Should I keep this person as my dissertation commitee chair?

Greetings astrologers,

I'm not sure if my question belongs in the relational horary forum or here. I decided here is more appropriate b/c it is about having someone as an adviser, a research lead, and a research chair. I'm currently forming my dissertation committee, and want to check if my current prospective chair is a good one for me too keep?

I looked at the 1st and 7th houses, but perhaps I should look at the 9th (long term studies) or 10th. Where do you feel the advisor, the research chair would fall?
I got a "no" answer, from 1 to 7 applying square between Mercury (me) and Jupiter (my chair) but the Moon is applying to conj. with Jupiter, so a possibility of "yes" indicated.

elumen, I don't do horary astrology, but your question caught my eye: I had a 30-year academic career in research universities before taking a very happy early retirement a couple of years ago.

I would suggest that you do some synastry. I don't see how you can get this faculty member's birth time, so leave it as "unknown" and skip the houses; but you may be able to find his/her birth date and location in a discrete way. For example, this person may be listed in Who's Who or a professional association directory.

Fundamentally the issue is about compatibility of research interests; but also, you want a sympatico relationship. If the latter is not "in the stars" then ask around among your fellow grad students about this professor's reputation for serving his/her students well and being fair-minded.

Thanks for your response, waybread. Incidentally, I do have her full birth data. She gave it to me willingly b/c I write about astrology and told her I'm an astrologer. Our synastry is in many ways oppositional (we are the opposite polarites on the spectrum). I do not think the synastry is fantastic, but I'm not sure how to judge it for my question's point of view. Also, this person is brilliant and I enjoy working with her, but she does not seem very reliable. If you want to take a stab at it, here is our synastry, her chart is on top of mine. The fact that her Saturn sits on my MC may be a good or a bad sign, but it squares my Moon and Venus. Then again, I'm not marrying her, it is a research project we would be doing together. If you have any comments, I'd like to hear them.

An advisor will be 9th house, elumen. Note where Mercury is. That will sometimes give you a little hint.

AG

thank you archergirl. btw, i thought you were a woman because of the name you use on this forum. so i looked at the horary, and the mercury is in the 9th, in Taurus, I suppose I have to give Mercury to the advisor, and the Moon to myself. The Moon as applying to a square with Mercury -- so it is a "no" answer. At the same time Mercury rules me and is positioned in the 9th, so maybe I could count it a positive indication? What do you think?

Hi elumen,

I'm definitely a female. Otherwise I'd be 'Archerboy', which doesn't sound nearly as good!

I would agree with the 'no'. It is very important to get your committee 'right'. Venus, as this particular person, may not suit you.

AG

This Forum has been down for a while, so maybe you've already made a decision. The reliability issue would concern me more than this professor's chart, as students need some confidence that their work will be read in a timely fashion, that their professors keep appointments, and so on. The supervisor is really the important person on your committee, others are less central to your daily research. So if you feel uncertain about this professor, perhaps she would be better as a committee member, rather than as a supervisor.

I get the sense that you might appear as somewhat disruptive to her, with your Uranus and Pluto conjuncting her personal planets.

But both students and faculty in graduate programs are adults, and most students will work with the professor whose research expertise most closely matches their interests.

Thank you, everyone for your responses. It's been definitely helpful, and I really missed the forum when it was down. I had a talk with my perspective chair, and it confirmed my fears that she would not be reliable and is just too busy for our work. At this point, I'm interviewing other candidates, and think that it is not going to work with her. I still live a small chance I might go back to her but it is unlikely at this point.