Examining Committee

The graduate examining committee consists of the adviser(s) and other faculty from both in and out of the department. The committee serves two purposes: 1) to provide guidance to the student during the graduate program and 2) to evaluate the quality of the work performed by the student by reading/approving the thesis and by questioning the student during a final oral exam (i.e. thesis defense). A student is allowed only one committee request in the workflow at a time.

The M.S. examining committee for the final oral exam should be entered after the degree plan is submitted and approved. Examining committees are established formally by the Dean of the Graduate School, but the DGS recommends a committee to the Dean. Students submit committee members for review via the following website. Students can also use this website to update members of the examining committee. Students will receive a confirmation email once their committee has been approved.

The student and his/her adviser suggest committee members deemed appropriate based on the topic of research for the student's thesis. Examining committees for master's degrees must have at least three members, including the advisor(s): two from the major field (including the student's adviser) and one from the minor or related programs outside of the department. Committee members must be graduate faculty members within the University, with the exception of external committee members (see next paragraph). If you have a declared minor(s), the outside member must be from the minor field(s). Members cannot satisfy the requirement with respect to more than one field. Prior to submitting the names of the suggested committee members to the DGS, students must contact the faculty they intend to have on their committee and determine their willingness to serve.

Advisor’s role: Must represent the major field on the examination committee. May serve as chair for the final examination

Co-advisor’s role: May represent the major field or the outside/minor field. May serve as chair for the final examination.

Thesis reviewers (Plan A only): Assigned committee members also serve as thesis reviewers for the Plan A students.

To check to see if committee members are on the graduate education faculty role list go here. 

Find the Role list. 

Click on Faculty Role list database. 

Log in with your umn credentials.

Occasionally there is not sufficient expertise among the faculty to examine a student with a very narrow or specific research focus. In these instances, the college may consider a request for an expert outside the University of Minnesota to serve as a member of the student's examining committee. Students interested in including an external committee member on their examining committee should discuss the possibility with their adviser and the Director of Graduate Studies (DGS).

There are two types of external committee member appointments: 

• One time only assignments - This type of appointment is graduate student-specific i.e. the external member is serving on one student's exam committee. This type of appointment does not provide graduate faculty status. 

• Ongoing faculty service - The external expert provides ongoing service to the graduate program in various capacities, which may include serving on multiple student exam committees, teaching, or research responsibilities. This appointment may include graduate faculty status. External faculty members who will serve as advisors or co-advisors must have an adjunct faculty appointment. 

If it is deemed necessary to request an outside expert to serve on the student’s examination committee, these are the steps that need to be take. 

1. The student’s adviser must get the outside experts CV and write a letter to the Graduate Studies Committee (GSC) in support and detailing why this expert in necessary to be on the committee. What should be included in the letter to the GSC include: 

   • What’s the student's name and thesis title? 

   • Who else will be on the committee?

   • What is the role of the external committee member in the student thesis work? 

   • Explanation as to why there is nobody at the U who could do this better than the suggested external advisor 

   • Any arguments why we should allow this specific person to join the committee will help the GSC to make a decisions quickly.

2. The CV and nomination letter should get sent to the DGS and the graduate programs coordinator. They will present these two things to the next GSC meeting to discuss with the GSC members. 

3. If all are in favor, then the DGS will sent the CV and adviser nomination letter to the Dean of Graduate Studies in the College of Science and Engineering. The Dean will need to approve this expert. Once approval is granted from the Dean, the student/adviser will get notified. 

4. At that point, they need to send payroll/administrator the paperwork (HRIF form) and let them know to set up a Person of Interest (POI) record for this person in Peoplesoft. This could take two weeks. 

5. After the POI is created, the external member can then be added to the online committee workflow request. 

6. The whole process usually takes 3-4 weeks.

The master's final examination committee must consist of at least three members, including the advisor(s). All members appointed to the committee must meet the minimum standards established by the program and college. All members of the committee and the student must participate in the final examination. Committee members and/or the student may participate remotely as long as all conditions for remote participation in examination are met.

-At least two members (including the advisor) must be from the student’s major field.

-At least one member must represent a field outside the student’s major. If the student has a declared minor(s), the outside member(s) must be from the minor field(s). 

-Members cannot satisfy the requirement with respect to more than one field.

-Collegiate deans or their designated representatives at the collegiate level must verify eligibility and approve members of the final oral examination committee.

-The approved committee membership must be centrally archived in the system of record

Changes in committee membership may be made after filing the degree plan if approved by the program Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) and the collegiate unit. Changes must also be archived centrally in the system of record.