Figuring out whether or not a POI is taking students

[fortsibut]

Hello all.  I'm applying this cycle for a PhD slot in a number of African history programs.  Obviously emailing a POI directly to ask if they're taking advisees is the direct way of checking their availability, but I was hoping there was a simpler way to do so via departmental websites or other means as I finalize my list of schools before contacting professors at the schools I apply to directly.  Generally speaking, is it a fairly safe assumption that most faculty linked on the "graduate" history department pages of R1 schools that are associate profs or higher are at least qualified to serve as dissertation advisers (even if they're full on students for the time being)?  Some schools that I've looked at have lists of grad students along with their advisers, but I wasn't sure if that meant that anyone who wasn't listed alongside students' names didn't serve in that capacity.  Thanks for any advice you can give me!

Edited October 20, 2017 by fortsibut

[Professor Plum]

There is no way to determine whether a specific scholar is taking new students except to e-mail the person directly. And if you are making serious applications to PhD programs, you should be doing that anyway.

Most departments allow all tenured faculty to advise PhD students, and many departments (including mine) allow tenure-line faculty to advise doctoral students. (I'm still not sure whether having assistant profs advise doctoral students is a good idea or not, but it didn't seem to leave any permanent marks on my first PhDs) Just because someone is allowed to advise PhDs, however, does not meant that the person is taking new students. Reasons that someone on the tenure line might not be accepting new students include, but are not limited to: planning to retire; planning to leave; planning to take a sabbatical; too many students already in the pipeline; doesn't enjoy working with PhD students. And there's always the possibility that someone is open to working with new PhD students but isn't interested in you. Better to find that out before spending the time and money applying.

Short answer: There is no way to determine whether a specific scholar is taking new students except to e-mail the person directly. And if you are making serious applications to PhD programs, you should be doing that anyway.

[TakeruK]

I agree with the above. It's dangerous to try to infer things from websites. The only exception is that if you go to a professor's website and their website specifically says, "I am looking for doctoral students starting in Fall 2018" or something similar (or saying the reverse of this). Note that you want to make sure you can put a date on that statement!

If you want to check whether or not someone is **able** to advise students, then you can see if their website or CV lists the students they're advising. I find it interesting that some fields don't allow untenured professors to advise students. In my field, it's often the other way around---untenured faculty tend to take on more students so that more work is done so that they are more likely to get tenure. But that's just an interesting side note.

[OHSP]

I assumed that a faculty member who I really liked wouldn't be able to act as my advisor because they didn't yet have tenure and I was wrong, and she's an excellent advisor. Luckily, despite the fact that I didn't mention her in my SOP or email her before I applied, she was on the admissions committee and saw the connections between my interests and hers, so I've ended up with her as my advisor anyway. Which is basically all to say that I got lucky but you could easily make incorrect assumptions about who is and isn't able to act as an advisor, and the only way to find out is to email them and/or other current grad students in your field at that school. 

[fortsibut]

Great advice from all of you; I'll get started on the emails!  Thanks for your help!

[Sigaba]

Please do keep in mind that willing, able, available, desirable, and capable are different questions. And you may not really get the answers that you need until you're in a program.

[TMP]

Follow up @Sigaba's point. simply ask "Are you accepting new students?"  Then run with that.... until you engage with current students to see how capable these "advisors" are at recruitment weekends.