Supervisory Committee Meetings

Function

Committee members’ expertise should be appropriate to evaluate the breadth and depth of the proposed project to advise the student on all aspects of the project and ensure that the research goals are substantial and achievable within the designated timeframe of the student’s program length. Committee members should make themselves available as mentors for the student to address curriculum requirements, provide additional resources, resolve technical/experimental difficulties, offer career advice, etc.

 

TIP: Consult the SGS Supervision Guidelines for Students.

 

Composition

The supervisory committee must consist of at least three faculty members at the University of Toronto with current/active membership in the School of Graduate Studies. The committee must include the primary research supervisor (and co-supervisor if applicable), and two additional members of the graduate faculty. Committee members should be chosen after consultation with the student’s primary research supervisor.

 

TIP: Consult the SGS Graduate Faculty Members list.

 

Frequency

Meetings should be initiated by the student or the supervisor. For the entire duration of the student’s graduate program, committee meetings should be held at least once per year but may be as frequent as needed by discretion of the committee. Of note, Internal BME fellowships will require students to fulfill the annual committee requirement prior to applying to be competitive.

 

TIP: Consult SGS General Regulations (7.5.2 Supervision and Satisfactory Progress):

• A student who fails to constitute a supervisory committee by the required time (within twelve months of registration) may lose good academic standing.
• A student is expected to meet with this committee at least once a year, and more often if the committee so requires.
• A student who, through their own neglect, fails to meet with the supervisory committee in a given year will be considered to have received an unsatisfactory progress report from the committee.

 

Procedure

Workflow overview:

1. Student initiates and coordinates meeting logistics.
2. Student prepares written report (up to 20 pages, all inclusive) for the committee. The following report format is recommended: 3 pages of single-spaced text, 3 figures of results (multi-panels acceptable if appropriate), and 1 page of references.
3. Student prepares presentation for the committee (max. 20 minutes).
4. Student prepares and consolidates meeting documentation.
5. Student returns signed and competed documentation to the BME Graduate Office.

 

Documentation

Bring the following documents to your committee meeting:

1. A copy of the previous committee meeting form – Required (except for the first meeting)
2. A copy of the student’s most recent academic transcript (unofficial) – Required
3. A supervisor committee meeting form - Required
4. Physical print copies of the student’s written report for all members - Optional

 

TIP: The student is responsible for printing and retaining meeting documents and submitting them to the BME Graduate Office for degree records and internal award(s) consideration.

 

Timeline

Suggested timeline (earlier the better):

Time (prior to meeting)
5 weeks	Start to prepare written report and meeting presentation
3 weeks	Coordinate meeting time and location with faculty members
2 weeks	Distribute written committee report to all members
1 hour	Check that all required documents and forms are printed and prepared
During	Present research and answer questions from the committee
After	Scan fully signed meeting form and send them to the BME Graduate Office (electronically through email or drop-off in person)

 

Agenda

Recommended meeting instructions:

1. Identify the Chairperson. The Chair may be any member of the supervisory committee (except the primary or co-supervisor). The Chair should ensure that all members adhere to the agenda and maintain order, and that the meeting is conducted fairly such that all members are given an appropriate amount of time to question the student, and that the meeting is adjourned in a timely manner.
2. The student is asked to leave the room, and the committee should discuss the following:
   

   a. Whether the student has fulfilled the course requirements: b. Decide on question and answer sequence
   c. Whether there are any comments or issues that should be discussed with the student
   d. The Chair asks the supervisor(s) to disclose to the committee:
   
   i. how often have they met with the student to discuss progress since the last meeting
   ii. the status of financial support for the student
   iii. known aspirations of the student and their strategy for degree completion

3. The student is invited back into the room
4. Student presentation (20 min)
   
   a. Project scientific background (if applicable)
   b. High-level overview of project objectives, hypotheses, methods, etc.
   c. Detailing of results, issues, timelines, etc.
   d. Proposal of next-steps
   
   
5. Committee questions, and discusses the project with, the student (approx. 5–10 min per member). This could go for multiple rounds
6. Student should be asked to leave the meeting room for the committee to deliberate
7. Confidential student evaluation deliberation (5–10 min)
8. Committee members should invite the student back to the meeting room to have a candid discussion about the student’s accomplishments, progress, specific goals/experiments to undertake before the next meeting, plans for publications, presentations, conferences, career development, etc. (10–20 min)
9. The primary supervisor (and co-supervisor if applicable) is/are asked to leave the room for the student to speak with committee members in confidence about supervisory concerns (5–10 min)
10. The supervisor(s) is/are invited back into the room
11. Committee members and the student should work together to derive and document discussion consensus on the committee meeting form (5 min)
    
    In the event that an evaluation category has been marked as “marginal” or “unsatisfactory”:
12. The Chair and the student should work together to determine specific actions to be taken before the next meeting using the “Student Action Plan”, which is to be appended to the committee report (5–10 min)
13. The Chair shall adjourn the meeting after the meeting form (and Action Plan, if applicable) is/are deemed acceptable

 

Post-meeting instructions:

1. Create and retain a scanned copy of the completed committee meeting form
   a. The student must bring a copy of this form to the next meeting
   
   
2. Return the signed committee meeting form to the IBBME Graduate Office (or email it as a .pdf attachment to grad.ibbme@utoronto.ca with an appropriate subject; e.g. “Last name, First name –Committee meeting form YY/MM/DD”)