Final oral examination

After the doctoral candidate has satisfied all other requirements for the degree and upon recommendation of the thesis advisor, the Program Chair will ask the Associate Dean of the Graduate School to schedule the final examination.

Normally, no less than three months must elapse between the comprehensive and final examinations. The thesis should be distributed to the committee members at least two weeks prior to the scheduled examination. It is required that the thesis has been reviewed and approved by the advisor prior the distribution to the committee.

The major part of the examination should be an oral thesis defense. The following points may be used as guidelines for evaluation.

• Is the research original?
• Are proper experimental designs, appropriate techniques, and interpretation of results described in the thesis?
• Is the candidate able to defend the methods, findings, and conclusions of the research?
• Is the candidate sufficiently knowledgeable of the literature to place his or her contribution in proper context?
• Is the thesis research worthy of publication?

The decision of the committee will be reported to the Program Chair and to the Graduate School on the forms provided by the Graduate School.