PhD Final Exam

When sharing your final exam announcement, please email these groups: ECE Graduate Student List <ece-grads@umn.edu>, ECE Faculty <ecefaculty@umn.edu>, and ECE Researchers <eceresearch@umn.edu>.

In order to receive your degree, the following procedures must be completed. Students must maintain active student status by registering every fall and spring semester until the degree is awarded. 

The Doctoral Final Oral Examination

1. The doctoral final oral committee must consist of at least four members, including the advisor(s). All members of the committee and the candidate must participate in the final oral examination. 

   1. At least three members (including the advisor) must be from the student's major field (affiliated faculty from other department who hold graduate faculty status in Electrical Engineering cannot be counted toward the major field committee unless they are the student's advisor). 

   2. 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 (Electrical Engineering faculty holding outside appointments in other programs cannot be listed as a member outside the major).

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

   4. The chair of the committee must not be the candidate’s advisor or co-advisor.

   5. At least two members of the committee must be tenured or tenure-track University faculty members who hold earned doctorate degrees or designated equivalents in appropriate fields from an accredited institution. At least one of the committee members must be a tenured University faculty member.

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

2. Thesis Reviewers for final oral examination:

   1. A minimum of 2 major field reviewers and 1 minor/outside reviewer are required. In the case of multiple minors, there must be a reviewer for each minor.

   2. Advisor(s) and co-advisor(s) must serve as reviewers.

   3. Students must provide reviewers with a copy of the dissertation at least 14 days before the scheduled date of the doctoral final oral examination.

   4. Every designated reviewer on the doctoral dissertation reviewer’s report must certify that the dissertation is ready for defense before the doctoral final oral examination may take place.

3. The doctoral final oral examination must include:

   1. A public presentation of the candidate’s dissertation to the doctoral final oral examination committee and the invited scholarly community.

   2. A closed session (open only to the doctoral final oral examination committee and the candidate) immediately following the public presentation.

4. To be recommended for the award of the doctoral degree, all committee members, or all committee members save one, must vote that the student has passed the doctoral final oral examination.

5. Students are not allowed to retake the final oral examination.