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Orientation Activities

Faculty Advisors

Dr. Doug Fowler and Dr. Kelley Harris are the graduate program co-directors and will be your contacts for questions regarding electives and rotation options (Brian Giebel is your contact for registration & other administrative questions).

beginning mid-September

You’ll be contacted via email to meet with a faculty member (either Brian Beliveau, Doug Fowler, or Kelley Harris) to discuss potential rotation options.

Building Access is provided via your Husky Card.

date & time tba
orientation session with Dr. Kelley Harris and Dr. Doug Fowler
2025 orientation slides | at a glance grad program overview

date & time tba
welcome event, organized by COGS

dates & times tba
individual meetings with Brian
We’ll go over how to register & other first year program items. I’ll circulate a sign-up document later this summer.

date & time tba
HR / Payroll meeting with Serena Newhall

date & time tba
union meeting
UW graduate students voted to unionize in 2004. This presentation will give you an introduction to your rights and benefits as a union member.

either September 17 or September 23, tbd
computing resources training
9:30 – 12:00, Foege S-110
core services training presentation | UNIX shell tutorial

Tuesday, September 22 – afternoon, exact times and additional information tba
School of Medicine Graduate Orientation: Includes a short program with entry-to-graduate-school advice, a community building exercise, tips and tricks to identifying and working with mentors, and then a welcome reception to follow at Flatstick Pub. Optional but recommended – this will be a nice way to make connections with grads outside Genome Sciences.

Thursday, September 24 & Friday, September 25
Department Retreat
IslandWood, Bainbridge Island

Monday, September 28
lab safety training | facilitated by UW Environmental Health & Safety
1:30 – 3:00 via Zoom | please register here

October – November: faculty research presentations
There will be weekly research presentations by faculty members in October & November.

should be done online before the quarter begins:

Husky Prevention & Response
This is a foundational, required online prevention and response course about sex- and gender-based violence and harassment. It takes about 90 minutes and should be completed before Autumn Quarter begins.

Biosafety Training

Graduate Appointee Insurance Program orientation sessions
There will not be a live session this year, but you can follow the link to a recording & slideshow from a previous year which will provide helpful info about the insurance plan. Not a “requirement” – just something you will likely find useful.