CHECKLIST FOR MET COMMITTEE MEETINGS, PRELIMINARY EXAM AND THESIS DEFENSE

Committee meetings provide a student, the advisor, and the advisory committee the opportunity to meet and provide insights on the student’s research, address any issues that may be had, and provide the opportunity to evaluate progress being made. With the exception of the final defense, all committee meetings are “closed door,” meaning there are no spectators. It is expected that these meetings will occur annually.

STUDENT RESPONSIBILITIES

Before the First Committee meeting

< 3 months from start date in new lab: meet with the major advisor to discuss composition of the thesis committee. Thesis committees typically consist of four members: Your advisor At least two members of MET At least one person outside of your advisor’s department At least one person outside of MET

(these two bullets can be the same person) Evaluate and discuss with your major advisor the research direction of your laboratory, key

knowledge gaps and fertile directions in the field, and potential foci for your thesis project. From these discussions, prepare an outline of a review manuscript. Write the review manuscript. The goal is to gain intimate familiarity with the literature in the research field. It is expected this review manuscript will become part of the introductory thesis chapter. It is encouraged that the student work with their major advisor to publish the review manuscript.

< 6 months from start date: establish your thesis committee by contacting individuals and confirming their agreement to serve on the committee

The first committee meeting

Should happen before the end of summer, first year. ≥ 2 months before the anticipated meeting date: contact committee members and establish

a date, time, and location for the meeting (remember to reserve the room) Complete sections one and two of the MET committee report form ≥ 1 week before the first meeting: distribute to thesis committee members:

Checklist for MET committee meetings, preliminary exam and thesis defense document (this document)

Section 1-2 completed MET thesis committee form Your vitae A completed draft of your literature review manuscript.

Prepare meeting materials (powerpoint presentation): 5 minutes: provide introduction and background and state career goal 10 minutes: Remind committee members that the MET graduate program requires 51

didactic credits, 26 of which must be graduate school level (the course number is >300), discuss courses taken & associated grades, seek approval for courses planned

20 minutes: discuss project, specific aims and preliminary data. < 30 minutes: additional committee feedback. The meeting should not exceed 1 hour.

Submit a copy of the MET committee report form to the graduate program coordinator Save a copy of the MET committee report for next year’s thesis committee meeting

CHECKLIST FOR MET COMMITTEE MEETINGS, PRELIMINARY EXAM AND THESIS DEFENSE

Second committee meeting (Preliminary Exam)

≥ 2 months before the anticipated meeting date: contact committee members and establish a date, time, and location for the exam (remember to reserve the room for a 2 hour time block)

≥ 1 month before the meeting, notify the Molecular and Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program Coordinator of your intent to defend your thesis and the scheduled date, time and location to request the preliminary exam warrant

Complete sections one and two of the MET committee report form, attach last year’s form and distribute the form to mentoring committee members ≥ 1 week before the meeting.

Plan, draft, and revise your preliminary exam proposal to cover research and career development activities taking place between the preliminary exam and graduation (2-4years of work).

Format the proposal as a National Institutes of Health Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award (F31 award) proposal1. Visit the National Institutes of health website for specific guidelines – general page limits are below. You will be responsible for sections listed below, but if you plan to submit your F31 proposal to the NIH, you are encouraged to complete the other required proposal sections to leverage constructive feedback from committee members: NIH Biosketch (5 page limit) Project summary (Abstract; 30 lines of text limit) Project Narrative (3 sentence limit) Applicant’s Background and Goals for Fellowship Training (6 page limit. The document

must include a detailed timeline) Specific Aims (1 page limit) Research Strategy (6 page limit) Bibliography and References Cited

≥ 2 weeks prior to exam date: distribute an electronic copy of your proposal & preliminary exam score sheet to committee members.

Prepare meeting materials (powerpoint presentation): 15-20 minutes: present and discuss preliminary data 15-20 minutes: present structure of future experiments 15 minutes: committee meets in a closed door session to determine the exam outcome 10 minutes: student meets with committee to discuss outcome. The meeting should be

60-90 minutes, but no more than 2 hours. Submit the signed warrant and a copy of the MET committee report form to the graduate

program coordinator Save a copy of the MET committee report for next year’s thesis committee meeting

1 The Molecular & Environmental Toxicology Program recognizes that NIH is not the only institution that students apply for fellowships through; in fact, the program has had success with numerous other agencies. However, program leadership believes that the NIH evaluation criteria provides the best means to evaluate both the grant and the student’s progress to both degree and career skills acquisition.

CHECKLIST FOR MET COMMITTEE MEETINGS, PRELIMINARY EXAM AND THESIS DEFENSE

Third and subsequent thesis committee meetings

≥ 2 months before the anticipated meeting date: contact committee members and establish a date, time, and location for the meeting (remember to reserve the room). Inform committee members if you expect to defend your thesis in the next 6-8 months.

Complete sections one and two of the MET committee report form, attach last year’s form and distribute the form to mentoring committee members ≥ 1 week before the meeting.

Review the timeline from the ‘Applicant’s Background and Goals for Fellowship Training’ section of your prelim proposal. Indicate completed activities and add new activities as needed to support your career development and distribute to mentoring committee members ≥ 1 week before the meeting.

Prepare meeting materials (powerpoint presentation): 10 minutes: State your career goal, use the timeline from above to indicate career

development progress5 minutes: Briefly restate background and hypothesis, and specific aims (each specific aim is likely to be a thesis chapter) (~10mins)

15-20 minutes: Articulate to committee percent completion of each specific aim/chapter and summarize supporting data (~15-20mins)

15 minutes Discuss pitfalls and barriers to progress (if any) (~15mins) 10 minutes: Receive committee member feedback (~10mins). The meeting should not

exceed 1.5 hours Submit a copy of the MET committee report form to the graduate program coordinator Save a copy of the MET committee report for next year’s thesis committee meeting

Thesis defense

≥ 2 months before the anticipated meeting date: contact committee members and establish a date, time, and location for the meeting (remember to reserve the room). Inform committee members if you expect to defend your thesis in the next 6-8 months.

≥ 1 month before the meeting, notify the Molecular and Environmental Toxicology Graduate Program Coordinator of your intent to defend your thesis and the scheduled date, time and location to request the thesis defense warrant

Read and understand the thesis formatting requirements listed on the Graduate School webpage

≥ 2 weeks prior to exam date: distribute an electronic copy of your proposal to committee members.

Prepare meeting materials (powerpoint presentation). Anticipate 45 minutes of presentation time. This presentation is open to the public so consider the diverse interests of audience.

Remember to bring the thesis defense warrant to your defense Following defense, the audience will be dismissed. Prepare for approximately 1 hour of

questions from your thesis committee in a closed-door session.

CHECKLIST FOR MET COMMITTEE MEETINGS, PRELIMINARY EXAM AND THESIS DEFENSE

COMMITTEE MEMBER RESPONSIBILITIES

The First Committee meeting Committee designates a chair. The chair will be responsible for summarizing committee

comments on the MET thesis committee meeting report. The chair will not be the advisor. Ensure that the student articulates a career goal, understanding it might change in

subsequent meetings Abide by the time guidelines suggested in the student section

First meeting: < 60 minutes Preliminary Exam: < 120 minutes Subsequent Meetings: < 90 minutes Final Defense: < 120 minutes

Consider the students strengths and areas of improvement and recommendations for the next year

Complete and sign the MET thesis committee meeting report

Second committee meeting (Preliminary Exam) Complete the preliminary exam reviewer sheet while reading the proposal and listening to

the student’s response to questions. The questions under each section should guide your comments. It is important that you be critical – it is anticipated that many students will submit these proposals to NIH and your feedback will truly strengthen the applications. See student section above for required sections. Please evaluate additional (optional) sections if provided by the students

The Major Professor can ask probing questions or clarifying questions but cannot answer questions for the student.

The committee will meet in a closed door session to vote on the exam outcome The committee chair will report the outcome to the student and summarize strengths and

weaknesses. All committee members will email the completed scoring sheet, with strengths and

weaknesses, to the student.

Third and subsequent thesis committee meetings Consider the student’s progress in identifying a career direction. Potential questions

include: What is the next step to your career goals? How are you identifying potential job opportunities? Which skills are necessary? How are you preparing for these opportunities?

Focus research questions and considerations on progress to degree (percent completion for each aim/chapter)

Meet in closed-door session to discuss strengths/weaknesses and recommendations for the next year. If the student anticipates a thesis defense in the next 6-9 months, the committee will vote on whether the student has made sufficient progress

Complete and sign the MET thesis committee meeting report

Thesis defense Read the thesis Hold questions until after the public session The Major Professor can ask probing questions or clarifying questions but cannot answer

questions for the student. Meet in closed door session to vote on student performance. If the student’s defense is deemed passable, sign the warrant.