Joining the BMEGG

• Applying for membership
• To apply to join the BME Graduate Group, you will need to submit the following information to the BMEGG Chair and Graduate Program Coordinator: an application letter detailing your qualifications for membership (i.e., how your research/education fit with Biomedical Engineering), including a statement agreeing to contribute to the graduate group as listed below, and your current CV. Your application will be evaluated by the BMEGG Executive Committee.
• Expected contributions by BMEGG members 
• The expected contributions by BMEGG members (from our bylaws) can include:
  - Providing an appropriate research environment for graduate students in the graduate group.
  - Regularly publishing in peer reviewed journals that represent scholarly areas consistent with the programmatic themes of the BMEGG.
  - Participating in graduate student recruitment activities.
  - Undertaking teaching assignments, as invited and in consultation with the Chair, that benefit the BMEGG. 
  - Regularly serving as the major professor (i.e., research advisor) for graduate group students.
  - Serving on qualifying and thesis committees of graduate group students.
  - Providing additional service in one or more of the following ways: Serving as an Advisor, a member of the Executive Committee, a member of the Admissions Committee, a member of the Curriculum Committee, a podium/poster reviewer for the annual BMEGG Student Conference, or on a campus graduate student fellowship review committee.
   

Mentoring Graduate Students 

• Research Rotations
• BMEGG PhD Students are required to complete rotations during the Fall and Winter Quarter of their first year. These can be 5- or 10-week rotations and should be arranged with faculty in advance of the quarter. Faculty are asked to complete a Research Rotation Agreement to highlight expectations for the rotation, deliverables, and availability for placement in the lab. PhD Students are allowed to skip one or both quarters of rotation when committed to and fully financially supported by a lab (complete the Mentoring Agreement). Registering for research units (BIM 299) is allowed but not required during rotations. BMEGG MS Students are encouraged, but not required to rotate before joining a lab.
  Additional information available here: BMEGG Research Rotation System.
• Becoming a Major Professor
• When you match with a student, please review the BMEGG Mentoring Guidelines and complete the Mentoring Agreement. BMEGG Ph.D. students should complete mentoring agreements by the end of Winter Quarter or make arrangements for additional rotations in Spring Quarter. Please aid the program by meeting with students and finalizing lab placement no later than the end of the Winter Quarter.
• Student Progress
• Annual Student Progress Assessments (SPA) are required each Spring Quarter. The Major Professor should meet with the student to review their SPA questionnaire, review progress, and detail future expectations. The outcome of SPA should not be a surprise to the student, but should document progress to keep the student, the program, and the Office of Graduate Studies informed. Please contact the Graduate Program Coordinator if you wish to initiate an interim progress assessment for Fall or Winter Quarters.
• Resources
• GradHub: Student Information
  GradSphere: Review and Approve student forms, submit QE Reports
  Slate Reader: Application Review System
  SPA: Student Progress Assessments, annually in Spring Quarter
  Graduate Studies Resources for Mentors
  Questionnaire for Aligning Expectations in Research Mentoring Relationships
  299 Syllabus Template
  OSSJA Case Management: Anyone can contact a case manager when they are concerned about a student. The student may be in distress due to emotional issues, health, family or personal relationships, grades, academic standing, or other problems. 
  Student Support Referral: Submit when you first notice that a student appears to be in distress as it is often difficult to determine when a student's problem is serious -- and it's better to err on the side of caution. Referring to the OSSJA Case Managers when you are concerned about a student does not get the student in trouble, but ensures a coordinated response.

Employing Graduate Students 

• Graduate Student Researchers
• Most BMEGG PhD Students are employed as GSRs working on projects related to their dissertation research. The BMEGG expectation is for new PhD students to be employed at GSR Salary Point 3 at 50%, and continue at that level, assuming they meet research, academic, and degree progress expectations. Faculty must communicate GSR hiring with their department staff (account managers) to initiate onboarding of new graduate students. Faculty should establish GSR employee expectations and deliverables (these may overlap with academic research expectations). Faculty will be the payroll supervisor for these positions and responsible for approving timesheets in the Time Reporting System (TRS).
• GSR Trainee or Fellow
• Graduate Students supported by training grants or external fellowships with a research expectation will typically be employed as GSR Trainee or GSR Fellow. Wages are set by the agency and then placed on the UC GSR Salary Scale. Please work with your account manager and graduate program coordinator. UCOP Announcement of New Title Codes for GSR Fellow & Trainee - June 28, 2023
• TAs and Readers
• Employment as a TA or Reader is determined by the department offering the course. If you expect your graduate student to apply for TA or Reader positions, please let them know at least a quarter in advance. BMEGG Teaching Assistants and Readers information.
  If you are teaching a course with the instructional support of a TA or Reader, please set clear expectations for the role by submitting the ASE Supplemental Doc and TA position description.pdf to the TA Coordinator for the relevant department. Work with the department if any issues arise.
•  Resources
• TA, AI_, GSR, and Reader Appointment Information
  Resources for Mentoring Employees
  Time Reporting System 
  Work-Study for Graduate Student Researchers

Graduate Teaching & Course Grading

•  Course Creation
• New graduate courses can be offered as BIM 289 (A-D) for their first offering. Please contact the Graduate Program Coordinator with a scheduling request and note that course scheduling starts 2 quarters prior to the quarter offered. Following the initial offering, a course proposal must be reviewed by the BMEGG Curriculum Committee and then a course approval form will be submitted for Graduate Council Approval.
• Issuing or Modifying Grades
• Course grades (including BIM 299) are due the Wednesday after the quarter ends and can be submitted via Canvas or in this MyUCDavis Course Management tool. Graduate Students in BIM 299 are graded Satisfactory (S) or Unsatisfactory (U).
  "I" grade: "The grade Incomplete shall be assigned only when the student’s completed work (judged by itself and not in relation to the work required to pass the course as a whole) is of passing quality and represents a significant portion of the requirements for a final grade, but is incomplete for good cause as determined by the instructor. "Good cause" may include illness, serious personal problems, an accident, a death in the immediate family, a large and necessary increase in working hours, or other situations deemed to be of equal gravity."
  Grade modifications: To correct a grade or assign a grade following an incomplete, use the Online Grade Change Tool 
   
• Promoting Course(s) etc to BMEGG Students
• If faculty have graduate specific content they wish to share, please forward that information to the Graduate Program Coordinator.
• Student Disability Accommodations
• During the quarter, faculty may receive requests for accommodations from the Student Disability Center (SDC). SDC provides resources for testing accommodations, such as proctoring and exam space. You may refer to their page for additional information: Click Here If you have additional accommodation questions, please reach out to the SDC directly.
• Resources
• Office of the University Registrar (OUR): classroom management and course policies. 
  Center for Educational Effectiveness: consultations, mid-quarter inquiries, classroom observation, and workshops.
  Academic Misconduct: Consult OSSJA regarding academic misconduct or make a report.
  Students of Concern Case Management: Anyone can contact a case manager when they are concerned about a student. The student may be in distress due to emotional issues, health, family or personal relationships, grades, academic standing, or other problems. Please submit a Student Support Referral when you first notice that a student appears to be in distress as it is often difficult to determine when a student's problem is serious -- and it's better to err on the side of caution. Referring to the OSSJA Case Managers when you are concerned about a student does not get the student in trouble, but ensures a coordinated response.