Ph.D. Qualifying Examination Change
Procedure:
- During the first semester, the candidate forms a supervisory committee and discusses his/her field of study with the primary advisor.
- During the second semester of enrollment, the graduate secretary schedules the date of the oral examination with the thesis committee and solicits one paper from the research literature from each member.
- Eight weeks prior to the oral exam, the candidate chooses three of the five papers to study. The candidate submits the written summary within six weeks. The summary will then be distributed to the thesis committee.
- The candidate then has the oral examination. Based upon the written summary and oral examination, the committee will recommend Pass, Fail, or, in exceptional cases, Retry. In the event of a second-chance, the candidate must repeat the process the following semester or summer.
In both the written and oral components, the candidate must address the following points for each study paper: 1) the methods, results, and significance of the paper, 2) the completeness of the paper and what follow-on research should be performed, and 3) the relationship of the paper to the candidate’s intended field of study.
In the oral exam, in addition to the items covered in the written summary, the candidate should be prepared to answer questions from the committee specific to the papers and in the general field of study.
