Graduate Advising Resources

How Academic Advising Works in the BME Graduate Program:

If you need help with anything, your first point of contact should be Melanie in the BME Graduate Studies Office at Senitko.1@osu.edu who can help steer you in the right direction.  

All graduate students are assigned a BME department faculty member to serve as an 'academic advisor' who can advise and assist with academic decisions or provide additional perspectives alongside your research advisor. It is strongly recommended that students meet with the BME core faculty advisor regularly to discuss scheduling and program goals, ask questions, or simply have a chat. Students are welcome to change core faculty advisors at anytime, as they get to know more faculty and develop new working relationships. The BME core faculty advisor is a resource to be consulted in addition to your faculty research advisor and provides another opportunity to find support and build relationships within the graduate program. 

Graduate School is different from the undegraduate experience. Graduate students are expected to be very proactive in consulting with their core faculty advisor & research advisors to stay on the right track and to seek academic advice -- much as you used to meet with an undergraduate advisor. As well, the Officers of the Biomedical Engineering Graduate Student Association (BMEGSA) are an excellent resource! Students are encouraged to get to know them for peer support and advice. 

Graduate Studies Committee Chair, Dr. Jun Liu, is an additional excellent resource for program and research questions and can be reached at Liu.314@osu.edu.

Most of you will meet all deadlines and follow all procedures per University policy, but sometimes there are 'snags'. As a rule, it is best to approach your home department first when attempting to tackle an administrative problem relating to scheduling, fees, research appointments, transfer work, or financial aid.

 

Who can help?

Most often, there is no harm in a one or two-day delay in resolving your issue; however, if you cannot reach the Graduate Studies Office for assistance and are experiencing an urgent problem, please feel free to consult the following resources.

  • Registration: For questions on just about any aspect of the scheduling process, fees, and registration deadlines, try Graduate School registration services.
  • Drops/Adds/Petitions/Penalties: For questions about deadlines and schedule correction procedures, try Graduate School registration services.
  • Funding matters: GTAs or GRAs hired through BME should contact Catrena Collins collins.424@osu.edu. GRAs hired by a faculty member in an affiliated unit or department other than BME should contact the HR or Fiscal person in that area.
  • Fellowships: You may email Melanie with questions of eligibility and deferment, and Catrena Collins collins.424@osu.edu with questions about HR paperwork and payment. Or try Fellowship Services staff at the Graduate School. 
  • BME Computing, Email Accounts, Technology issues: etshelp@osu.edu
  • Keys or Access to Graduate BME Labs & Offices: contact Josh Pryor at pryor.102@osu.edu.