<p>Thanks to all for the replies. I had some idea of the questions we need to ask but this helps to clarify. Many things mentioned that we had not thought of.</p>
<p>Fortunately, I’ve done the grad school thing and am a non-tenured lecturer at a research university so I know the basics of grad school and how universities operate, which helps. FIL is a recently retired humanities prof having taught at SIU and UM-CP so he is also a help.</p>