Thesis committee meetings play a critical role in ensuring academic progress, providing structured feedback, and providing graduate students with a supportive mentoring network of faculty. These meetings offer students the opportunity to discuss research challenges and receive guidance on scholarly and professional development. Frequent engagement with committee members strengthens the quality of the dissertation, promotes accountability, and reduces time to degree. To uphold these objectives, the Biological Sciences Division (BSD) establishes the following requirements and recommendations.
Thesis Committee Composition
The thesis committee must include four members, all of whom must be formally approved by the program:
- The Primary Thesis Advisor
- A Committee Chair (must be distinct from the advisor; an Associate or Full Professor is recommended)
- Two Additional Faculty Members
With guidance from their committee, students may modify their committee composition if their research direction changes or if a faculty member can no longer serve. Committees should generally not include more than one Research Professor beyond the core four members.
Committee Meeting Frequency
- All students admitted to candidacy must hold at least one thesis committee meeting per academic year. The academic year is defined as the period from the start of Summer Quarter to the end of the following Spring Quarter.
- Students in their 5th year or beyond must hold bi-annual meetings (approximately every 6 months) per academic year
- For the 2025-2026 academic year, all students, regardless of year in the program, are only required to have completed one thesis committee meeting between Summer Quarter 2025 and Spring Quarter 2026.
Thesis committee meetings must be attended by at least three members of the thesis committee—primary thesis advisor, thesis committee chair, and one additional committee member.
Individual programs may set additional requirements so students should consult their program handbook for specifics.
Students who do not meet these requirements will be placed on academic probation. Academic probation a structured process designed to provide you with the support and guidance needed to return to good academic standing. Probationary students have 3 months to fulfill requirements. Students may be removed from probation by holding one committee meeting within 3 months of being placed on probation. See the BSD Academic Probation Policy.
Extension Request Process: Students may submit a written request for additional time (not exceeding 6 months total, including the initial 3-month probation period) to the graduate program administrator, program chair, and the Dean of Students. The request must include reason(s) for non-compliance, proposed timeline to fulfill obligations, and support from both the thesis advisor and committee chair.
Pre-Meeting Written Updates
Students must provide committee members with a Progress and Plans Document prior to each meeting to facilitate productive discussion.
Post-Meeting Reporting
Following each committee meeting, the committee chair is responsible for providing the student a written Thesis Committee Meeting Report containing all committee members committee members' signatures, with mandatory signatures from both the thesis advisor and committee chair. The student must submit the finalized document to the graduate program office. The committee meeting is not counted until the Thesis Committee Meeting Report is submitted to the graduate program office.
*Individual programs may maintain additional requirements, which can be found in the respective program handbook.