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MCRO701 & MCRO702 Polices & Practices

Purpose

The purposes of requiring students to attend Microbiology & Immunology seminars include:

  • Provide a common intellectual experience in the context of diverse classroom course experiences.
  • Expose students to the breadth of modern microbiology and immunology research.
  • Build community.
  • Gain experience in both speaking and asking questions in public settings.

Enrollment Eligibility

MCRO701 and MCRO702 exist solely as mechanisms to enforce the seminar participation requirement for MCRO degrees.  Student and faculty seminars in the Department of Microbiology & Immunology are free and open to the public.  Therefore, no one other than MCRO students may enroll in MCRO701 or MCRO702.

Required Enrollment

MCRO701 is required every fall and spring semester while enrolled in the MCRO Ph.D. program, unless waived by the Director of Graduate Studies.

MCRO M.S. students are required to attend only one-third instead of two-thirds of weekly seminars and therefore enroll in MCRO702 instead of MCRO701.

Employees in the MCRO Special M.S. program pay their own tuition and therefore audit rather than enroll in MCRO702.

The DGS typically waives MCRO701/702 only for students in their final semester, and only after a credible date has been set for the private defense.

In special situations and at their discretion, the DGS may waive MCRO701/702 entirely or prorate attendance requirements for a semester.  Such circumstances typically involve schedule conflicts with other educational activities such as courses or internships, or extended absences due to health issues.

Course Requirements

MCRO701 students are required attend at least two-thirds of student and faculty seminars, rounded down and counted separately.

MCRO702 students are required attend at least one-thirds of student and faculty seminars, rounded down and counted separately.

The vast majority of MCRO students attend far seminars more than the minimum number required.

Attendance is collected by means of a sign-up sheet placed outside the seminar room.  The sheet is removed shortly after the seminar begins, at which point no more signatures may be added.  There are no excused absences.  Students who cannot stay for both student seminars on a given day should not sign up to receive attendance credit that day.

Students must present a seminar on their research annually, beginning in their second year in the MCRO department (i.e., third year BBSP students, second year MD/PhD students).

Course Grading

Students who do not attend the minimum number of seminars will receive a grade of Incomplete.  Students can make up their missed attendance to resolve the Incomplete grade by attending extra seminars in subsequent semesters, but only after completing the attendance requirement for the semester in which make up credit is earned.

Failure to make up attendance requirements and clear an Incomplete grade within one year results in automatic conversion of the I grade to an F grade by the Registrar.  By Graduate School policy, students who receive a grade of F are academically ineligible to continue in graduate school and must request reinstatement.

Questions at Seminars

At every student or faculty seminar, trainees (everyone other than faculty) are explicitly called upon to ask questions before any faculty may ask questions.  Our goal is for there to be so many trainee questions that there is no time for faculty questions.

Committee Member Attendance

Students are encouraged to inform members of their dissertation/thesis committees about the dates of their student seminars.  A reminder of this practice should be made when the student seminar schedule is distributed.

Scheduling Seminars

Faculty Seminars

  • Faculty seminars are scheduled by the Seminar Committee, typically beginning in the spring of the prior academic year.
  • The Director of Graduate Studies is a member of the Seminar Committee
  • The Bassford Committee, composed entirely of students, hosts one seminar speaker per year. Members of the Bassford Committee are chosen by the Chair of the Seminar Committee from among candidates recommended by the Director of Graduate Studies.  The Bassford Committee typically begins operations in the fall of the prior academic year, to complete their selection before seminar dates are released to other hosts.
  • Postdoctoral trainees have occasionally hosted a seminar speaker. It is desirable to return to this practice

Student Seminars

  • The Student Services Specialist, in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies, assembles the student seminar schedule during the summer prior to the academic year.
  • If there are sufficient dates, then spots in the student seminar series are offered to students from other Ph.D. programs who work in labs affiliated with MCRO.
  • The student seminar schedule is assembled subject to the following constraints:
  • In general, speaking order goes from most senior students at the beginning of the year to most junior students at the end of the year. Some exceptions are noted below.
  • MCRO721 meets during the last five student seminar times and the last four faculty seminar times of the fall semester. Therefore, students expected to graduate during the fall semester are scheduled for the end of the fall semester, with the goal of reducing schedule conflicts with MCRO721 via cancellation of some student seminars.
  • Students who will be enrolled in MCRO721 are not scheduled to speak during the last five student seminar dates of the fall semester.
  • To the greatest extent possible, no date has both student speakers from the same field (bacteriology, immunology, or virology). Weekly diversity of topics is intended to maximize interest and attendance.
  • After the schedule is released, students may exchange seminar dates among themselves without limit in order to resolve scheduling conflicts.

 

Last updated 2/3/2025.