Graduate Forms
- When needing signatures on forms, meet with the graduate advisor first to have the form reviewed. The graduate advisor will collect the department head and/or director of Graduate Programs signatures or provide instructions for completing the forms.
- ALWAYS fill out the form on the computer, and then print for signatures, so that the only handwritten information on the form is signatures.
- Advanced notification to the Graduate and Professional School is required for the preliminary exam and final exam form.
- It is the student’s responsibility to submit the appropriate forms for preliminary exam paperwork, final defense, immigration, etc.
Registration
Communications Course Requirement: All Ph.D. and M.S. students are required to take BMEN 674 (Communications in BME) as a part of the graduate curriculum.
Seminar: Students must attend Seminar (BMEN 681) every semester in which they are full-time, unless 1) they have a course in which they are a TA at the same time as the scheduled Seminar, or 2) they are enrolled in a formal course that meets at the same time as Seminar. Students are required to register for Seminar hours as part of their degree plan requirements. (See degree plan for number of required hours.)
Prior to the end of the first year, ALL Ph.D. students must complete the Teaching Assistant Institute (TAI) offered by the Center for Teaching Excellence. More information about this training may be found at http://cte.tamu.edu.
Graduate GPAs
Graduate students have three GPAs: (1) semester GPA; (2) cumulative GPA (all courses taken at TAMU that are eligible to be used on a graduate degree plan); and (3) degree plan GPA (only counts courses on the degree plan). All must be maintained at ≥ 3.00 in order to remain in the graduate program. Leveling courses will be counted toward the cumulative GPA but not the degree plan GPA.
M.S./Ph.D. Annual Evaluations
Students are required to complete an annual evaluation every year no later than May 15. The Annual Evaluation serves many purposes, perhaps most importantly to encourage regular engagement between students and their committee members. This evaluation is written by the student. Following this, the student schedules a meeting with the faculty chair, who provides any comments/recommendations during the meeting and documents them in the annual evaluation. The student then shares the evaluation document with each of their committee members. Committee members may offer additional comments and suggestions, and may also request a meeting for discussion of progress. Signatures from all committee members are required. The final document is then submitted to the graduate advisor. Students will not be able to register for summer or fall classes until the annual evaluation is submitted with acknowledgement from all committee members. Electronic evaluations from the student are required. Handwritten or electronic comments may be added by any of the committee members. Signatures can be electronic or hard copy, as originals are not required for this purpose.
M.Eng. Semester Meetings
M.Eng. students are asked to meet with their identified advisor (Dr. Haridas, director of the M.Eng. Program, or Prof. John Hanks, co-director of the M.Eng. Program) at least once per semester. Students should bring a completed Degree Plan Worksheet to the meeting. This serves as a living document that is updated every semester in the meeting.
Probation and Dismissal
Students may be placed on probation for multiple reasons. The first is related to performance in coursework. A Grade Point Average (GPA) of greater than or equal to 3.0 must be maintained. A student will be placed on probation for the following long semester (fall/spring) and blocked from pre-registration if the GPA falls below 3.0 in any category. This includes the cumulative, degree plan or semester GPA. One long semester (does not include summer) is allowed to correct the GPA deficiency and return to 3.0 or better. Students with a cumulative or degree plan GPA of less than 3.00 will not be allowed to hold or receive ANY type of departmental financial support and cannot hold an assistantship. A student may not participate in an internship if their cumulative or degree plan GPA is less than 3.00. If a student’s GPA deficiency is not corrected after one long semester, removal from the graduate program will result.
Students may also be placed on probation for lack of satisfactory academic progress towards the degree (failure to meet degree milestones as detailed in this handbook) and or lack of satisfactory research productivity (indicated by a grade of Unsatisfactory in BMEN 691). In these instances continuation of funding is at the discretion of the committee chair.
Definitions of levels of separation from the Texas A&M University:
- Suspension – student must leave for a set amount of time but may return once time limit is satisfied
- Dismission – student must leave for an undetermined amount of time and may petition for return at any time
- Termination – student must leave the university and is not allowed to re-enroll in any academic program
Letter Requests
Letters for various purposes are often requested. To obtain a departmental letter, students should send an email to the Graduate Advisor requesting the letter. The email should include: 1) the student’s UIN, 2) deadline in which the letter needs to be ready, 3) who the letter should be addressed to, and 4) detailed description/listing of the content that needs to be included in the letter. Once the letter is ready, the student will receive an email notifying them that they can pick it up. Students should not wait until the last minute to make the letter request! Requests that need a quick turnaround (i.e. the same day) are not guaranteed to be ready on time, as it is the student’s responsibility to plan ahead and arrange for sufficient time in making the request.
*NOTE: In many cases, letters will need to be approved or signed by the student’s committee chair. In this situation, it is recommended that the student copy his/her advisor on this email in order to expedite the process.