How to ask about co-advising

[KCbat]

Hi everyone, 

I was hoping I could get some advice on being co-advised. I have a full departmental fellowship to my top-choice program, but I don't think there's a single faculty member that perfectly fits my interests. It seems like with the fellowship I should be in a good position to ask to be co-advised, but I'm not sure how this works or how I should ask professors about it. Do I need to choose a primary professor first and then ask to be co-advised later? Or can I try to arrange something before I make a final decision on which school to attend? Thanks!

[MarineBluePsy]

I don't think there's one right way to do this actually.  I inquired about this during my application cycle while on interviews, but it could be done after there's an offer on the table.  I broached the subject based on observations I made in the field about a greater push for interdisciplinary work and realizing that I'd be at a disadvantage if I had no experience doing that.  I didn't use the term "co-advising" but stated that I am interested in collaborating with other disciplines and want to be certain such opportunities would be supported.  I didn't have a specific professor in mind, but knew which departments I was interested in exploring possible collaborations with.