MarvinD

I think it is sad that so many grad students have to put up with bad advisors who have no idea how to interact with actual human beings. I have seen students on medication because they can't seem to get along with their advisor. This goes beyond needing to produce a professional dissertation. If it was just a matter of having more references or expanding a section of the writing it might be OK. Too often I see professors who are petty and vain, give conflicting advice and even steal their advisees work. I feel strongly that there need to be some sort of monitoring of advisors to ensure the quality of what they do. These professors are in charge of our country, and often the worlds future educators, researchers and leaders. Do we really want to leave that all up to chance? We know they have knowledge related to their field, but that does not mean they automatically know how to be a good advisor. Counselors receive extensive training on how to advise their clients on important issues and are also subject to ongoing clinical supervision of their work to ensure continued quality. However, academic advisors have no training, and no regular supervision. Why is this OK?