Once doctoral students in the Biodefense program have passed the Qualifying Exam, they are able to be advanced to candidacy to begin dissertation proposal and research.  Students form a doctoral dissertation committee during this time.  Although the PIA department and the Biodefense graduate program are able to offer some flexibility in committee makeup, the college and the university have specific requirements in place.  Detailed information about committees can be found under the Academic Policies, Graduate section of the university catalog, found online at http://www.gmu.edu/catalog/  under "General Information".

Students who already have committees formed and approved by the Dean's office do not need to change them.

Briefly, the committee must consist of at least three members of the graduate faculty, two of whom have a full-time appointment at George Mason University, and may not have more than five members. At least one member of the committee must be Tenured or Tenure-Track faculty in the Department of Public and International Affairs. At least one member of the committee must be from outside the Department of Public and International Affairs. The Chair of the Committee must have a part-time or full-time appointment at George Mason University, but does not have to be from the Department of Public and International Affairs. Term faculty, research faculty, and adjunct faculty at George Mason as well as outside professionals can serve on committees after being appointed to the Graduate Faculty. The appointment requires the review and approval of the Program Director, the Dean's office, and the Provost's office. All requests for individuals to be appointed to Graduate Faculty to serve on dissertation committees must be sent to the Biodefense Program Coordinator. Generally, tenured or tenure-track faculty will carry the title "Professor", "Assistant Professor" or "Associate Professor".  PIA full-time faculty listings are found under http://pia.gmu.edu/faculty_staff/?opt=fft

Once the committee is in place, all members sign the committee formation sheet (from the previous web page under "forms").  The form is then sent to the Biodefense Program Coordinator, PIA Dept., MS 3F4 Fairfax campus or faxed to 993-1399.  The dept. Chair will sign if approved and forward to the Dean's office for signature.  If the Dean's office approves the committee, a notification letter is mailed to each committee member and the student, with a copy to the department.  Depending on timing in the semester and work load in the Dean's office, the process normally takes two to three weeks once the form is submitted to the Coordinator.

Please also see the "Committee Guidelines" information regarding duties of committee members.