BECOMING A BCDB TRAINING FACULTY Admission Requirements (Further information can be obtained from the BCDB Program guidelines) (Download PDF)

An individual who is not now affiliated with the Division, but who currently holds an appointment as a full-time member of a department at Emory University, affiliated institutions, or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, may submit a request for appointment. Training members should have demonstrated expertise in the fields of biochemical, cell or developmental biology or comparable molecular biological sciences and must have, or have the prospect of acquiring, sufficient extramural funding to ensure support of the students’ research projects. Examples of documented expertise include doctoral and/or postdoctoral training in the field, publications in major peer reviewed journals of the areas represented by the program, and membership in professional society(s), such as the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the American Society for Cell Biology or the Society for Developmental Biology.

Application for membership to the training faculty should be made to the Program Director who will forward it to the Executive Committee. After review of the application and an assessment of past or anticipated participation of the candidate in graduate training, the committee can decide to decline admission to the applicant or move to the next step in the approval process - the presentation of a publicly advertised 50 minute research seminar to the program faculty and students. The application will be made available for consideration by the faculty. Following the seminar, the faculty will be polled by secret ballot on the acceptability of admission. A simple majority in favor will result in admission of the candidate. Following the vote, a letter from the Program Director indicating the approval of the candidate by the program is forwarded to the Division Director with the rest of the materials in the candidate’s dossier.

There are three types of GDBBS membership: Full; Associate; and Adjunct.  The definition of membership rights and responsibilities are as follows:

Full Members must be tenure track faculty at Emory University in good standing.  They have full rights and privileges, including the right to serve in any GDBBS function and to act as Dissertation Advisors.

Associate Members must be faculty at Emory University.  These faculty members will have the rights and privileges of full members, except they may only serve as a Dissertation Co-Advisor.  Generally, this membership would be for Research Track faculty, for faculty who may not take a student because of indebtedness to the Stipend Reserve Fund or those who have been judged to be non-participatory during the annual Program Review of participation.

Adjunct Members will be faculty or staff of another institution and must have credentials similar to those of our Full Members.  They will have all the rights and privileges of full members, except that they may only serve on the University or GDBBS committees ex officio and they may only serve as Co-Dissertation Advisors.

All Dissertations must be directed by a Full Member, even if the research is being done in the laboratory of an Adjunct member

The Graduate Division stipulates that candidates must meet three minimal criteria for faculty membership:

• Evidence, normally in the form of publications in reviewed journals, that the candidate maintains an active research laboratory
• A record of research support at a level adequate to fund at least one graduate student, or for a new faculty member, the prospect of generating such support
• A stated commitment to teaching a minimum of three contact hours per year in graduate level courses

If the request meets Division requirements, the Division Director will ask the Dean of the Graduate School to appoint the candidate as a member of the graduate faculty in the Division of Biological and Biomedical Sciences, affiliated with the BCDB program.

Current GDBBS guidelines restrict faculty membership to a maximum of two programs in the Division. In some cases, the candidate can petition the Division Director for admission to more than two programs.

BECOMING A BCDB TRAINING FACULTY Checklist of Requirements (Download PDF)

• a letter from the candidate to the Program Director requesting admission and indicating his/her desire to become a training faculty member and willingness to participate in duties thereof
• a letter of support from the Departmental Chairperson in which the candidate holds his/her primary appointment
• current curriculum vitae
• an NIH PHS 398-style 2 pg. biosketch
• indication of current, past and pending funding
• brief statement regarding his/her ability to support student dissertation research
• information on past experience in training doctoral students or postdoctoral fellows including current position and current institutional affiliation of present and former trainees
• publication record of past and present trainees from work performed with the candidate for BCDB appointment (highlight names on CV)
• explicitly indicate in which graduate level courses he/she has taught and/or what specific courses and/or administrative responsibilities he/she would volunteer to participate in
• a list of planned or anticipated collaborative activities with program faculty
• a one page description of the candidate’s research and a one sentence summary of his/her major research efforts suitable for use in the recruiting viewbook.

MAINTAINING BCDB TRAINING FACULTY STATUS Requirements (Download PDF)

Faculty Review
Each year BCDB program faculty members will submit an annual report to the Executive Committee member in charge of faculty evaluation.  The appropriateness of the individual's level of participation in the teaching/training of students and in program service will be assessed.  If it is determined that a training member has not been sufficiently active in the program, the member will be notified and suggestions for helping him/her regain a full level of participation will be given.  The member has a 12-month period to demonstrate renewed commitment to the program, in the absence of which the member will be removed from the program roster.  The member can prepare a rebuttal statement and request immediate reinstatement through an appeal to the Executive Committee.  Re-appointment to training faculty status following a lapse in membership of more than one year will be considered by the same mechanisms described above for de novo admission. 

Satisfactory participation includes displaying adequacy in at least two of the following categories.

1. Teaching:

• Directing, co-directing or teaching at least 10 contact hours in course(s) within the last three years in a GDBBS graduate course relevant to the BCDB program and taken by a significant number of BCDB students. Undergraduate, medical, and allied health courses are not considered BCDB-relevant unless they also carry a GDBBS listing and were taken by a significant number of BCDB students during the three year period in question.

 2. Research Training:

• Membership on thesis committees of students in the program
• Attendance at a significant number of student seminars and thesis defenses
• Attendance at relevant faculty research seminars
• Writing and grading Part I examination questions

 3. Administrative:

• Holding any executive office of the program including Director, Director of Graduate Studies, Executive Committee, Recruiter, and/or active participation in other program committees

OR

• Holding an executive office in the Graduate Division of Biological & Biomedical Sciences OR Graduate School of Arts & Sciences (but not within the administrative structure of another program), OR as an administrator elsewhere at Emory University (e.g. Dept. Chair).

MAINTAINING BCDB TRAINING FACULTY STATUS Annual Report Form (Download Word Document)

MAINTAINING BCDB TRAINING FACULTY STATUS Suggestions for Further Involvement in the BCDB Program

Participation in the Wednesday graduate student seminar. This is a perfect forum to become acquainted with BCDB students and to expose them to research problems that they may not be familiar with. Current students have commented on the strength of this aspect of their training, and faculty support can only bolster this impact in a positive way.

Contributing questions and grading student responses for the Qualifying Exam, which is administered to students in May/June of their first year. Other research training opportunities include membership on BCDB students’ thesis committees, attendance of students’ dissertation defenses, and attendance of relevant student and faculty research seminars.

 Presenting a research topic for the BCMB Journal Club series being operated and organized by the student trainees on the BCMB NIH Training Grant. These trainees need faculty, student, and staff volunteers to present each Friday at noon.

 Recruitment of new graduate students to the training program is an ongoing project and we urge your participation to the fullest extent possible. According to the program guidelines, participation in recruitment events is required. Efforts include attending the annual recruitment poster session, informal dinner, interviewing during the appointed weekend and alternate dates, or conducting individual field visits to recruit at various academic institutions.

 Teaching lectures or small group sessions in either IBS555 and IBS556 , the two large introductory Principles of Biomedical and Biological Sciences courses for first-year students. Directing, co-directing, or teaching of ten or more hours in the past three year period in other graduate courses relevant to the BCDB program and taken by a significant number of BCDB students is also viewed as adequate participation.

Participation in the once monthly Ethics sessions on Friday at noon. Come have pizza and discuss interesting and relevant case studies in small student-faculty groups. These cover a range of topics from data management to research fraud to authorship. The students especially appreciate the insight faculty can provide from their many years of experience.

ROLE AS A MENTOR FOR BCDB STUDENTS Rotation Students

Expectations
By hosting a rotation student, the mentor

• assures space and appropriate resources are available in the lab during this period
• agrees to devote the time necessary to provide a quality learning experience for this student
• acknowledges that during the final week of the rotation the student will devote time to preparing a written rotation report
• agrees to grade the written rotation report

 Rotation requirements

• Students are expected to complete a minimum of three rotations. Once a rotation has been initiated it is expected that the student will complete that rotation, including the written rotation report.
• The student may also receive rotation credit for lab work in the summer before formal entrance into the program ("headstart"), or the summer following the first academic year. This work must be done in the lab of a BCDB faculty member over at least 8 weeks. The last months of long-term employment as a research specialist or technician will not qualify for rotation credit.
• Research reports are expected from the student after each rotation. These should be provided to the Director of Graduate Studies and the rotation mentor.
• This course carries a letter grade to be determined by the overseeing Executive Committee member and rotation mentors.
• Exceptions to these rules under extenuating circumstances will be considered on a case-by-case basis by the BCDB Executive Committee.

Rotation Schedule 2007-2008

Rotation Reports
Following each rotation, a rotation report will be submitted that details the work carried out during the rotation. This rotation report is to be written in the form of a short manuscript such as a Science paper. The goal of this report is to 1) allow the student to reflect on the rotation project and what was accomplished and 2) to provide the rotation mentor with a detailed report on the experiments carried out during the rotation.

Rotation Report Format Guidelines - Instructions to Authors

ROLE AS A MENTOR FOR BCDB STUDENTS Dissertation Students

Expectations
By accepting a graduate student into the lab to do their thesis work, the mentor

• assures space and appropriate resources are available in the lab for the duration of the student’s tenure in the lab
• agrees to devote the time necessary to adequately train the student in research, scientific writing and oral presentation

Becoming a Thesis Advisor
The GDBBS Mentor Assignment Agreement (Download word document) must be signed by the student and the mentor and be approved by both the BCDB Executive Committee and the Chair of the department in which the mentor holds their primary appointment.  Return the completed form to the BCDB Program Office. In order for the Executive Committee to consider the assignment, the mentor should also complete the Funding Documentation form (Download Word doc) and submit it electronically to the BCDB program office at bcdb@emory.edu.

Financial costs associated with being a Thesis Advisor
The GDBBS currently pays a student’s stipend in Year 1 and 2 of graduate training. Subsequently the mentor is responsible for paying the stipend in Years 3 and above.  If a mentor should have insufficient funds due to a change in their funding , they may request a loan from the GDBBS.

GDBBS Banking Regulations
The GDBBS operates a Faculty Reserve Fund (the “Bank”) that provides limited flexibility in funding of graduate students.  There are two types of accounts; savings and loans.

Savings
The investigator may want to deposit funds now to pay for a student in later years.

1. An individual can deposit funds in the bank by supporting a student who would otherwise be the responsibility of the Division, by paying tuition for a student they are supporting, or by transferring unrestricted funds to the bank.
2. A PI may withdraw previously banked funds for the support of a graduate student who would otherwise be the responsibility of the PI (including travel to scientific meetings), to support an undergraduate conducting honors thesis research, or to support a postdoctoral fellow no more than two years post-degree.

Loans

1. A faculty mentor may borrow money from the “bank” to pay the stipend of a student that would otherwise be the mentors’ responsibility. This should be considered the last resort and only requested when all other alternatives have been exhausted. See Procedures below. Loans from the bank are limited to 18 months of student stipend.
2. A faculty member can pay back a loan by supporting a student who would otherwise be the responsibility of the Division, by paying tuition for a student they are supporting (credited for the amount returned to the Division by the Grad School), or by transferring unrestricted funds to the bank.
3.  A Program can pay the individual’s loan by forfeiting part of their administrative budget or an allocated slot for a new student.
4.  A Department can pay the individual’s loan by transferring unrestricted funds to the “bank”.

Procedures

1. All savings transactions can be accomplished by memo to the GDBBS.  Address these to Margie Varnado (click on name to email).
2. All loan requests should be made in writing to the Program involved and should be screened and approved (or denied) by the Program and the Chair of the Department where the mentor derives their primary appointment.  Upon recommendation of the Program and the Chair the request will be approved and funds disbursed by the Division. (Download Request for a Loan from the GDBBS Faculty Reserve Fund (“Bank”) Word document).
3. Any investigator with a debt to the bank will be required to pay the stipend of any student(s) rotating in their laboratory. If the program involved fails to notify the GDBBS of such a rotation assignment the program will be responsible for the new debt incurred.
4.  No faculty member with a debt to the bank will be allowed to take a new student. An exception will be made if the investigator pays the second year stipend of that student and that payment retires the outstanding debt. Any payment in excess of the debt will be deposited to the bank for the investigators later use.
5. If the Program feels it is important for an assignment to be made to a mentor in debt, they must pay the debt by giving up a slot for the next recruiting season.  The amount of stipend for this lost slot will be assigned to retire the debt so that this assignment can be made.
6. Once an assignment is made, the GDBBS will provide up to 18 months of loans if the mentor cannot pay their students (this requires the recommendation of the Program and the Chair).
7.  Subsequently, if the mentor needs additional funds, the Chairs will be responsible for debt in excess of 18 months. Since the Department may have to assume responsibility if reduced funding prevents the faculty member from paying their students, all mentor assignments must be approved by the Program and the Chair of the Department where that mentor derives their primary appointment.

Reporting

1. Each Program Director, DGS and Chair involved in GDBBS training programs will be furnished a statement detailing the indebtedness of their faculty. These will be furnished twice a year in March and September.
2. The Program will be responsible for notifying the GDBBS of any rotation assignments involving faculty with outstanding debt to the bank. The report must be made within a week of the start of the rotation and must include the account number to charge for the student stipend. Failure to do so will result a reduction of the administrative budget in an amount equal to the student stipend for that rotation OR the loss of a slot for the next recruiting season.
3. All mentor assignments will be reported in a timely manner to the GDBBS to allow them to update their database and student files. The Program and the Chair of the Department where the prospective mentor derives their primary appointment will be required to approve the assignment.

Appeals
Any appeals for exceptions to this policy must be submitted in writing to the Director of the Division and should be accompanied by a statement from the Chairman and Program involved. Appeals will be heard by the Executive Committee within 30 days of receipt in the GDBBS office.

In Summary:

1. No new student assignments will be made to faculty member in debt. The maximal amount of individual indebtedness to the GDBBS bank is limited to 18 months of stipend, an amount that most faculty members will be able to pay back when funding is regained.
2. The faculty member pays back their debt by supporting students that would otherwise be the responsibility of the GDBBS.
3. The Program pays if they do not report rotation assignments, or if they approve a mentor assignment, for a faculty member in debt to the bank.
4. Once an assignment is made, the GDBBS will provide up to 18 months of loans if the mentor cannot pay their students.
5. Subsequently, if the mentor needs additional funds, the Chairs will be responsible for debt in excess of 18 months.

Formation of the Thesis Committee
By the end of Spring semester of year one in residence, a student usually will have made arrangements with one faculty member to serve as thesis advisor (see above). A Thesis Committee is subsequently selected as soon as possible, but no later than the end of the Fall semester of year two in residence. The committee is selected by the student in consultation with the thesis advisor, following which the committee membership is submitted to the BCDB Executive Committee for approval. The 5-member committee must include the dissertation advisor, at least three faculty members from the Program in Biochemistry, Cell and Developmental Biology and if possible, one member from outside the Program. The outside member may be drawn from outside of Emory. In certain cases the outside member may be the thesis advisor. Any three members of the committee (excluding the advisor) will constitute a quorum for the purposes of a meeting. The advisor must be present at all meetings, and ALL members must be present for the student’s oral exam, Part II of the Qualifying Exam.

Frequency of Thesis Committee Meetings
The first formal thesis committee meeting must be held no later than eight months after part 1 of the Qualifying exam (i.e. by January of the second year). This first committee meeting should follow closely the student’s first research talk in the Wednesday seminar class (BCDB 790r Advanced Graduate Seminar), whenever possible. Later, the same committee will administer Part II of the Qualifying Exam (normally in May or June of the student’s second year in the Program, but by a deadline of July 1). Thereafter, BCDB program students are required to meet with their committee at least twice per calendar year, up to and including year five of graduate study. An important function of the Thesis Committee is to determine at each meeting whether adequate progress is being made. Thus, the frequency of meetings may be increased at the discretion of the Thesis Committee at any time during this period. However, in the sixth and subsequent years, students are required to meet with their committee at least every four months. In cases where student progress is deemed to be inadequate, the Thesis Committee may opt to identify specific goals for the following period. If the Thesis Committee subsequently determines that lack of progress is due to insufficient effort on the part of the student, this may constitute grounds for cancellation of stipend support or termination from the program.

 Part II Qualifying Exam
This portion of the qualifying examination is designed to assess the student’s ability to integrate different aspects of the first two years of their graduate training including course work, lab work, hypothesis development and presentation of research. Note: part II of the qualifying exam is not a dissertation research committee meeting.

The examination consists of three parts:

• First, the student writes a brief research proposal, which is distributed to the committee prior to the examination.
• Second, the student gives an oral presentation based on the written proposal to the examination committee.
• Third, the student answers questions from the examination committee concerning either the subject of their proposal, or on more general topics such as those covered in Part I of the Qualifying Examination. To facilitate this aspect of the exam the student should distribute to the committee copies of their Part I exam, with scores for each question.

1. Participation by the mentor is restricted to adjudication of the examination, including time keeping and mediating interactions between committee members and the student. Part II of the qualifying exam should require no more than two and a half hours and must be completed before July 1 of the student’s second year in residence.

2. The written research proposal, which should be directly related to the student’s own proposed thesis research, should be constructed in PHS 398 format, scientific portion only.

3. The written proposal must be distributed to the examination committee no less than two weeks prior to the examination date.

4. Input from the mentor on the written proposal should be restricted to:

• Identification of major goals of the project
• Requirements to Pass Part II, general format of the proposal and its presentation
• Discussion of specific problems in interpretation of pertinent papers in the field
• Technical aspects of experimental design and execution

5. Students are encouraged to read copies of grants written by their mentor. However, the specific aims of the student’s proposal must not simply restate the specific aims of the mentor’s grants. A cover letter from the mentor should be distributed with the student’s proposal to indicate the extent of their contribution to the student’s proposal.

6. To facilitate an objective examination, neither the mentor, nor any other faculty member is permitted to edit or comment upon the student’s written proposal or coach the student in a rehearsal of their oral presentation.

7. The student’s oral presentation is up to thirty minutes in length. Committee members should limit interruption of the student during their oral presentation to clarification of specific points. Rehearsing the oral presentation in front of an audience that excludes faculty is not only permitted but also encouraged.

8. Following the student’s oral presentation, the committee members are permitted to ask questions regarding the written proposal, oral presentation, or general topics such as those covered in Part I of the qualifying examination. The first committee member is allowed up to ten minutes of questions, without interruption by additional committee members. Following this ten-minute period, the remaining committee members collectively have the option of asking up to five minutes of additional questions that are related to the initial line of questioning. This format continues until each of the four committee members has had the opportunity for two ten-minute periods in which to ask questions (i.e. twice around the table, for a total of no more than two hours , (8 x 15 minutes). Note: the option for two, ten-minute question periods per committee member is not mandatory, but may be exercised as deemed necessary.

9. Following the completion of the Oral Examination, the student is excused from the room and their performance discussed by the examination committee. The student must have demonstrated adequacy in all three parts of the exam; i.e. the written document, the oral presentation and the oral examination. A unanimous vote of the committee is required to pass the exam. The committee may fail the student on any part(s) of the examination. In such cases, the student has up to thirty days to retake the relevant portion of the examination. Students failing the subsequent examination will be terminated from the Ph.D. program but may, with the approval of the thesis/examination committee, petition the Executive Committee to write a Master’s Thesis.

Wednesday Seminars
Each student presents their research at the Wednesday noon seminar class in front of BDCB student and faculty once per year. In Year 2, the talk is 30 mins long, and in Years 3-graduation, it expands to 50-60 minutes. Students are required to attend the class until graduation. Students are excused from giving their talk in their final year only if they have already scheduled a thesis defense date.