisor, or the academic department that you are in.

Again, this is not meant to imply that you should not feel comfortable coming to me about problems that are affecting your mental or physical health, especially if they impact your ability to complete your academic responsibilities. Please do feel free to discuss issues that are affecting your well-being and/or ability to do your academic work with me—and do so ideally before they become problematic. In such cases, my role is to guide you to appropriate support services, and devise a plan to help minimize the impact of these situations on your academic progress.

My Supervisory Style

As a supervisor and teacher, I take a relatively "hands off" approach because at the university level, I believe that trainees need to learn to take responsibility for their own education and lives. I try to provide frameworks and guidance, and make expectations clear. However, I do not see it as my responsibility to micro-manage, provide reminders about due dates, or provide in person/individual communication of information that has been provided elsewhere. For instance, if information is in a syllabus, or a handbook of academic regulations, or this supervisory agreement, then I expect you to have read that information for yourself.

It is also important for you to understand that in addition to supervising you, I supervise many other people and play numerous other roles in my work and personal life. At any given time, I am likely teaching a class (and managing 1 or more TAs); supervising 1–6 independent study students; 1–2 honours students; 1–3 lab staff members; 4–9 graduate students in my lab; sitting on the committees of about 12 other graduate students across a range of programs; managing the lab's equipment, IT infrastructure, and finances; serving as department Chair for 30 faculty, about a dozen staff, roughly 1200 undergraduates, and 60 graduate students; serving on departmental and university-level committees; writing grants; analyzing and writing up scientific papers (from the lab and collaborators); reviewing papers for journals; editing for journals and books; and directing SURGE (including developing and running programming, supervising students and teams, supervising staff, and interfacing with university administration, the provincial government, and other sandboxes). I try not to take on more trainees than I feel I can reasonably handle, but at the same time, as a trainee you must set your expectations concerning the amount of time I have available in the context of the many other duties you might not otherwise see me performing.

Meetings

At the very least, however, I expect to be in contact with each of my lab trainees at least once a week. You are expected to attend our weekly "Nuts 'n Bolts" check-in meetings; if you're unable to attend, then you are expected to provide me with a written update on Basecamp and use that to ask for any feedback. You can also book meetings with me using my online scheduling system; be aware that my schedule often fills up 1 week or more in advance.