Mentor Guidelines

1. Tenure-track faculty with a primary appointment in BMG automatically qualify as BMG mentors.
2. Tenure-track faculty with a secondary appointment in BMG automatically qualify as BMG mentors.  Requests for a secondary appointment in BMG should be sent directly to the departmental chair along with a full CV.
3. Non-tenure-track faculty with an appointment in BMG may be designated as a BMG mentor at the discretion of the BMG departmental chair.
4. Tenure-track faculty from SOM clinical departments and other schools may request designation as a BMG mentor by petitioning the BMG director of graduate studies (DGS):

a.  Submit brief letter of request in pdf format

i.   Include a list of five BMG faculty members with primary or secondary appointments who would have expertise relevant to possible dissertation projects in your laboratory and whom might serve to form the 3-member committee for student examinations and guidance.  BMG mentoring not only involves one-on-one mentoring of students but also service on examination committees.  The role of a committee member is critical to the development of Ph.D. students and therefore it is imperative that such committees have members with relevant scientific expertise.  (Note:  Without the primary or secondary appointment, an approved mentor may not serve as one of the voting committee members of an examination.  However, for the final dissertation defense the mentor may serve as the fourth non-BMG faculty member required by the SOM BIMS guidelines.)

ii.  Include a statement that you and any student you mentor will abide by BMG program guidelines (e.g. student must attend weekly journal club/research club/seminars hosted by BMG).

iii. Include a statement that you will divulge funding information relevant to the student project and student support to the BMG DGS.

iv.  Include a statement acknowledging the BIMS model of student support from the student mentor and the department chair of your primary appointment.

v.    Include a statement that you will participate in the BMG annual retreat.  The minimal level of participation is the presentation of a poster by from your laboratory by a graduate student, postdoc or yourself.

 b. The BMG DGS or departmental chair may terminate BMG mentor privileges at their discretion. Appeal of such action may be directed through either officer to the BMG Admissions Committee for their review.