Advising Information

• Basic Advising Agreement for ALL Independent Study Courses and MS/PhD Advisees

• MS/PhD Advising Rules

• Independent Study Rules/Proposal

• Basic Writing Guidelines - a guide for all students

I will accept no more than 12 major MS/PhD Committee Chairmanships (of which no more than 5 will be PhD advisees) and a grand total of no more than 24 total graduate committee assignments at one time.   This is due to the great amount of time required to supervise a PhD or MS advisee, and the fact that I do not feel it is fair to student to attempt to spread my time as an advisor too thin.

As of Monday 10 October 2005, I WILL NOT consider being either the major advisor or a committee member for a student who is not working on a topic in one of the following areas:

• Applied Urban Geography

• Population/Migration Studies

• Sport/Music/Popular Culture Studies

• Regional Transportation Studies

• Regional Studies of the US South and/or The Great Plains

I will only work with students on projects with a heavy emphasis on GIS when these applications of GIS are in one of the areas above (NOT as a stand alone study area).  The Department of Geography at OSU DOES NOT offer graduate degrees (MS or PhD) in GIS, and students should not expect to conduct their research project (Thesis or Creative Component) on a GIS topic that is not of an applied nature.  Because OSU does not offer a degree in GIS, I have simply come to the belief that it is inappropriate that students be encouraged to pursue projects in GIS without a well grounded application area.

As of Monday 7 July 2008, I have agreed to the following 10 chairmanships and 11 total committee assignments:

Current Graduate Committee Chairmanships: 10 (4 Ph.D.)

• Joel Barrow, B.S., The University of Oklahoma (M.S.)

• Jinjue Dong, B.Eng., Harbin Institute of Technology (M.S.)

• William Flynn, M.A.G., Texas State University (Ph.D.)

• Brian Martin, B.S., Oklahoma State University (M.S.)

• William McBreyer, M.A., Ohio University (Ph.D.)

• Balaji Pannerselvam, B.Tech., University of Madras (M.S.)

• Daniel Petty, B.S., The University of Tennessee at Martin (M.S.)

• Justin Plymell, M.S., Oklahoma State University (Ph.D.)

• Majunu Seran, B.E., Anna University (M.S.)

• Christopher Storm, M.S., University of Southern Mississippi (Ph.D.)

Current Graduate Committee Memberships: 11

• Leonard Bombom, M.A., University of Northern Iowa (Ph.D.)

• Stacey Brown, M.A., University of North Carolina at Charlotte (Ph.D.)

• Sherri Baker, B.S., Oklahoma State University (M.S.)

• Julie Carey, B.S., University of Kansas (M.S.)

• Samuel Hardwige-Hiett, M.S., Kansas State University (Ph.D.)

• Pragya Jaiswal, B.S. (India) (M.S.-Computer Science)

• David James, B.S., United States Air Force Academy (M.S.)           

• Victoria Lightfoot, M.B.A., Oklahoma State University (Ph.D.)

• Weiping Li-Jan, M.S., Oklahoma State University (Ph.D.)

• Brandan Lowden, B.S., Kansas State University (M.S.)           

• Brian Sweet, B.A., The University of Texas (M.S.)

All students/advisees must provide at least two weeks for review of all items prepared for review by Dr Finchum.  While some items may be returned in a shorter period, this action/schedule will be considered at the discretion of Dr Finchum, and no guarantee is made that a "turnaround" of less than two weeks will be made under most circumstances.

To see a complete listing of students for whom Dr. Finchum has served as an advisor or committee member, please see the Curriculum Vita of Allen Finchum.