MCDB Graduate Student Handbook

Although Ph.D. students usually settle into a permanent thesis laboratory at the end of the first year in residence, MCDB considers all of the graduate students under its aegis to be a collective responsibility. Thus in a sense you should consider every faculty member of this Department as a resource upon which you may draw, as are their graduate students and postdoctoral fellows. You should always feel free at any time during your graduate career to visit other laboratories for help or advice concerning any problem you may encounter. In addition to this rich and varied resource, however, MCDB provides you with some specifically tailored support services.

The MCDB Student Affairs Office is located in Life Sciences 2124. Graduate student mailboxes are also located there and information from MCDB will be sent to you either via e-mail or to your mailbox. Please check both your e-mail and your mailbox regularly, even when you are not expecting anything, so that you can be kept informed of developments important to you. You are responsible for the content of notices and memos that we put in your mailbox.

The MCDB Student Affairs Office is an important resource for all graduate students in the Department, and will often be your first point of contact in seeking information or solving problems. The Student Affairs Advisor has experience in handling graduate student problems, and is an extremely valuable interface between you and the Graduate Division. The Student Affairs Advisor will help you file the necessary paperwork related to constitution/reconstitution of your doctoral committee, the Doctoral Oral Qualifying Examination, and defense of your thesis.

All of your student records are retained in the MCDB Student Affairs Office, and the Student Affairs Advisor will be happy to check through your permanent file to determine whether particular records are present. You may review your own file, if you like, after the Student Affairs Advisor has removed all confidential letters of recommendation or evaluations.

All applications for competitive fellowship and training grant support are coordinated through the Student Affairs Office. You will be notified when such applications are to be solicited, but it will be up to you to make your support needs known to the Department through the Student Affairs Office.

The MCDB Student Affairs Advisor is: