The R.A.T.S. officers are elected every year in October during a R.A.T.S. meeting. See below for descriptions of the various offices and committees and get involved!

President: Joel Cooper

The president of the RATS shall stand as responsible figurehead of the association in performing the following functions:

A. Preside at all meetings.

B. Attend meetings of the Director's Advisory Committee as representative of the RATS and record and report back to the RATS all pertinent information obtained from the meetings.

C. Call all special meetings of the RATS and its committees.

D. Act as representative and liaison between the RATS and departmental chairman.

E. Hold and maintain the constitution and by-laws of the RATS.

Vice President: Michelle Jobes

The vice-president of the RATS shall serve the following responsibilities:

A. Preside at meetings and perform the duties of president in the absence of the president.

B. Attend meetings of the Graduate Program Faculty as representative of the RATS and record and report back to the RATS all pertinent information obtained at the meeting.

C. Oversee the election process.

Secretary: Jedd Hillegass

The secretary of the RATS shall serve the following responsibilities:

B. Give notice of all activities and events pertaining to the RATS; information shall be provided to the Webmaster one week before the event for posting.

C. Be advised of all Standing committee meetings and advise the president of their occurrence.

D. Obtain the minutes of all faculty and student committee meetings from the student representative.

E. Hold and maintain the documents and communications of the association in a permanent file accessible to all members, as well as provide the information to the Webmaster for posting.

F. Distribute copies of the minutes of the previous, regular or special meeting and the agenda of the next regular or special meeting to all voting members of the RATS at least one week prior to the next regular meeting.

The elected representatives to the JGPT Standing Committees and GSA shall serve the following responsibilities:

A. Represent the RATS at all meetings of the committees when applicable and acceptable.

B. Inform the secretary of the RATS of all scheduled meetings prior to the meeting.

C. Record and report back to the RATS all pertinent information obtained from the meetings attended.

D. Obtain, whenever possible, the official minutes of the meeting, which are to be placed on file with the secretary of the RATS.

Committees of the Joint Graduate Program

in Toxicology

Director's Advisory Committee (Executive Committee ): Ken Reuhl (Chair)

Mark Robson (Associate Director)

Keith Cooper (Deputy Director)

Student Representative: Joel Cooper

Subcommittee co-chairs:

M. Gochfeld, G. Witz

M. Iba, D. Laskin

R. Snyder

F. Kauffman, P. Sonsalla

P. Thomas

J. Burger

Student Representative:

Academic Standing Committee : M. Gochfeld, G. Witz (co-chairs)

H. Lowndes

G. Witz (ex-officio)

Student Representative: Daniella Urbach-Ross

The committee will review credentials of transfer students and post-master students prior to admission to the Ph.D. program. The committee will evaluate student progress, review request for change in status, improve students for qualifying examinations, make recommendations on advancement and standing, evaluate the credentials of students transferring from other institutions, help to maintain student records, and periodically review degree requirements.

Admissions Committee : Debra Laskin

K. Reuhl (ex-officio)

Student Representative: Michelle Jobes

The charge for the Admissions Committee will be to evaluate applicants for both graduate school and for post-doctoral fellows. With respect to prospective graduate students the Committee will review criteria for admission including grade point average, graduate record examination scores, letters of recommendation, and when appropriate TOEFL scores. It will evaluate admission of Masters degree versus Ph.D. students, will insure that students understand residency requirements, will recommend allocation of teaching assistantships, and will play an important role in the recruitment of new students. With respect to postdoctoral fellows it will develop a mechanism for awarding post-doctorals to faculty members. The committee will be concerned with recruitment of post-doctoral fellows which will involve establishing criteria for acceptance. It will develop interaction with both the Graduate School in New Brunswick, and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences - UMDNJ.

Education Committee : R. Snyder (chair)

F. Kauffman (ex-officio)

M. Gordon

R. Zhou

G. Witz (ex-officio)

The Education Committee will be concerned with curriculum, examinations, and overseeing thesis research. It will review and develop curriculum with respect to evaluating currently taught core courses, evaluating availability of electives, developing intensive electives for the third year, confirming the distinction between the M.S. and Ph.D. programs, determining course credit requirements, and evaluating the relationship to other programs. With respect to examinations it will deal with equity between part-time and full-time students and deadlines for achieving goals. It will evaluate the current written preliminary examination system and will review the results of orals and of thesis proposal examinations. Finally it will prepare all comprehensive examinations. With respect to research it will discuss the nature of thesis research, the significance of mechanistic research, and will distinguish between the research requirements for the Masters versus the Ph.D. degree. Finally, it will evaluate teaching in the program.

Student Affairs Committee : P. Thomas (chair)

S. Chen

M. Gallo

K. Cooper (ex-officio)

Student Representative: Caren Villano

. The Student Affairs Committee will organize the orientation program for new students each fall. It will assist the Director in distribution of graduate students among various laboratories for their initial entry into research. It will encourage and assist students in preparation for SOT and other awards. It will sponsor a journal club to be organized for both post-doctoral and graduate students. It will update the student handbook on an annual basis. The Student Affairs Committee will develop a mechanism to deal with student grievances according to the guidelines for student grievances published by the Program.

Seminar, Special Lectures and Visiting Professors Committee : J. Laskin, Chair

P. Lioy

R. Snyder

C.S. Yang

K. Cooper (ex-officio)

Student Representative: Jedd Hillegass

The committee will organize student seminars, student colloquia, student toxicology seminars, special seminars, and will keep students and faculty informed of all seminars.

Membership Committee : J. Burger, Chair

H. Kipen

P. Kahn

K. Cooper (ex-officio)

Student Representative: Li Chen

The charge to the Membership Committee will be to set up criteria for membership, to review applications for membership, to make recommendations for new members to the Director's Advisory Committee which will then pass on them, to review the current membership list and keep it up to date, and to keep membership lists up to date.

JGPT Web Design and Implementation Committee:

The purpose of this committee is to obtain and update information pertaining to the JGPT and related events on its web site. It will consist of a faculty Chairperson, a student webmaster, and at least one photographer (must own and be comfortable with a digital camera). There should also be a representative from EOHSI Network Services as well.

2003-06 Faculty liaison: Kenneth Reuhl

2003-06 JGPT Webmaster: Kathleen Roberts

2005-06 Photography: Caren Villano, Joel Cooper, Jedd Hillegass and Marisol Gutierrez

EOHSI Network Services liaison: Mario Rodriguez

Thanks also to Bernadine Chmielowicz for information and advice!