Final DOCTORAL Examination

Doctoral Final Examination

The Graduate School must receive a Notification of Intent to Schedule a Final Doctoral Examination form in order to initiate the doctoral final examination process. The Notification of Intent form must be submitted to the Graduate School at least eight weeks before the exam is to be scheduled. 

Upon submission of the form, the Dean of the Graduate School appoints an Outside Examiner. Note that the minimum eight week lead time is required to secure a suitable outside examiner and to perform the necessary audit of the student’s academic record (a student will not be allowed to sit for the Final Examination until any remaining “I” or “S” grades in credit-bearing courses have been assigned letter grades).

Following the appointment of the Outside Examiner, the final examination date may be set by submitting the “Request for Final Examination” at least two weeks before the scheduled date for the Final Exam. The Graduate School will send announcements of the examination to each committee member and to the student. Doctoral Final Examinations may only be scheduled when classes are in session (fall and spring semesters, and summer session). Requests for exceptions to this policy should be submitted by the DGS to the Senior Associate Dean of the Graduate School. Examination and degree conferral deadlines can be found in the University Calendar.

The following are Graduate School procedures for conducting the Final Examination: 

• At the outset of the Examination, the DGS or committee chair should verify that the Examination Card has been brought to the examination room. If this is not the case, the committee chair or DGS must call the Senior Associate Dean’s office at the Graduate School (257.2411) to determine if the examination may proceed. 

• The Examination may not begin until all voting members of the committee are present (these names are listed on the examination card). 

• One or more members of a doctoral committee may participate remotely in an Examination if a video-conference connection can be established (this option does not apply to the Outside Examiner assigned to final doctoral defenses). The DGS should identify the 2019-2020 Policies and Procedures Manual committee members participating in this fashion on the qualifying or final examination request form. ** Under exceptional circumstances, the remote participation option may also be extended to the student. 

• An Examination may be cancelled prior to its official start for substantive reasons with no permanent consequences for the student. The student has not failed the examination in this case because it was never officially begun. Substantive reasons can include a missing committee member, a sudden difficulty in the candidate’s personal life that may affect performance, or a (late) opinion on the part of one or more committee members, for example that the dissertation is not ready to defend. In such cases, the committee may hold an open or closed discussion to review the issues at hand and reach a decision on whether to hold the examination or not. Furthermore, the candidate does have the right to cancel the examination prior to its start. If the examination is cancelled, it must be formally rescheduled with the Graduate School in the standard fashion. A minimum two-week interval is required for rescheduling the examination. 

• Once the examination has begun, all committee members must remain present for the duration of the process. In cases in which a committee member is participating remotely, if the connection is lost, the examination process should be immediately suspended and not re-started until connection is again fully established. 

• Once the examination has begun, it must be carried through until its end. A formal vote must be taken and recorded on the examination card, along with the signatures of all (voting) members. There are only two outcomes possible; by majority vote, Pass or Fail. The examination may not be suspended for an extended period to permit the candidate to correct deficiencies, and subsequently re-convened. The only suspensions permitted are short one stop to permit the candidate or committee members to refresh themselves. 

• If an emergency situation should arise during the course of an examination, the committee chair or DGS should immediately call the Graduate School (257.4905 or 257.1759) to seek guidance. 

• Remote participants may record their vote in one of two ways; a copy of the examination card may be faxed/emailed to them for decision and signature and returned to the DGS OR they may email the Assistant Dean for Graduate Academic Services directly with their vote. 

Outside Examiner on Final Examination

The Graduate Dean will independently appoint the outside examiner to the Final Examination Committee. Care will be taken to appoint outside examiners who have some understanding of and interest in the topic of the dissertation. When the Notification of Intent is submitted, the DGS or advisor should identify two or more programs whose members are likely to satisfy these conditions. When feasible, the appointment will be made from one of these programs. The Graduate School will not appoint a particular outside examiner on the basis of a student’s (or Committee’s) desire to hold the Final Examination on a specific date, or at a specific time. For selected dissertations, the Dean of the Graduate School may appoint a faculty member from another institution to serve as the outside examiner (see Visiting Distinguished Faculty program). 

The role of the outside examiner on the Final Examination Committee includes (a) assurance that only qualified candidates receive degrees and (b) assurance that the examination is administered in a fair, impartial and professional manner. At the time of appointment, the outside examiner on each examination will be given access to an on-line questionnaire addressing (a) the quality of the dissertation, (b) the adequacy of the student’s defense, and (c) the administration of the examination. The outside examiner should complete the questionnaire and return it to the Graduate School. Summaries of reports are provided to programs periodically (every 2–3 years). 

The student must deliver to the Outside Examiner a complete, approved copy of the dissertation at least two weeks in advance of the examination. Questions concerning the assignment of the outside examiner for doctoral final examinations should be directed to the Assistant Dean for Graduate Academic Services.

The Dissertation

The final copy of the dissertation must be approved by the Graduate School within 60 days of the Final Examination or on the last day to present a dissertation for a graduating candidate, if a specific graduation date is desired. Failure to present the dissertation within 60 days may result in the student having to be re-examined. Requests for exceptions to the 60-day policy should be in the form of an email from the student’s advisor to the Senior Associate Dean of the Graduate School.

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (ETDs)

All doctoral dissertations must be submitted in electronic format following these instructions. View the current collection of electronic thesis and dissertations. 

Post-Qualifying Time Limit

All degree requirements for the doctorate must be completed within five years following the semester or summer session in which the candidate successfully completes the qualifying examination, but extensions up to an additional 5 years may be requested for a total of 10 years. 

All requests should be initiated by the Director of Graduate Studies and accompanied by a letter of support from the student’s advisor. Extensions up to one year may be approved by the Senior Associate Dean of the Graduate School. Requests for extensions longer than one year must be considered by the Graduate Council. All requests should be initiated by the Director of Graduate Studies and must include a recommendation on whether or not a retake of the qualifying examination should be a requirement of the extension. If requested, failure to pass the reexamination will result in the termination of degree candidacy; a second re-examination is not permitted. Failure to complete all degree requirements within 10 years of initially taking the qualifying examination will also result in the termination of degree candidacy. 

A program may submit an appeal to the Graduate Council to allow a time-to-degree terminated student to be readmitted and pursue the degree without re-taking all required coursework. The appeal should: 

• Provide an explanation for the failure to initially complete the degree on-time.

• Provide a detailed description of the requirements that must be fulfilled in order to receive the degree. 

• Provide confirmation that the appeal was approved by the majority of the program graduate faculty. 

Assessment of Good Progress for Doctoral Students

The Graduate Faculty of each doctoral program is required to define good progress toward completion of the doctoral degree. This information should be included in the program’s Graduate Student Handbook (it is recommended that the consequences of lack of good progress are also included in the handbook). Each doctoral student’s progress toward the degree will be reviewed (at least) annually by either the Graduate Faculty in the program, the doctoral advisory committee, or the graduate education committee. Students will be informed in writing of the results of that meeting by the Director of Graduate Studies or the chair of the advisory committee, or their designee. These reports do not need to be forwarded to the Graduate School.