Recruitment Guidelines for Students and Faculty

Thank You for Participating!

On behalf of the recruitment committee and BMCDB leadership, we deeply appreciate your participation in the graduate group's biggest event of the year. 

You can RSVP to recruitment here. 

Schedule of Events Student Host Responsibilities Faculty Interviewer Responsibilities 

This page contains a lot of information. Please read fully and carefully to ensure you are prepared for recruitment!

Changes from Prior Years

The biggest change is that we are having what Alyssa calls a "Tetrad-style recruitment" in collaboration with the Biophysics, IGG, and MCIP Graduate Groups. The overall program of events will be pretty much exactly the same, but at the Conference Center instead of the Alumni Center. This is not only to save space and funding, but to decrease the amount of time faculty are asked to commit to interviewing prospective students. 

Schedule of Events

This schedule is tentative and subject to change!

Sunday, March 1st

Recruits who live out of the area are staying at the Best Western University Lodge (on 2nd and B, across from Black Bear Diner) on this date. It is very likely that a few recruits already live in Davis. 

6:00 - 8:00pm: Pizza in 1022 Green Hall. All students are welcome and encouraged to attend! Alyssa will be meeting the recruits at their hotel at 5:45, but you are welcome to join her there. 

Monday, March 2nd

7:30am: A small team of students will walk the recruits to the Conference Center
8:00 - 9:15am: Breakfast and welcome remarks from Dean Winey (recruits only)
9:30 - 10:00am: BMCDB orientation presentation
10:05 - 10:45am: Program presentations by the DEB, eMCDB T32, etc. 
10:45 - 11:45am: Faculty micro-colloquium
11:45am - 1:00pm: Lunch (faculty and recruits only) and resource fair
1:45 and 2:45pm: Faculty interviews (30 minutes each, 30 minutes between interviews)
3:15 - 4:30pm: Lab tour with student hosts (students are highly encouraged to collaborate, i.e., tour 1-2 labs in small groups)
5:00 - 6:00pm: Student poster session at the Conference Center (all welcome, we will have non-alcoholic drinks)
6:00 - 7:30pm: Dinner at the Conference Center (all welcome)* 
7:30pm: Optional social at Three Mile Brewing; student hosts whose recruits want to return to the hotel are expected to walk them back

Tuesday, March 3rd

7:30am: After recruits check out of the hotel, a small team of students will walk the recruits to 1022 Green Hall
8:00 - 8:30am: Breakfast and coffee served (students and recruits only)
8:30 - 10:00am: Student panels (breakfast burritos will be served, so recruits don't have to eat off of their laps)
10:30 and 11:30am: Faculty interviews (30 minutes each, 30 minutes between interviews)
12:00 - 1:30pm: Lunch in Green Hall courtyard (all welcome)
1:30pm: Recruits depart! 

* In case of an emergency, we will scatter across downtown in pre-assigned groups. Here is a link to the spreadsheet. 

Generally, your recruit will be assigned to you on the basis of shared research interests; notably, if your PI is not able to participate in recruitment, we will prioritize pairing you with a recruit who is highly interested in your lab. 

However, both you and the recruits will be given an opportunity to self-report other criteria on which you may wish to be paired (e.g., "I am a first-generation student and would prefer to be paired with a first-generation recruit"). It may be the case that a junior specialist or an undergrad from your lab has been invited to recruitment; we encourage you to let us know if this is the case, as we'd like to pair them up with a host they may not have met yet. 

Here is the link to the spreadsheet with host contact info, recruit contact info, and basic info about the recruits (undergrad institution, emergency contact). 

Points of Contact

James Maine (Recruitment Student Lead): (484) 725-4528, [email protected]

  • Contact for…
    • Faculty no-shows
    • Recruit misbehavior
    • Urgent—non-emergency—situations (if actual emergency, PLEASE call 911 first)
    • Questions about the feedback form

Taylor Pullan (Recruit Transportation): (508) 314-9366, [email protected]

  • Contact for…
    • Recruit escorting assignments
    • Missing recruits at morning check-in
    • Questions about luggage on Tuesday morning

Matt Braga (Host Communications and Pairings): (925) 915-7548, [email protected]

  • Contact for…
    • Questions related to hosting
      • Eg: Finding a lunch group or lab tour

Zhuoer Zeng (Student Panels): (518) 244-0212, [email protected]

  • Contact for…
    • Questions about student panels if you are a student panelist

Alyssa Parsons (GPC, aka Grad Coordinator Extraordinaire): (707) 280-5919, [email protected]

  • Contact for…
    • Questions about dinner if we have to pivot to Plan B of scattered dinners downtown
      • You should not be expected to cover any expenses out of your own pocket. We have assigned at least one faculty member to each small dinner group, and they are expected to pay in case of an emergency.
    • Time-sensitive communications
      • Eg: sick can’t make it, got rear-ended
      • Recruit misbehavior
      • Urgent—non-emergency—situations
  • If possible, when contacting Alyssa during recruitment, include Recruitment Student Lead James Maine
Other Contacts
  • Call 911 to report an emergency, or from a cell phone call 530-752-1230.
  • UC Davis Police Department: 530-752-1230
  • City of Davis Police Department: 530-747-5400
  • UC Davis Fire Department: 530-752-1234
  • City of Davis Fire Department: 530-757-5684
  • Safe Rides Service (on-campus service): 530-752-COPS (2677)
  • Emergency Response Guide

Before Recruitment

  • In mid-February, you will be asked to send your recruit a "welcome, I am your student host" email. Here is the folder with template language for the email to send your recruit.
    • As of Monday, February 23rd, you have been CC'd on an email to your recruit. If you have not gotten in touch with them yet, please do so ASAP and CC Matt and James.
    • By the end of the week, you will be CC'd on an email to your recruit with their interview schedule. Please check to make sure you know where you are taking them (and if not, see the folder of floor maps in the "During Recruitment" section below).
  • On Monday in the 3pm hour (after their second interview), you will be asked to take your recruit on 1-2 lab tours. 
    You are encouraged to coordinate with your peers and labmates, and especially to give a helping hand to a.) first-year students who may not have a home lab yet, and b.) students whose labs are in Sacramento. Example groups follow:
    • Megan, Lily, Joey, and Coty (touring the MOM and the Starr-Luxton labs)
    • Taylor, Marion, Christi, and Paloma (Shah and Albeck labs)
    • Cua, Laureline, Elijah, Alex, and Roxy (Collins and Albeck labs)
    • Daniela, Julia, Julissa, and Kordi (La Torre/Simó and Rogers labs)
  • You can download the recruits' CVs here. 

During Recruitment

Here is the link to the interview schedule. This will update in real time, based on changes to faculty availability. You can toggle between the two sheets to see the schedule organized by faculty member vs. by recruit - the latter is probably more helpful for you!

  • Please remember that you are representatives of the University and the graduate group. Report any unacceptable behavior to Alyssa and Bruce, in writing.
  • Morning Walk from hotel to Conference Center. If you volunteered to walk students to the Conference Center in the morning, you have received an email confirming your attendance. If your recruit is not staying at one of the hotels, be sure they know how to get to campus and have their transportation arranged. We cannot cover the cost of on-campus parking.
  • Your primary responsibility is to walk your recruit to and from their interviews. You are encouraged to familiarize yourself with the buildings your recruit is interviewing in, but in case that isn't feasible, here is a link to a Box folder with detailed floor maps of every building where a recruit has an interview.
    • If you are unable to walk your recruit to EACH interview, please let Matt or James know so that alternate plans can be arranged. 

  • Dinner will be provided for recruits and hosts at the Conference Center. After dinner, escort your student to the hotel and then downtown to the optional event at Three Mile Brewing. Remind your students that this is an optional event. Please remember that you are representatives of the University and the program. 

  • Some recruits are nonbinary or gender-nonconforming, or may simply prefer a gender-inclusive bathroom. Here is a list and map of gender-inclusive bathrooms.
  • If a faculty member is late to interview, misses the interview completely, or is impolite, we ask that you apologize on their behalf and explain that it will not impact their chances of admission.
    • If you are near your lab or the lab of someone you know, feel free to give them a tour, or you can simply find a quiet place to sit and chat. Talk about your experience, answer any questions they have, or if you’re near your home lab, offer them a tour. Please let Alyssa know who missed the interview and what happened.
    • Some quiet (or quiet-ish) places that you can go to:
      • 1022 Green (we have it reserved all day Tuesday, except for the 12pm - 1pm hour)
      • Tupper lobby
      • GBSF lobby (or patio if the weather is nice
  • Check-out. Remind recruits to check their luggage at the front desk before leaving the hotel on Tuesday morning. Their luggage will be picked up by vans at 8:00am. Recruits who drove to Davis should pack their luggage in the trunk of their car; recruits who flew should bring their luggage with them. It will be stored in Alyssa’s locked office.
  • After lunch, your recruit is free to go. Recruits who are driving out or have a late flight may ask you to tour lab space or the larger campus; please do so if you can, or reach out to James or Matt if you can’t, so your recruit can pair up with someone who is free. 

After Recruitment

  • As soon as possible following recruitment, please complete the recruit(ment) evaluation survey. Your candid feedback is deeply appreciated; please report any "red flags" or recruit misbehavior accordingly, especially since recruits are less likely to mask inappropriate behavior when faculty are absent.
    • You are encouraged to report any noteworthy interactions you had, good and bad, with recruits you did not host.
  • On Wednesday, please send your recruit a "thank you for coming, hope your travels home were safe and pleasant, Alyssa will be in touch as soon as possible" email. This one doesn't have to follow a script, but please keep it polite and professional! 

Recruits' Arrival and Departure

  • Arriving in Davis
    • Recruits who fly into Sacramento Airport are responsible for arranging their own travel to and from Davis (usually Uber or Lyft).
    • If your recruit is taking Amtrak, please remind them in your "welcome, I am your host" email that the walking directions from the station to the hotel are very straightforward; they just have to go west on 2nd Street until they cross B Street.
  • Departing Davis
    • Recruits who fly into Sacramento Airport are responsible for arranging their own travel to and from Davis (usually Uber or Lyft). We will bring their luggage from the hotel to Green Hall on Tuesday morning and store it safely, so they don't have to go back to the hotel before they leave.
    • If your recruit took Amtrak, you are strongly encouraged to walk them to the Silo bus station and put them on the Z line; the bus driver usually announces the 2nd and Amtrak stop aloud. We will bring their luggage from the hotel to Green Hall on Tuesday morning and store it safely, so they don't have to go back to the hotel before they leave.
    • If your recruit drove, please walk them back to the hotel; if you won't be available, please coordinate with another student host so your recruit isn't walking alone. They will be asked to store their luggage in their cars before leaving the hotel on Tuesday morning.
  • Davis locals are generally quite self-reliant in getting around!
  • We cannot reimburse recruits for on-campus parking. They should be aware of this in advance; it's listed in their travel FAQs. 

Faculty Interviewer Responsibilities

Here is the link to the interview schedule. This will update in real time, based on changes to faculty availability. You can toggle between the two sheets to see the schedule organized by faculty member vs. by recruit - the former is probably more helpful for you!