Governing Committees

Steering Committee

Role of the Committee
The Steering Committee oversees all aspects of the Interdisciplinary Biomedical Graduate Program.

Composition
The Steering Committee is comprised of the Directors of the Interdisciplinary degree-granting programs in: Biochemistry & Molecular Genetics, Cell Biology & Molecular Physiology, Cellular & Molecular Pathology, Immunology, Molecular Pharmacology, Molecular Virology and Microbiology and *Neuroscience.  The committee is chaired by the Interdisciplinary Program Director.

Responsibilities

• Establish and review program policies.
• Advise students in their first year of training on the selection of laboratory rotations and program specific course work.
• Conduct the preliminary evaluation of students at the end of their first year of training and promote into the second year.
• Identify training program faculty to serve on the admissions, recruiting and curriculum committees.
• Lead degree-granting program presentations at the recruiting day program in late August.

• The chair is responsible for calling meetings in a timely fashion, for reviewing the minutes taken by the administrator, and communicating committee actions to program training faculty promptly.
• The chair is responsible for running the meetings of the committee.

*Because of its separate admissions process and administrative organization, the Neuroscience Program is not represented on the Interdisciplinary program governing committees.

Admissions Committee

Role of the Committee
The Admissions Committee is responsible for (i) recommending admissions policy to the Director of the Program, (ii) reviewing graduate applications, (iii) supervising interviews of prospective students, and (iv) recommending admissions decisions to the Director of the Program for transmission to the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies.

Composition
The Admission Committee is comprised of a representative from each of the degree-granting programs and two graduate students, all of whom have voting privileges.  Program representatives are nominated by program directors, while graduate students are nominated by the Biomedical Graduate Student Association from the student body of the Interdisciplinary Biomedical Graduate Program.  The committee elects a chair and a co-chair for the committee.  The Program director is an ex officio member of this committee, and the admissions coordinator in the Graduate Studies Office supports the committee.

• The committee will formulate recommendations on admission policy in advance of an admissions season.
• The committee will screen completed application files and recommend applicants for an on site interview.
• The committee will evaluate interview reports and recommend admissions decisions to the Program Director for transmission to the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies.

• The chair is responsible for calling meetings in a timely fashion, for reviewing the minutes taken by the administrator, and communicating committee actions to the Program director promptly.
• The chair is responsible for running the meetings of the committee.
• The chair has the overall responsibility of ensuring that timely action is taken on all complete application files, that applicants are given a full and fair consideration and that School admissions and University policies are followed.

Curriculum Committee

Role of the Committee
The Curriculum committee will oversee all courses in the Interdisciplinary Biomedical Graduate Program, and is charged with creating, maintaining and coordinating a high quality, contemporary curriculum for the program.

Composition
The Curriculum Committee is comprised of a representative from each of the degree-granting programs and two graduate students, all of whom have voting privileges.  Program representatives are nominated by program directors, while graduate students are nominated by the Biomedical Graduate Student Association from the student body of the Interdisciplinary Biomedical Graduate Program.  The committee elects a chair and a co-chair for the committee.  The Program Director is an ex officio member of this committee, and the administrator responsible for curriculum in the Graduate Studies Office supports the committee.

• The committee will coordinate course offerings in the Interdisciplinary Biomedical Graduate Program by creating an offering of courses in the first and second years of the program that provide flexible opportunities to students.
• The committee will identify emerging scientific disciplines that need to be served by new classes and identify courses that are obsolete.
• The committee will identify opportunities for classes to be taught by more than one program and work to limit overlap in existing courses.

• The chair of the committee is responsible for calling meeting in a timely fashion, for identifying topics for discussion, for reviewing the minutes taken by the administrator, and communicating committee actions to the Program Director.
• The chair has the overall responsibility of ensuring that timely action is taken on appropriate issues, and that School and University policies are followed.

Recruiting Committee

Role of the Committee
The Recruiting Committee will identify and help implement activities that will enhance the ability of the Program to matriculate high quality students.  The committee will also oversee the process by which students are recruited from the first year program to degree-granting programs in the school.

Composition
The Recruiting Committee is comprised of a representative from each of the degree-granting programs and two graduate students, all of whom have voting privileges.  Program representatives are nominated by program directors, while graduate students are nominated by the Biomedical Graduate Student Association from the student body of the Interdisciplinary Biomedical Graduate Program.  The committee elects a chair and a co-chair for the committee.  The Program Director is an ex officio member of this committee, and the recruiting and admissions coordinator in the Graduate Studies Office supports the committee.

• The committee will identify strategies for increasing the visibility of the Interdisciplinary Biomedical Graduate Program and its degree-granting programs amongst prospective applicants.  This will include, but is not limited to, generation of discipline-specific mailing lists, telephone contacts with undergraduate advisors, visiting appropriate undergraduate schools and meeting with prospective applicants, and developing print and electronic resources to support these activities.
• The committee is charged with the responsibility of suggesting approaches to determine the effectiveness of various recruiting strategies.
• The committee will recommend approaches to facilitate communication between students in the Program and its degree-granting program during the process of selecting a program.

• The chair of the committee is responsible for calling meeting in a timely fashion, for identifying topics for discussion, for reviewing the minutes taken by the administrator, and communicating committee actions to the Program Director.
• The chair has the overall responsibility of ensuring that timely action is taken on appropriate issues, and that School and University policies are followed.