Membership Categories

There are four categories of graduate membership:

Associate Member
Associate Member Restricted to PACs and/or Teaching
Full Member
Member Emeritus

Below, you will find the responsibilities, criteria and faculty engagement expectations for each membership that will be submitted to you for agreement upon approval.

For information on Graduate Supervision, please see the SGS Guidelines.

Associate Member Restricted to Teaching and/or PACs

As an Associate Restricted Member in the IMS, you are permitted to participate in IMS activities in specific capacities. The Associate Restricted Membership is granted for a 3-year term and is renewable subject to IMS review of activities during the term.

There are two types of restricted memberships in IMS in accordance with School of Graduate Studies guidelines:

Associate Restricted Member - Teaching
Associate Restricted Member - PAC

Associate Restricted Member – Teaching

This category of restricted membership allows you to engage in specific graduate teaching and educational initiatives in the IMS, such as teaching, setting, and marking examinations for an IMS graduate course or module, and contributing to the teaching and educational initiatives of the IMS Professional Programs.

In this teaching category of restricted membership, you are not permitted to supervise or co-supervise MSc or PhD students, nor chair MSc or PhD exams. Your duties and activities will be explicitly stated in your Letter of Offer from the IMS at the initiation of the Graduate Appointment Agreement. You are encouraged to participate in IMS Scientific Day and serve as judges for student presentations and posters.

Associate Restricted Member – Program Advisory Committee (PAC)

This category of restricted membership allows you to sit on the Program Advisory Committee (PAC) for a specific student or students.

In this category of restricted membership, you are not permitted to supervise or co-supervise MSc or PhD students, nor chair PhD exams. Your duties and activities will be explicitly stated in the Letter of Offer from the IMS at the initiation of the Graduate Appointment Agreement. You are encouraged to participate in IMS Scientific Day and serve as judges for student presentations and posters.

Faculty Engagement Upon Membership – Associate Restricted Member

Associate Restricted Member – Teaching

Your acceptance of the offer of a Graduate Faculty Membership in the School of Graduate Studies and the IMS comes with certain responsibilities and expectations. Such engagement will help your promotion and/or teaching dossier, and yearly activity reports. Such engagement will also facilitate the continued activities of the IMS for the success of its faculty, trainees and sustained excellence in graduate education.

On your letter of offer, you will be asked to confirm the following terms before the membership is activated.

As an Associate Restricted Member – Teaching:

You are eligible to participate in graduate teaching activities related to the IMS. Such activities include:	You are NOT eligible to:
Teaching, setting, and marking examinations for an IMS graduate course Offering a short course module, and/or Contributing to the teaching and educational initiatives of the IMS Professional Program: Master of Science in Biomedical Communication (MScBMC) or other IMS programs You are also encouraged to participate in IMS Scientific Day and serve as judges for student presentations and posters	Supervise or co-supervise a graduate student, and/or Sit on graduate Program Advisory Committees (PACs) or examinations

Associate Restricted Member – Program Advisory Committee (PAC)

On your letter of offer, you will be asked to confirm the following terms before the membership is activated.

As an Associate Restricted Member – PAC:

You are eligible to:	You are NOT eligible to:
Participate on the Program Advisory Committees of identified IMS Students (including acting as an Examiner/Appraiser or Examiner/Chair for MSc and transfer exams) Supervise undergraduate students in the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) You are also encouraged to participate in IMS Scientific Day and serve as a judge for student presentations and posters	Supervise or co-supervise an IMS graduate student Chair PhD examinations

Important: Your Graduate Faculty Membership with IMS is potentially renewable subject to IMS review of activities during the term of this membership.

Associate Member

Responsibilities

As an Associate Member, you will be permitted to undertake all the duties of a Full Member but cannot serve as a sole or major supervisor, whether formally or otherwise, of a doctoral student nor act as the Chair of a PhD Final Oral Examination. Associate Members may serve as supervisors to master’s students.

Criteria

The Associate Member category generally applies to individuals who have recently received a professorial academic appointment and show great promise as independent investigators and primary supervisors of graduate students.

Criteria for membership in this category include:

Evidence of peer-reviewed or other such funding as principal investigator
Demonstrated independent research activities including first and/or senior author publications
An independent research laboratory or environment as a principal investigator that is up and running for appropriate graduate training at the time of application
Previous experience as a primary supervisor of research students

The initial term of the graduate faculty membership will generally be a duration of five years with reappointment or change of membership status following an end-of-term review of IMS activities.

Faculty Engagement Upon Membership

Your acceptance of this offer of a Graduate Faculty Memership in the School of Graduate Studies and the IMS comes with certain responsibilities and expectations. Such engagement will help your promotion and/or teaching dossier, and yearly activity reports. It will also facilitate the continued activities of the IMS for the success of its faculty, trainees and sustained excellence in graduate education.

On your letter of offer, you will be asked to confirm the following terms of agreement before the membership is activated.

As an Associate Member:

You are eligible to:

You are NOT eligible to:

Serve as the sole or major supervisor of MSc students and you must guarantee funding for the minimum duration of their program
Serve as a co-supervisor of PhD students
Participate on Program Advisory Committees (PACs)
Serve as chair of a MSc Final Oral Examination committee, or voting member of a MSc or PhD Final Oral Examination committee, and perform all associated duties
Participate in a variety of roles in the IMS including one or more IMS committees as required
Teach, set, and mark examinations for an IMS graduate course and give other such graduate direction as may be required. You are also encouraged to participate in IMS Scientific Day and serve as judges for student presentations and posters

Serve a sole or major supervisor of a PhD student, whether formally or otherwise, nor;
Act as the Chair of a PhD Final Oral Examination

For these additional responsibilities, you can apply for a change of status of their Graduate Faculty Membership according to IMS guidelines and School of Graduate Studies (SGS) guidelines

Chairing graduate student examinations is an expectation and a requirement of a graduate faculty membership at the University of Toronto.

Your willingness to contribute to the activities and function of IMS in at least one of the following roles:

IMS Graduate Student Awards – Reviews and rates applications for student financial awards administered by the IMS
IMS Student Admissions – Review of applications and recommendations for IMS admission to the graduate program
IMS Graduate Teaching
Course Director and Instructor of a new Graduate Course
Short course offering (module) in MSC1010Y-1011Y
IMS Translational Research Program, Biomedical Communication or Medical Radiation Science Programs, or other IMS Programs
IMS Curriculum – Reviews and monitors all course offerings by the IMS and recommends and implements changes to the Curriculum
Other Committees – e.g., (i) Engaging the next generation of graduate students via the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) and/or (ii) Leadership in IMS Scientific Day; and/or (iii) Representing IMS in individual ad-hoc committees in the support of graduate training initiatives in the Faculty of Medicine and University of Toronto

Important: Your Graduate Faculty Membership with IMS is potentially renewable subject to IMS review of activities during the term of this membership. Please note that your membership will not be activated until we receive this information from you.

Full Member

Responsibilities

As a Full Member, you can act as the sole or major supervisor of a doctoral or master’s thesis. You can also act as as a member of thesis committees, serve as chair or voting member of a Final Oral Examination committee (examinations required by SGS), or a departmental examination committee (examinations required by IMS). You may further assume responsibility for the setting and marking of comprehensive (general) examinations; teach, set, and mark examinations for a graduate course and give other such graduate direction as required.

Criteria

The Full Member category is generally reserved for faculty members who have clearly established a continuing research program and demonstrated sustained evidence of scholarship. Criteria for membership in this category include:

Evidence of sustained peer-reviewed funding as principal investigator
Demonstration of sustained and ongoing excellence in independent research activities including first and/or senior author publications
Experience as a graduate student supervisor

The initial membership typically lasts five years and is renewable, subject to IMS review of activities during the term.

Faculty Engagement Upon Membership

Your acceptance of this offer of a Graduate Faculty Membership in the School of Graduate Studies and the IMS comes with certain responsibilities and expectations. Such engagement will help your promotion and/or teaching dossier, and yearly activity reports. Such engagement will also facilitate the continued activities of the IMS for the success of its faculty, trainees and sustained excellence in graduate education.

On your letter of offer, you will be asked to confirm the following terms of agreement before the membership is activated.

As a Full Member:

You are eligible to:

Serve as the sole or major supervisor of MSc and PhD students and you must guarantee funding for the minimum duration of their programs
Participate on Program Advisory Committees (PACs)
Serve as chair or voting member of a Final Oral Examination committee, and perform all associated duties
Participate in a variety of roles in the IMS including one or more IMS committees as required (https://ims.utoronto.ca/about-us/committees/)
Teach, set, and mark examinations for an IMS graduate course and give other such graduate direction as may be required. You are also encouraged to participate in IMS Scientific Day and serve as judges for student presentations and posters

Chairing graduate student examinations is an expectation and a requirement of a graduate faculty membership at the University of Toronto.

Your willingness to contribute to the activities and function of IMS in at least one of the following roles:

IMS Graduate Student Awards – Reviews and rates applications for student financial awards administered by the IMS
IMS Student Admissions – Review of applications and recommendations for admission to the IMS graduate program
IMS Graduate Teaching
Course Director and Instructor of a new Graduate Course
Short course offering (module) in MSC1010Y-1011Y
IMS Translational Research Program, Biomedical Communication or Medical Radiation Science Programs, or other IMS Programs
IMS Curriculum – Reviews and monitors all course offerings by the IMS and recommends and implements changes to the curriculum
Other Involvements – e.g., (i) Engaging the next generation of graduate students via the Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) and/or (ii) Leadership in IMS Scientific Day; and/or (iii) Representing IMS in individual ad-hoc committees in the support of graduate training initiatives in the Faculty of Medicine and University of Toronto

Important: Your graduate faculty membership with IMS is potentially renewable subject to IMS review of activities during the term of this membership. Please note that your membership will not be activated until we receive this information from you.

Member Emeritus

Responsibilities

As a Member Emeritus, you are permitted to chair a Final Oral Examination and carry out one or more of the following: serve as a member of a thesis committee and as a voting member of a Final Oral Examination ; teach, set, and mark examinations for a graduate course; assume responsibility for setting and marking comprehensive (general) examinations; continue to act as a sole or major supervisor of a doctoral or master’s thesis; take on new Master’s or Doctoral supervision with the approval of the graduate chair or director, and the approval of SGS.

Criteria

Appointment to a graduate unit inthe SGS is normally terminated upon retirement. A full professor who, on retirement, becomes a U of T professor emeritus, may apply for SGS Member Emeritus status. This membership is normally used to allow a graduate faculty member to complete existing graduate supervisions and teaching responsibilities. Applicants for Member Emeritus status who wish to undertake fresh supervisions or additional duties must be able to demonstrate that s/he will be able to enrich graduate student life at the University and can meet the criteria for graduate faculty membership as a Full Member. The appointment will last five years and is renewable subject to IMS review of activities during the term.

Faculty Engagement upon Membership

Your acceptance of the offer of a Graduate Faculty Membership in the School of Graduate Studies and the IMS comes with certain responsibilities and expectations. Such engagement will facilitate the continued activities of the IMS for the success of its faculty, trainees and sustained excellence in graduate education.

On your letter of offer, you will be asked to confirm the following terms before the membership is activated.

A Member Emeritus may perform all duties of a Full Member for the duration of the appointed term. Taking on new supervisory responsibility for an MSc or PhD students requires approval of the IMS Director, and the approval of SGS.

You are eligible to:

Serve as the sole or major supervisor of MSc and PhD students and you must guarantee funding for the minimum duration of their programs
Participate on Program Advisory Committees (PACs)
Serve as chair or voting member of a Final Oral Examination , and perform all associated duties
Participate in a variety of roles in the IMS including one or more IMS committees as required
Teach, set, and mark examinations for an IMS graduate course and give other such graduate direction as may be required.