|
General Examination and Qualifying Procedure for the Doctorate
The Institute mandates that general written and oral examinations be set for doctoral students. The student must pass both written and oral examinations to become a candidate for the doctoral degree. Either part, once passed, need not be retaken. A student who fails the written or oral examination twice will not be allowed to continue in the doctoral program.
General Written Examination
The Department sets a single General Written Examination, offered each May, based on the four-subject graduate core material. A General Examination Committee, appointed each year, constructs the examination and arranges for its grading and adjudicating of the students’ performances. Students intending to pursue a doctoral program directly must sit this examination after two semesters in residence. Students pursuing a doctoral program after completing an S.M. thesis in the Department will be expected to sit the examination in the June following the soonest possible completion of any remaining core subjects. Students admitted either for the S.M. with Option to By-pass or for the S.M. only who do not take the Written Exam at this time must complete the S.M. before pursuing a doctorate.
(Note: Students admitted to the Master of Engineering Program,or for the Master of Science degree only as part of a special program such as LFM, TPP, or DMSE Internship, and those admitted with other restrictions may not register for the exam until they have been admitted as Ph.D. registrants, as described under Admissions.)
The examination is given in one day in morning and afternoon sessions (each 3 hours long, closed book and without notes). Questions will focus on material from each of the core subjects (3.20, 3.21, 3.22, and 3.23). Some questions will integrate material drawn from two or more core subjects.
The examination is graded Pass/Fail. A Fail means the student must retake the entire exam before proceeding to the Oral Examination. Two Failures on the exam eliminates the student from the doctoral program.
Occasionally, students whose performance on the exam, while passing overall, is highly deficient in one area of the exam may be given a Conditional Pass. The student must then satisfactorily complete an additional subject or supervised project approved by the General Examination Committee to make up the deficiency.
Copies of previous General Written Examinations are available in the DMSE Academic Office.
Qualifying for the Doctorate
The Qualifying Procedure must be successfully completed before the student may register to take the General Oral Examination. Normally this procedure occurs in the fall semester following the General Written Examination. (Note: Archaeological Materials and other interdepartmental Academic Programs have devised separate formats for the general examination; the program directors should be contacted for specific details.)
Graduate student residency for two regular academic semesters is required prior to petitioning to become a Qualified Doctoral Registrant. The student must have passed the General Written Examination. Additionally, students must have successfully passed, for academic credit with a letter grade, subjects 3.20, 3.21, 3.22, and 3.23. Students who wish to qualify for the doctoral program should have passed all four core subjects with a grade of B or better.
The Qualifying Procedure for a graduate student in the doctoral program in the Department is comprised of:
- submission of the SM Bypass Application Form by the student to the Departmental Committee on Graduate Students (DCGS) selecting one of the offered doctoral programs, and including student signature and thesis advisor’s endorsement
- a transcript of the student’s academic record provided by the DMSE Academic Office
In considering the application for qualifying, the DCGS considers the student’s performance in the four core subjects, other subjects, and the student’s progress in his/her research work.
Having satisfied the Qualifying Procedure, the student becomes a Qualified Doctoral Registrant and may register to sit for the General Oral Examination.
General Oral Examination
Each of the Academic Programs offers a General Oral Examination at least once a year (in late January or early February) following the General Written Examination and based largely on subject material relevant to the Academic Programs contained in subjects recommended by the Academic Programs. The examination is based on the subject matter in the two academic program restricted elective subjects, together with subject matter in the four core subjects germane to the academic program field. The General Oral Examination tests the student on knowledge of advanced material in the area of a particular Academic Program.
Each Academic Program Chair will appoint an Examination Committee of three faculty members to then conduct the examination. At least two members of the Oral Examination Committee must be Course III faculty members. The third member of the Committee may be a Senior Research Associate, Lecturer, Senior Lecturer, or Research Associate, or a faculty member from outside the Department. The supervisor may be a non-voting attendee, who will not participate in the questioning the student, but may make comments to the Committee and provide information regarding the student following the exam.
In rare instances, students may be given a “conditional pass” on the oral exam when the student’s overall performance on the exam is judged to be adequate by the examination committee, but a deficiency in the student’s knowledge in a particular, limited aspect of the academic program outside the core is apparent that the committee feels could be satisfactorily rectified through successful completion of a particular subject or special project.
The examination will be graded Pass/Fail. A Fail means the student must retake the Oral Exam. The timing of the second exam is arranged by the Academic Program Chair in consultation with the student and the advisor(s). A second failure on the Oral Exam will cause the student to be removed from the Departmental Doctoral Program.
Back to PhD requirements.
|
