Selecting Faculty for a MIC Dissertation Committee

Each student and his/her mentor should select BIMS Faculty to serve on the student’s Dissertation committee as soon as possible. If the mentor does not have a primary appointment in MIC, a co-mentor with a primary MIC appointment may be required. The need for a co-mentor is determined by the Director of Graduate Studies and will be communicated to the student and the mentor as necessary.

Each Dissertation committee must be comprised of at least five BIMS Faculty including the student’s mentor. For the MIC student at least three of these must have a primary faculty appointment in MIC. If a student cannot find three primary MIC faculty, including their mentor, to serve on their committee, students can have only two primary MIC faculty as committee members (including the mentor). In this situation, students are encouraged but not required to select a faculty member with an MIC courtesy appointment in lieu of a primary MIC faculty member. At least one primary MIC faculty (not including the mentor) should be tenured, please contact the DGS for an exemption to this rule.

In addition, one of your committee members must be from “outside” the MIC Department and will serve as a representative of the School of Medicine to affirm that the student has been assessed fairly and with due rigor. This individual may be drawn from the tenured or tenure-track faculty of the School of Medicine or other graduate schools at the University, but must hold a primary appointment outside of MIC.  He/she must hold a Ph.D. and/or serve as a BIMS-approved mentor.

All Dissertation committees must be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies before the student contacts any faculty to participate on the committee. For the qualifying exam, one primary MIC faculty from the committee should be selected by the student and mentor to serve as the first-reader/chairperson. The chairperson will be the primary liaison between the student and the student’s committee.