Protocol for MCDB graduate student committee meetings

(tailored for Zoom-based meetings)

Before the meeting:

• The student schedules a one-hour meeting where all committee members, including the advisor, are able to attend
• The chair of the committee (not the student’s advisor) invites the committee to attend a Zoom meeting using his/her Yale-sponsored Zoom link
• When scheduling the meeting, the Chair uses the Zoom application to set-up a meeting with a “Waiting Room”:
  • Go to: “Schedule”
  • Complete the appropriate fields for the date, time, etc.
  • Set the Video option “On”
  • Go to “Advanced Options”
    • Select the following option: “Enable Waiting Room”
• Chair opens the appropriate committee meeting form accessed from the graduate student MCDB website:
  • Qualifying exam form
  • Annual committee meeting form

At the meeting:

• All participants are expected to join the meeting promptly
• The committee meets without the student [5 minutes]
  • The chair uses the “waiting room” function to temporarily remove the student from the meeting
    • Click the “Manage Participants” icon at the bottom of the Zoom window
    • On the right panel, right click the student’s name and place her/him in “waiting room”. 
    • If you have not set up Waiting Rooms when scheduling the meeting, you can use create a  “Breakout Room”. See detailed instructions below.
• Committee: meets with student without advisor [5 minutes]
  • Chair places the advisor in the “waiting room”
  • Chair brings the student back from the “waiting room”
• Student: presents to committee [30-35 minutes]
  • Chair brings the advisor back from the “waiting room”
• Committee: meets again without the student and completes evaluation form [10 minutes]
  • Chair places the student in the “waiting room”
• Chair and committee: provide feedback to the student [5 minutes]
  • Chair brings the student back from the “waiting room”
• Chair: submits the electronic form online

• Creating a “Breakout Room”
  • If you have not set up Waiting Rooms when scheduling the meeting, navigate to the Breakout Room option on the Meeting tab and verify that the setting is enabled. On the bottom of the zoom window, click on Breakout Room and create one Breakout Room. Invite the student to join the Breakout Room, the student can choose “later” to join when appropriate.

After the meeting:

• The MCDB Graduate Registrar distributes the completed committee meeting form to the student, Thesis Advisor, all Committee Members and the Director of Graduate Studies.