Preliminary Oral Exam

After passing the written examination, the preliminary oral examination is scheduled. You will be emailed a link to access your Preliminary Oral Exam Report for Doctoral Students form after you have met all of the requirements. The oral exam should be taken as soon as possible after the preliminary written exam is passed, but it should not be scheduled during summer session, unless there are compelling reasons.

The examination usually begins with a 1.5 - 3 hour presentation by the student on the proposed research. After questions on the research topic, the examination is broadened to general questions on the student’s major and minor (related) fields. 

The outcome of the exam (pass, pass with reservations, or fail) is determined by a vote of the examining committee members. 

If the preliminary oral exam is passed, the student officially becomes a Ph.D. Candidate in the Graduate School and is then eligible to take thesis credits the following term and swap pre-thesis credits in the term you took your exam in. 

Failure to pass the preliminary oral exam may result in a recommendation to repeat the exam, convert to another program, or discontinue Ph.D. study. It is within the purview of the program to offer multiple attempts and/or the option to pass with reservations.  Only the final outcome of the written examination is recorded in the central system of record as a pass or fail.

The Preliminary exam form is for doctoral students seeking votes from their examination committee at their Preliminary Oral Exam.

Students should initiate this form before their exam, at least one day before their exam date. 

The committee chair needs time to prepare and be able to access the form at the exam. 

The committee chair should complete the form at the exam following the student’s defense.

Students in doctoral programs will receive an email with a link to complete the preliminary oral exam form workflow after they have scheduled their preliminary oral exam and been cleared by the Registrar (OTR) to take their final exam.

Once the student completes the Preliminary Oral Exam from, the committee chair will receive and email from wfgen-nr@umn.edu with a link to the form. 

The chair will need a computer at the Preliminary Oral Exam in order to complete the form following the exam. 

The chair must record the votes of each committee member listed on the form. If there are alternates, the committee can record their name and votes on the form.

Once the chair submits the form, the student is immediately notified of the committee’s final decision. OTR processes the form and updates the student’s record.

If there are committee changes, instructions on addressing last minute committee changes are available.

Options for pass, pass with reservations, fail - retake allowed.

If the result of the exam is Pass, no additional fields will appear. You will be able to submit once you’ve entered responses for each committee member. Comments are optional.

If the result of the exam is Pass with Reservations, an upload field will appear. Click the “Choose File” button and select the file you want to upload (*.doc or *.pdf preferred). You will be able to submit once you’ve entered responses for each committee member and uploaded a letter of reservations. Comments are optional.

If the result of the exam is Fail and the student has not taken the exam previously, “Retake Allowed?” fields will appear next to each committee member’s decision. You will be able to submit after you’ve entered votes for both the exam result and whether a retake is allowed. Comments are optional.

If the result of the exam is Fail and the student has failed the exam previously, no additional fields will appear. You will be able to submit once you’ve entered responses for each committee member. Comments are optional.

Graduate program coordinators will receive copies of each email generated by the system including those sent to students and committee members. 

The emails will come from wfgen-nr@umn.edu. 

Depending on your preferences, you may want to set up email filters to capture these.

Emails include:

·         Student receives a confirmation when they submit the form

·         Committee chair receives a request to complete the form following the exam

·         Committee chair receives a reminder one day before the exam

·         Committee chair receives a reminder if they have not completed the form 10 days after the exam

·         Student receives confirmation of the committee’s final decision

·         Committee members (including the chair) receive confirmation of the committee’s final decision

·         Student receives a confirmation when OTR has updated their student record

·         Addressing last minute committee changes

·         Person of interest records - expectations and best practices

·         Instructions for the chair - doctoral

·         Process for Recessed Exams

Every doctoral student must pass a preliminary oral examination in the major field. The preliminary oral examination is conducted as a closed examination, attended by only the student and the examining committee.

-The oral examination may not take place before the program has certified that the candidate has passed all written examination requirement(s).

-The doctoral preliminary oral examination will be graded either pass, pass with reservations, or fail.

-If a student fails the exam, the student may retake the examination once, if all committee members, or all committee members save one, approve this option on the Doctoral Preliminary Oral Examination form.

-The second attempt to pass the preliminary oral examination must use the same committee members unless an extraordinary or emergency situation necessitates a substitution.

-If the committee does not approve a retake, or if the student fails the second attempt, the student will be terminated from the doctoral program.

Doctoral Preliminary Oral Committee

The doctoral preliminary oral committee must consist of at least four members, including the student’s 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 candidate must participate in the preliminary oral examination. Committee members and/or the student may participate remotely as long as all conditions for remote participation in the examination are met.

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

-At least one member must represent a field outside the major. If the student has declared a minor, the outside member, or one of the outside members, must represent the minor field.

-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 the members of the preliminary oral examination committee.

Voting Requirements

Voting Requirements for the Doctoral Preliminary Oral Examination:

-At the end of the closed examination, the candidate is excused from the room and an independent, non-binding vote is taken before discussion of the examination begins. This initial non-binding vote is intended to represent the independent assessment of each committee member of the student’s performance free from undue influence of other committee members. Following discussion, a final vote is taken and is recorded on the examination form.

-The outcome of the preliminary oral examination is recorded in one of three ways: pass, pass with reservations, or fail. 

The voting proportions necessary to pass the exam are shown in the next section.

Number of committee members Minimum number of votes needed to pass (A vote to pass with reservations constitutes a passing vote)*

Four Three

Five Four

Six Four

Seven Five

-*The outcome is recorded as “pass with reservations” in situations where to achieve the minimum number of votes to reach a verdict of pass, any vote of pass with reservations is included. For example, on a four-person committee, if there is one “pass with reservations” vote and three pass votes, the result is pass. If there is one “pass with reservations” vote, one fail, and two pass votes, the result is pass with reservations.

-Students who do not earn the minimum number of passing votes fail the examination. A vote to pass the student with reservations still constitutes a passing vote.