Advising, Professional Support, Community

Graduate Program Advisor (GPA)

The Graduate Program Advisor (GPA) is a key administrative and advising position that supports graduate students throughout their academic journey. This position serves as a primary point of contact for both current and prospective students, offering guidance on academic requirements, university policies, and departmental procedures. Through fostering a supportive and well-informed academic environment and ensuring clear communication and consistent policy application, the GPA helps maintain the integrity and success of the graduate program.

Key Responsibilities

Student Advising:

• Advise students on degree requirements, course registration, and academic planning.
• Assist with the submission of petitions, forms, and other academic documentation.
• Monitor student progress and ensure timelycompletion of program milestones.

Communication & Liaison Work:

• Serve as the main communication bridge between students, faculty, and the Graduate School.
• Facilitate understanding of departmental policies and expectations.
• Address and help resolve conflicts or misunderstandings between students and faculty.

Administrative Duties:

• Approve student requests such as leaves of absence, exam scheduling, and degree submissions.
• Communicate individual status of students to the Graduate School.
• Maintain accurate records of student progress and program compliance.
• Disseminate important updates and deadlines to students and faculty

The current GPA, Sadie Reitz, can be reached at microgpa@uw.edu, (206)543-3812. Office hours are Mondays 8:00-12:00 remote and Tuesdays1:00-5:00pm SLU F508 and remote. Schedule a meeting with me.

Graduate Policy and Advising Committee (GPAC)

Mission Statement: The GPAC is responsible for reviewing and updating the Microbiology Graduate Program curriculum, guidelines, and requirements. During a graduate student's career, the GPAC provides advice and mentoring concerning coursework, lab rotations, choice of a thesis lab, and exams. The GPAC also supports students and faculty in navigating challenges that arise from any aspect of graduate education.

Membership: The GPAC is chaired by the Departmental Graduate Program Coordinator (GPC) and includes one or two additional faculty members. Current members are Jason G. Smith (GPC), Beth A. Traxler, and Alex Meeske. The GPAC can be reached at microgpc@uw.edu.

Scheduled Advising:

First-year students:

• Orientation: Prior to the beginning of Autumn Quarter, GPAC will provide an overview of the Program and Program Requirements and will convene a panel of current students to discuss class choice and thesis lab choice with the incoming class.
• Autumn Quarter: The GPAC will meet with students in the 7th or 8th week as a group to discuss common concerns with curriculum and choosing rotations.
• Winter Quarter: The GPAC will again meet with students in the 7th or 8th week as a group to discuss common concerns with curriculum and choosing rotations.

Second- and third-year students:

• The GPAC will meet with all rising second- and third-year students as a group in Summer Quarter to review Program requirements, discuss common concerns, and promote discussion between the classes on strategies to successfully navigate expectations and requirements for the second year.

All students:

• The GPAC, with help from the GPA, will solicit feedback on student progress from Thesis Advisors in Summer Quarter. Upon review of this feedback or at the suggestion of the Thesis Advisor, the GPAC may reach out to individual students for follow-up advisory meetings.

Open Advising: The GPAC is available at any time during a student’s career for individual advice and counseling and is best reached at microgpc@uw.edu. Students should consider either the GPA or GPAC as their first point of contact for any concern and should not hesitate to contact someone if they feel they need advice. Students may choose to meet with individual members or with GPAC as a group.

Academic Grievance Process

Overview and Purpose

The Department of Microbiology is committed to providing a graduate training environment that is fair, transparent, and supportive of student success. Academic concerns and disputes are a normal feature of any intensive research training program, and timely, good-faith resolution benefits all parties. This policy establishes an accessible, tiered process by which graduate students may raise academic concerns informally within the program before any issue is escalated to a School of Medicine (SoM)-adjudicated grievance process.

Note that many student issues are not appropriately addressed via the academic grievance process. Please review the links and resources highlighted in Graduate School Policy 3.8.1 (e.g., grade changes, student conduct, etc.). In addition, issues pertaining to a student’s employment relationship with the university should be directed to the Union for Auto Workers (see the UAW Academic Student Employee (ASE) contract for specific guidance).

Advising Structure

The Department's graduate student advising hierarchy, from most proximate to most senior, is as follows:

The GPA serves as a confidential, non-evaluative resource. Students may approach the GPA at any time to discuss concerns informally, understand their options, or obtain guidance in navigating this policy. The GPA will not share the substance of those conversations with faculty without the student's consent, except as required by law or university policy. The GPA does not have authority to adjudicate, mediate, or resolve academic disputes, and does not substitute for program or departmental leadership in the grievance process.

General Principles

Proportionality: Concerns should ordinarily be raised first at the level immediately above the source of the issue (see Step 1), so that the most local, least adversarial resolution is attempted before escalation.

Accessibility: Any student may bypass lower levels and raise a concern directly with a higher level, or with the GPA, if they have a reasonable concern about confidentiality, conflict of interest, retaliation, or safety. No student will be required to explain or justify their choice to enter at a higher tier, and no negative inference will be drawn from that choice.

Timeliness: Students are encouraged to raise concerns within three (3) months of the incident or the date on which they became aware of it. The program recognizes that some circumstances may delay disclosure, and program leadership retains discretion to accept concerns raised outside this window for good cause.

Confidentiality: All parties are expected to handle grievance matters with sensitivity and appropriate discretion. Information will be shared only on a need-to-know basis and in accordance with FERPA.

Good Faith: All parties — students, mentors, committee members, and program leadership — are expected to engage in the grievance process in good faith and without retaliation.

Documentation: Students are encouraged to document relevant incidents, communications, and outcomes throughout the process. 

The GPA will maintain a confidential written record of each grievance and its resolution.

Step 1: Program/Department Informal Reconciliation Process

The goal at this step is to provide a mutually agreeable informal resolution within the program on a reasonable timeline, before advancing to a SoM-adjudicated process.

Tier 1 — Concern Involves the PI / Research Mentor

First contact: Thesis Committee

Issues arising from the advising relationship — including research expectations, lab climate, mentoring quality, intellectual attribution, funding, or perceived unsupportive conduct — should be raised first with the thesis committee. The Department requires that annual thesis committee meetings include a private session in which the thesis committee meets with the student in the absence of the PI/advisor. This meeting is a natural and low-barrier opportunity for a student to raise concerns with the committee confidentially. Students should feel free to raise concerns about their mentor during this session; the committee will treat such disclosures sensitively and determine, in consultation with the student, the appropriate next steps.

Process:

The student may raise the concern verbally during the annual private committee session or may request a special meeting with individual thesis committee members or the full committee at any time.

The thesis committee will discuss the concern with the student and, where appropriate, facilitate a conversation between the student and the PI with the aim of reaching a mutually agreeable resolution.

A thesis committee member will document the concern and any agreed resolution in writing. This documentation will be filed with the GPA within 2 weeks of the resolution, and a copy will be provided to the student.

If the concern is not resolved within 30 days, or if the student is not satisfied with the outcome, the matter may be escalated to Tier 3 (GPAC/GPC).

Bypassing this tier: A student may skip directly to Tier 2 or higher if they believe the thesis committee is not independent enough from the PI to handle the concern fairly, or the student is concerned about confidentiality or retaliation.

Tier 2 — Concern Involves the Thesis Committee or an individual Committee Member

First contact: PI or GPAC / GPC

If a student's concern involves one or more thesis committee members — including conduct during meetings, evaluation decisions, or committee dynamics — the concern may be raised with the PI. If there are reservations about confidentiality or conflict of interest, the concern may be raised with GPAC/GPC.

Process:

The student contacts the PI or GPAC/GPC.

The PI or GPAC/GPC will meet separately with the student and the committee member(s) involved, and facilitate a discussion aimed at resolution.

Outcome and any agreed-upon actions will be documented in writing and filed with the GPA within 2 weeks of the resolution, and a copy will be provided to the student.

If unresolved within 30 days, or if the student is not satisfied, the matter may be escalated to Tier 3.

Tier 3 — Concern Involves GPAC / GPC, or Escalated from Tier 1 or 2

First contact: Department Chair

Concerns involving GPAC/GPC members, concerns that could not be resolved at Tiers 1 or 2, or concerns the student chooses to raise at this level from the outset, are directed to the Department Chair.

Process:

The student contacts the Department Chair directly, either in person or in writing. The GPA can assist the student in preparing for or scheduling this contact.

The Chair will consult, as appropriate, with the Associate Dean for Research Education & Training (AD-RET) and/or the Director of Research & Graduate Education (D-RGE) to ensure the process is handled consistently with SoM policy.

If the concern involves the Chair directly, the Chair's role is assumed by a senior faculty member designated in consultation with the AD-RET/D-RGE.

The Chair will attempt to broker an informal resolution within 30 days. If resolution is not reached, the student will be advised of the SoM-level formal grievance process described in Step 2 below.

Step 2: School of Medicine Informal or Formal Reconciliation Process

When trainees and programs/departments are unable to agree to an informal reconciliation with their mentors and/or program leadership, then a formal grievance process will be elevated to the Associate Dean for Research Education and Training (AD-RET) in the UW SoM, Office of Research & Graduate Education (RGE).

The trainee should provide the following information by email to the AD-RET (currently Dr. Bill Mahoney, wmahoney@uw.edu):

• a clear statement of the academic grievance;
• a description of how the trainee engaged with program leadership to address the concerns raised through the grievance process;
• the outcome of the informal reconciliation process;
• a description of why you believe the outcome is not appropriate.

The AD-RET in RGE will review the grievance and will work constructively with the trainee and the program/department to achieve an agreeable outcome for all parties. This may, but not necessarily, involve empaneling a formal hearing committee (2 faculty in SoM, 2 graduate students in SoM, chaired by the AD-RET (or their designee); the committee will be randomly selected from the SoM community, on an as-needed basis), who may be charged with making a recommendation to the Dean of the SoM.

In the event a formal hearing is recommended:

The AD-RET will notify all parties that an academic grievance has been submitted and is being reviewed. A decision to move forward with a hearing will be determined within 15 business days, following receipt of the request for a formal grievance from the trainee.

In the event a hearing is scheduled, all parties will be invited to present evidence and testimony to the members of the hearing panel (~25 minutes for each party, highlighting the documents submitted in advance of the hearing), followed by a closed session where the panel will deliberate and arrive at a majority recommendation to the Dean of the SoM.

The hearing is closed to the public and restricted to the specific, individual parties identified in the grievance. The trainee is allowed to have a support person attend, but this individual must remain silent during the hearing and will not be allowed to participate. If a support person is attending the hearing, this person should be identified for the committee at least 2 business days prior to the hearing.

An official recommendation to the Dean of the SoM will be produced by the Chair of the hearing committee within 10 business days of the hearing, following which, the Dean of the SoM will release an official and final decision to all parties within 10 business days.

Step 3: Graduate School Formal Process

In the event the trainee or the program/department do not agree with the outcome from the Dean of the SoM, they are welcome to appeal the decision to the Graduate School (see Policy 3.8.3 for procedures to follow), due to their assessment that procedural uniformity was not followed by the SoM grievance process.

Departmental Community Programs and Events

Seminar Series

During the academic year, the Department hosts a weekly seminar series in which speakers are invited from outside institutions to present their latest research in microbiology. Speakers are invited by individual faculty as well as the postdoc and student communities. Audience members have the opportunity to engage with the speaker in Q&A after the talk concludes. The seminar series is an excellent source of exposure to diverse areas of microbiology and is a core component of the Microbiology Graduate Program.

Work in Progress (WIP) Seminars

During the academic year, the Department hosts a weekly Work in Progress seminar series, in which two students or postdocs affiliated with UW Microbiology labs each present a ~30 minute update on their research. The WIP seminar series is a great forum for trainees to hear about the research of their colleagues and an excellent opportunity to hone their science communication skills. Faculty provide private feedback to speakers after the talks conclude.

Department of Microbiology Annual Retreat

The Department gathers annually before the start of Fall Quarter at an off-site location to socialize and discuss ongoing science. Faculty, students, and postdocs participate. The program consists of multiple sessions of short research talks divided by refreshment and meal breaks, leisure time, a poster session, and organized entertainment. The format is either a local one-day event or a more distant, two-day event. Transportation is provided to the retreat for students.

Microbrews

Core Microbiology labs take turns hosting an informal gathering to socialize once a month during the academic year. The host lab determines the location. The schedule is organized by students (see Student Jobs and Student Retreat below).

Faculty-Student Coffee & Chat

This initiative was enacted in response to student requests for improved faculty and student relationships and seeks to promote engagement, communication, and trust between our faculty and graduate students. These informal gatherings also provide a space and mechanism to address student concerns and provide a forum for career advice and professional networking. More generally, enhanced engagement breaks through the hierarchical nature of faculty/student interactions, which serves our community enrichment mission by allowing us to better understand the unique experiences and challenges that our students are facing and how we might mitigate those issues programmatically to create a more supportive and effective training environment.

Student Community

Microbiology Peer Mentor Network

This is an optional program where incoming students are paired with a more senior Microbiology graduate student (2nd-5th years). By sharing 'hidden' institutional knowledge, these interactions bridge experience/knowledge gaps, strengthen graduate student support networks, build community identity, and decrease isolation. Student pairings are coordinated by a faculty member and a senior graduate student.