Each program is supervised by a Committee on Graduate Studies (COGS) composed of members of the graduate faculty of that program. The COGS is responsible for establishing admission requirements specific to the program, recommending approval or denial of admission of applicants to the program, overseeing academic curricula, monitoring its students' academic progress in didactic and research activities, attesting eligibility for admission to candidacy for a degree, and verifying to the Graduate Faculty Council that the student has fulfilled all requirements for the awarding of the degree. Each graduate program shall have the primary responsibility for the conduct and administration of the program including the appointment of the COGS Chair, the administrative head of the program. The COGS Chair is the voting representative of the program on the Graduate Faculty Council and serves as the liaison officer between the COGS and the Graduate School Dean's Office on all matters pertaining to academic and student affairs. Once the COGS Chair is selected, the Graduate School Dean’s Office must be notified via an official memorandum of the decision within one week.
In several graduate programs, a single graduate faculty member serves as both COGS Chair and Graduate Advisor. The graduate advisor serves as a counselor on academic matters and monitors the student's progress in (a) successfully completing contingencies of admission and course requirements of the program, and (b) selecting an area of research specialization.
The Graduate Faculty Council has the responsibility to establish and maintain policies and regulations on matters of graduate education common to all programs administered by the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences. These include such matters as general academic requirements for admission to graduate study and advancement to candidacy, for continuation of studies, and awarding of degrees; standards of student professional conduct; grading systems; graduate program review; and criteria for thesis and dissertation research, supervision of research, and defense of research. Each COGS is responsible to the Graduate Faculty Council and submits recommendations on various graduate program matters, including the submission of degrees, to the Council for review and vote for approval.
The Dean of the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences is the administrative head of the graduate programs and serves as the Chair of the Graduate Faculty Council. Ex-officio nonvoting members of the Council include the Dean, the Associate Dean(s) of the Graduate School, the Assistant Dean(s) of the Graduate School, the Registrar, and one student representative elected by the Graduate Student Association. The voting members of the Council consist of the COGS chairs of each graduate program.