Master's Degrees - Final Examination: All master's degrees (except non-thesis EdM students electing the internship option) require a final oral exam. You must have a minimum GPA of 3.00 on both your Program and cumulative graduate transcript to schedule the final oral examination. All course work with a grade of I appearing on the program of study must be completed prior to scheduling the final oral examination. You must schedule your exam with the Graduate School one week in advance to allow time to audit of your Program of Study.
Preliminary Oral Examination: In order to be admitted to candidacy for the doctoral degree, you must pass a comprehensive preliminary oral examination conducted by your committee. The purpose of this exam is to determine your understanding of your major and minor fields and to assess your capability for research. The exam may cover your proposed research topic, although no more than one-half of the time should be devoted to specific aspects of the proposal. The preliminary oral exam is taken near the completion of all course work on the Program of study. The exam should be at least two hours in length, and all committee members must be present. Remote Participation Form.
Final Oral Examination: At least one complete academic term must elapse between the preliminary oral exam and final oral examination. The examination committee will consist of the same members as for the preliminary examination, although substitutions may be made if approved by the department/program or college and the Graduate School. You must contact members of the committee to arrange the date, time and place, then schedule the exam with the Graduate School not less than two weeks before the examination. Submit one examination copy of the pretext pages of the thesis to the Graduate School at the time you schedule. Distribute examination copies of your thesis to all committee members, including the Graduate Council Representative, sufficiently early to permit thorough review prior to your exam date. The exam should be scheduled for two hours, and all committee members must be present. The first part is the thesis defense portion is open to all interested parties. After the thesis defense portion of the exam, the examination committee may exclude all other persons and continue with the examination of your knowledge of your field.
Changing your committee membership: If it becomes necessary to replace one of your committee members for your final exam, refer to your committee composition requirements, and ensure that your replacement member is a member of the Graduate Faculty and approved for his or her proposed role in your committee by consulting the Graduate School. If the faculty member is not a member of the Graduate Faculty or is not approved for the role proposed, your major department/program will need to nominate the proposed member to act in those roles using the Nomination to Graduate Faculty form. Committee structure is evaluated by the Graduate School when you schedule your examination.
Scheduling your exam: You must contact members of the committee to arrange the date, time and place of the exam, then schedule the exam with the Graduate School not less than one week before the examination for master's students and two weeks before examinations for doctoral students, using an Event Scheduling Form. The exam should be scheduled for two hours.
Thesis distribution: You must submit the pre-text pages of your thesis (see Online Thesis Guide) to the Graduate School office at least one week before the final exam. You are expected to distribute examination copies of your thesis to all your committee members, including the Graduate Council Representative, sufficiently early to permit thorough review prior to your final oral examination. (See Completing Your Thesis for more details.)
The exam process: The first part of the exam is the thesis defense, a presentation which may be open to all interested parties. After the thesis defense portion, the examination committee excludes all other persons and continues examining your knowledge of your field.
Physical Presence of Committee at Exams: It is generally expected that all committee members be physically present for all examinations. If you have a special case in which a committee member may need to participate remotely, you and your committee must assure that all the conditions listed on the Remote Participation Form are met, and you must submit the form to the Graduate School one week prior to the exam.
See Preparing to Complete Your Degree for more information and requirements.
