Processing of progression forms (Graduate School forms GS 19) will be initiated by the "primary mentor" of the student's committee, and will require approval by the BME Program Director, the Graduate School and the Office of Admissions and Records.

A formal masters degree committee should be formed by the time of completion of the first semester of course work. Masters degree committees consist of at least 3 members from the BME faculty including the primary and secondary advisors. It is a requirement of the Graduate School that an additional member be included from outside the BME program faculty.

A formal doctoral examining committee should be formed by the time of submission of the grant-writing exercise. Doctoral committees consist of a total of at least 5 members with at least 3 internal members from BME faculty including the primary and secondary advisors, and at least 1 member from outside the BME faculty. It is not necessary for the doctoral committee to include all members of an original masters degree committee (e.g. if a research emphasis changed upon entering the doctoral program). It is preferable (but not mandatory) if one outside member is selected as a national expert outside of the University of Nevada, Reno faculty.

Doctoral committees must be informed if major changes in a research plan (presented in the grant-writing exercise and any progress reports) are contemplated. Committees will meet periodically with students to discuss progress. Three or four months prior to the completion of a research project, the committee will meet again with the student to decide on specific details of the dissertation preparation and presentation. Each member of a committee must receive a rough draft of a dissertation at least 3 weeks before its defense. The rough draft is necessary to allow changes to be made if the committee feels they are needed. This draft should already have incorporated any changes suggested by the primary and secondary advisors and should be neat, readable and as error-free as possible.