Faculty Responsibilities

The graduate faculty of this program spans diverse institutions. To ensure student success, the graduate faculty developed and approve a document stating the roles and responsibilities of graduate faculty to ensure that expectations are clearly communicated to current and new faculty members. The document follows the Mayo Graduate School’s document on “Roles and Responsibilities of a Mayo Graduate School PhD and MD/OPhD Research Mentor” and the Annual Faculty Survey. This document was unanimously approved by the BICB graduate faculty on August 22, 2008.

Document for Roles and Responsibilities of BICB Graduate Faculty

The roles and responsibilities of BICB graduate faculty include (depending on type of appointment)

  • Serving as the major advisor or co‐advisor for BICB graduate students

  • Serving on examining/thesis committees of BICB graduate students

  • Chairing student’s examining/thesis committee

  • Reviewing the final version of a student’s thesis or Plan B project

  • Participating in the defense of a student’s thesis

  • Conducting and evaluating preliminary written/oral exams of BICB graduate students

  • Organizing 8xxx BICB graduate seminars, teaching BICB courses, or participating in curriculum development

  • Participating in the recruitment and admission of BICB graduate students

  • Leading seminars on Ethics or Leadership or other career development programs for BICB graduate students

  • Participating in BICB graduate program faculty meetings

It is not expected that each BICB faculty member contributes to all categories of roles and responsibilities equally. In particular, it is understood that graduate faculty who are employed by IBM or Mayo Clinic will typically commit less time to the BICB graduate program than faculty members employed by the University of Minnesota. The multi‐institutional nature of this graduate program, however, offers rare opportunities to graduate students to interact with graduate faculty who are not University of Minnesota employees and their participation and time commitment is specifically recognized and highly valued by the BICB graduate program.

Graduate Faculty membership includes willingness to participate in BICB Seminars and courses, consistent with the appointment and relationship with the University of Minnesota. Any significant teaching involvement in the BICB graduate program must be cleared with the appropriate supervisor of the faculty member.

Role and Responsibilities of the Major Advisor
The major advisor carries significant responsibility in the education and training of a BICB graduate student. The role of major advisor for a graduate student in the BICB graduate program is both an honor and a privilege. Advisorship is the sharing of wisdom, experience, personality and style to prepare the student for independent professional success. The major advisor agrees therefore to constantly strive to serve the student by identifying and meeting their educational and professional needs. The raw material of such service is time spent in continuous and ongoing communication and interaction with the student. It is the responsibility of the major advisor to establish such a pattern of ongoing communication, to identify and resolve student needs with respect to acquisition of a knowledge base needed to develop a thesis topic, conduct the thesis research, writing the dissertation, professional skills, written and oral communication, functioning in an interdisciplinary and collaborative research environment, and to promote student maturation toward functional independence. Advising goes beyond thesis research and includes advice on course work, membership of other faculty on the student’s examining committee, timing of exams, and providing references for and advice on positions upon graduation.

In addition to accepting this mentoring relationship, major advisors agree to follow program procedures to ensure timely progress of their advisees and to inform the DGS/Associate DGS if problems arise that require administrative solutions.

Funding of a BICB Ph.D. graduate student is a shared responsibility of the BICB graduate program and the major advisor. While the program (and hence the faculty) will make it a priority to secure funding for training grants, training grants only support the initial years of a Ph.D. graduate student’s training. It is therefore essential that major advisors make every effort to secure funding to support their Ph.D. students. Support typically includes providing salary and research funding through the major advisor’s research grant. In addition, the major advisor must provide help to the graduate student to apply for funding. In case of co‐advisorship, at least one of the Co‐advisors carries financial responsibility for the graduate student. Other members of a graduate student’s advisory/thesis committee do not carry any financial responsibility for the graduate student. The DGS/Associate DGS will take an active role in securing funding for the program and pointing Ph.D. graduate students to funding opportunities, including extramural fellowships or University fellowships. M.S. graduate students typically do not receive any financial support from the program or the major advisor unless their work is supported by a research grant.

Role and Responsibility of the co‐Advisor
Bylaw 18 of Article III.5 addresses co‐advising: “Upon consultation with program faculty, a student may choose to have two advisers who would be recognized as Co‐Advisers by the Graduate School. The relationship of the Co‐Advisers with regard to their roles in advising student coursework, developing research objectives, and supervising the thesis would be detailed in a letter that would accompany the filing of the program. At least one of the Co‐Advisers must be from the program in which the student is enrolled. The Co‐Advising relationship would be listed on the student's records, and both faculty members would be credited for their work. Final arbitration of any disputes arising between Co‐Advisers would be settled by the DGS of the student's home program. Administratively, the Graduate School would require the signatures of both Co‐Advisers on all forms requiring an adviser signature and would send all communications regarding the advisee to both Co‐Advisers. In the case of Co‐Advisers on a doctoral dissertation committee, a third Senior Member or Affiliate Senior Member would be needed to chair the defense.”

Co‐advising of graduate students provides graduate students with the advantage of multiple perspectives and access to a much broader pool of expertise. A written statement of the roles of each of the Co‐advisors must accompany the degree program. Their roles in advising may not be equal and one of the Co‐advisors may play a smaller role than the other Co‐advisor. For instance, one of the Coadvisors may be chosen to provide additional expertise for a single chapter of the dissertation. Prior to a Co‐advising arrangement, the financial responsibilities must be clarified. At least one of the Co‐advisors must agree to carry the financial responsibility that is typical of a single advisor. Before a graduate student enters into a Co‐advising agreement, the role of the Co‐advisor must be clearly defined and both Co‐advisors must agree to the co‐advising arrangement.

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