Feedback in the lab runs on two clocks. Weekly updates (Communication Rules) keep projects moving; the annual review and quarterly check-ins described here keep you moving — toward candidacy, graduation, or the job market. The forms below are deliberately tied to the Lab Expectations rubric: the annual review asks you to self-assess against the same DRI categories we use all year, so nothing in it should come as a surprise.
Once a year (typically late spring), we sit down for a structured review. You complete the self-evaluation parts before the meeting; we finalize the coming year’s goals together during it. The form opens with last year’s goals and their outcomes — the accountability loop matters more than any single rating — and closes with jointly defined goals, each with a deliverable and a target date. Pivoted or dropped goals are expected; research is a stochastic decision process, and what we care about is what the pivot taught us.
Rhythm: I send the form two weeks before the meeting; you return it three days ahead; I complete the advisor sections during or just after; the signed copy is filed in your Drive folder.
Between annual reviews, a one-page check-in each quarter — ten minutes, tops. It references the goals we set at your annual review, uses the same traffic-light status as the weekly updates, and always ends with the question I most want answered: what do you need from me? We discuss it at the next 1:1.
You’ll get a Slack ping when each quarter’s check-in opens (first week of January, April, July, October). Upload the completed PDF to the Quarterly Check-Ins Drive folder as lastname_2026Q3.pdf within two weeks.
Neither form is a performance trap. “At risk” or “blocked” is information, not failure — flagging it early is exactly the behavior the lab rewards.