The student's advisor chairs the thesis committee. All other committee members, including the external member, should be agreed upon before the thesis proposal presentation. Members of the student's committee must accept the responsibility of meeting with the student regularly to ensure that the research is progressing in the right direction. The thesis committee should be composed of at least three members who are on the SCS faculty and one member from outside. Normally at least two members are CSD faculty. The external member may be from another department at Carnegie Mellon, or (typically) from outside the University. All thesis committees are subject to departmental approval.