General & Degree Requirements

The Graduate School Resources:

The Graduate and Professional Student Association website also has tons of information related to graduate student academic, professional, and social issues. The Graduate School also maintains several webpages of graduate student resources on and off campus which can be found here. Below we provide links to some of the resources from the CHART website that we thought were of particular use to graduate students in our department.

Degree Requirements:

The department degree requirements can be found on the Biology department website: for EEOB and MCDB. The institutional degree requirements can be found in the UNC Graduate School Handbook. Each of the degree requirements have accompanying forms that document your progress and should be filled out upon completion of the requirement. The Graduate School maintains a webpage of other useful academic links and information.

Advising:

Good communication is the key to a successful graduate student – research advisor relationship. The BGSA has put together a document to help students and advisors discuss their expectations for each other throughout the student’s graduate career. We recommend that new graduate students meet with their advisors early in their first year to talk about the questions listed on this checklist.

Several graduate students in the department also recommend taking the time each year to fill out an Individual Development Plan (IDP) with your advisor to help facilitate clear communication of the expectations and goals that both you and your advisor have for yourself over your PhD. There are many different versions of the IDP online that you can tailor to fit your own personal goals and career plans, but if you are looking for somewhere to start check out this IDP form.

If you have concerns about your experience as a graduate student, the first person you should talk with is your research advisor. If you do not feel comfortable talking with your advisor about your concern, the following is a list of people and resources who you can talk with. It is suggested that you first talk with those listed at the top and then work your way down. When talking with this person, you should express whether you desire the conversation to be confidential.

1. Another faculty member with whom you are comfortable. For example, a committee member.
2. The director of graduate studies (DGS). For EEOB and MCDB, this is Dr. Christopher Willett. It is best to set up a meeting with the DGS via email.
3. The Biology Department chair (Dr. Kerry Bloom) or the Graduate School’s Associate Dean of Student Affairs (Dr. Hoi Ning Ngai).
4. The University Ombuds office is a source of advice outside of the Biology Department.

Biology Administrative Contacts:

While we benefit from the efforts of all the staff in our department, there are particular people that graduate students will often find themselves needing to contact. Here is a brief list of the people that provide useful administrative resources, their contact information and a description of what graduate students typically contact them about. This list is by no means complete, but hopefully it will prove helpful!

Oral Examination Committees:

If you are wondering what sorts of questions or expectations particular committee members have of students during oral examinations and want to chat with someone about their experiences during their own oral exam with those committee members, check out this list of graduate students in the department who are happy to talk with you on the subject!

If you want more information on what style of questions are typical of an oral examination in this department contact the current webmaster or president for more information.