Graduate programs for students seeking the MS or PhD degrees are offered by the joint department.  The graduate curriculum committee maintains the program requirements and features such as new courses, deletions of courses, changes in academic requirements such as class hours required in specific categories for the MS or PhD degrees, PhD qualifier and MS comprehensive examinations and checklists for graduation.  The committee consists of faculty members and administrative staff in biomedical engineering and meets monthly.  The committee considers proposals for improvements submitted by any member of the department and responds to an annual evaluation of the programs performed by graduate students.  As needed, the committee utilizes information regarding national trends in biomedical engineering and input from the department's External Advisory Board.  Committee recommendations are submitted to the biomedical engineering faculty, the approving authority for changes and improvements.