Adviser is retiring after first semester, but still wants to advise me

[Kathiza]

One of my potential advisers just wrote me that he will be retiring in December 2011. But he would still be willing to advise me and I would have another full-time faculty member on campus in his exact field who could help me out. He would still be living in the area.

What are possible problems with this type of arrangement? He told me that it is very common, but I guess that there are problems I have to consider before making a decision.

For example: He won't be attending conferences (at all or at least not that much) - so I couldn't accompany him, right?

He also won't be publishing, I guess... Could this be a disadvantage for me?

What else is there to think about?

[LJK]

I don't know that he won't be attending conferences or won't be publishing - did he tell you that? Some faculty take retirement as an end to teaching, not an end to research. I would think that would be the case with this professor since he still wants to take on a new student. But those are the sorts of questions you should ask him. Does he have any current students? Raise your concerns with them as well and see how they project things will go after his retirement.

Also, even young faculty don't necessarily accompany their students to every conference - I just attended one where my advisor was there but two other graduate students were sans advisors for their co-authored posters.

[Kathiza]

He didn't tell me that he won't be publishing/attending conferences. This was just an assumption I made....

Is it impolite to ask him these questions? I read a lot of his publications and I think he is really great... So I guess I am just a little shy when it comes to telling him about my concerns....

[LJK]

It is not impolite - that you are concerned about these things will indicate to him that you know what grad school is about and have an idea about what you want from an advisor/advisee relationship. Those are positive things! He is going to be going through a major life change, since presumably he has been teaching for the past 3+ decades of his life. He probably won't know all the answers about how he will be dealing with those changes, but if he is a true researcher, he is likely to stay very involved and may even be more involved than someone who is mid-career and has teaching/committee/children/etc. responsibilities. I regularly cite a researcher who is still active in his 80s! Ask! The answers to these questions have a huge impact on your graduate education. I would also talk to the secondary advisor to make sure that you can get along with him/her.

[Strangefox]

He didn't tell me that he won't be publishing/attending conferences. This was just an assumption I made....

Is it impolite to ask him these questions? I read a lot of his publications and I think he is really great... So I guess I am just a little shy when it comes to telling him about my concerns....

Don't be shy! I am sure the professor will understand your concerns!

[neuropsychosocial]

What are possible problems with this type of arrangement? He told me that it is very common, but I guess that there are problems I have to consider before making a decision.

Some schools do not allow emeritus faculty to chair a doctoral committee, so that might be worth investigating or figuring out how it would work.

[Kathiza]

Thanks for your advice.

I'll tell him about my concerns. I'll just wait until the funding offer is in and if it's okay, then I'll just tell him....

[beanbagchairs]

This thread is very useful as I am currently choosing between being advised by a younger PI and an older, famous PI. The latter one has 5 years left before his retirement; he may get an emeritus appointment. My worry is that I'll be needing his recommendation letters when I enter the workforce (postdoc, TT, industry, etc). Can a retired professor write a recommendation letter with the department letterhead --meaning official recommendation letter--.

Maybe that's something we have to think about Kathiza?

[Kathiza]

Do people need recommendation letters when applying for industry or tenure track positions? Honestly, I've never heard that. At least in my country this seems not to be the case.

And even if we do need them... Does it matter if there's the official letter head on the top? I mean it's the person that recommends us... Who cares if he's still an active faculty member at this school or not? He has decades of experience, he worked with us, he knows us and he can recommend us... I hope that employers don't care about the letterhead...

[neuropsychosocial]

Do people need recommendation letters when applying for industry or tenure track positions? Honestly, I've never heard that. At least in my country this seems not to be the case.

In the U.S., a letter from one's advisor is one of the most important pieces of getting a tenure-track job. It's a HUGE red flag when there's no LOR from the advisor, because it raises the question of whether the advisor, who knows the student better than anyone else in the department, isn't willing to recommend them. It's relatively easy to fleece someone who watches you teach one or two classes, or is only familiar with your written work, but your advisor knows if you miss deadlines, make excuses, refuse to shower, kick small puppies, etc.

I don't know about industry. In industry, I'm guessing that it might be more about the advisor's connections and ability to make a phone call than a formal LOR, but I'm just guessing.

[Strangefox]

refuse to shower, kick small puppies, etc.

In other words, if you are true Mr. Hyde

Sorry, I know it's a serious discussion and your reply is very interesting, but when I read these words I immediately thought about the Sevenson's character

[kaykaykay]

I would carefully investigate the work of the younger, on campus advisor to see if I would be happy with him without the retired advisor just in case.... Maybe teh youg scholar is a great guy and this triangle arrangement will work well no mater what!!! Are there more professors in that university whose work you are interested in? Just going for one person is always risky even if he/she is mid career because anything can happen. MAybe you could try to evaluate the program without this person and see if you would be happy there and then take the possibility of working with this great person as a bonus! hmm?

At least in my field emeritius professors do not do that many university service and do not hang out in the university that much, which I imagine could make communication, advising and getting info about what is going on in the department a little bit more problematic.I do not think that recommendation letters would be a problem (people do not forget him/her) but emeriti cannot chair a doctorate committee. Universities try to convince you with all possible means to take their offer. Take these things into consideration, you may need to rely on the on campus advisor for certain things.

[qbtacoma]

If there is another, younger professor co-advising you, it sounds like you wouldn't really suffer the negative consequences of a retiring advisor. You'll still have the young one, right? And you'll be able to tap into the retiring one's prestige/social network. I would ask both professors separately how they envision managing you together, since compatibility between them needs to be something on which everyone is clear. Also, it is definitely okay to ask clarifying questions.

[InquilineKea]

I know that this is usually an exaggerated concern, but it could happen to, say, 1 out of 1000 students. What if your advisor gets dementia, or actually dies on you? That might be problematic. Especially since when people get dementia, they usually don't like to advertise it.

[Kathiza]

I was talking about this to my mom and she said (and I totally agree): This could happen to anyone. (Okay, maybe not dementia... but still)

A young professor could have an accident and die. He could have a heart attack or whatever. This could happen to any one of us any day. So I'm not really worried too much about these things.

The younger professor mostly works with undergrads. I haven't done too much research on her yet (I'm still waiting on funding from that school...), but I don't know if she's allowed to be part of a doctoral committee or things like that.