Policy on Doctoral Committees

Doctoral committees are formed at different stages of graduate study in order to monitor and ensure the quality of graduate work.

The Graduate College does not require a qualifying examination. However, some academic units appoint committees to conduct qualifying examinations.

Preliminary Examination and Committee

The preliminary examination is required by the Graduate College to be taken for the completion of Stage II of graduate study. Preliminary examinations may be oral or written or both, depending on the unit's policy. The unit awarding the doctoral degree prescribes the scope of the examination or other procedure, and the result of the evaluation is communicated to the student and to the Graduate College.The program must clearly communicate information about the format and rules (e.g. closed-book) to all students in advance. The preliminary examination committee is appointed by the dean of the Graduate College, upon recommendation of the unit executive officer. It must include at least four voting members, three of whom must be members of the Graduate Faculty and two of whom must be tenured at Illinois, or have tenure status for the purpose of serving on doctoral committees. See the Policy on Graduate Faculty Membership. If there are more than four voting members on the committee, at least half of the voting members should be members of the Graduate Faculty. Departments may request the inclusion of individuals from off-campus who have made a significant contribution to the dissertation. Upon request, the dean may also appoint non-voting members to doctoral committees, beyond the four required voting members.

The committee chair is responsible for convening the committee, conducting the examination, and submitting the Certificate of Result to the unit in which the student is enrolled and to the Graduate College. The committee chair and the defending student must be physically present at the examination (e.g. presence by teleconference is not acceptable). All other voting members of the committee must be present in person or via appropriate electronic communication media at the preliminary examination.

Dissertation Committee

The Graduate College encourages assembling the dissertation committee as early as possible after the successful completion of the preliminary examination. There is no time limit on the duration of service of the dissertation committee, other than the length of time that the student is allowed to complete the degree. The intention is that the committee be assembled early in the student's dissertation research work so that the committee can most effectively monitor the student's progress toward completion. In units whose preliminary examination includes the presentation of a proposal for the doctoral research, a unit may decide to have the dissertation committee be substantially the same as the preliminary examination committee. Normally, the dissertation committee also serves as the final examination committee.

Final Examination and Committee

The chair of the final examination committee must be a member of the Graduate Faculty and may or may not be the thesis adviser, according to the unit's policy. A contingent chair may be designated to serve as the chair of the final examination committee should the original chair be unable to serve for any reason.

The final examination committee must be composed of at least four voting members, at least three of whom must be members of the Graduate Faculty; at least two members must be tenured at Illinois, or have tenure status for the purpose of serving on doctoral committees. See the Policy on Graduate Faculty Membership. Departments may request the inclusion of individuals from off-campus who have made a significant contribution to the dissertation. If there are more than four voting members on the committee, at least half of the voting members should be members of the Graduate Faculty. Upon request, the dean may also appoint non-voting members to doctoral committees, beyond the four required voting members. The final examination committee is appointed by the dean of the Graduate College, upon recommendation of the unit executive officer.

Committee members should be chosen for their expertise in the student's research area, but may also be chosen to give diversity in viewpoint, methodology, or academic discipline. Such diversity may be achieved by including members from more than one sub-discipline within the unit, from other units, or from other campuses. The faculty of a unit may establish procedures or requirements for introducing diversity in the membership of the final examination committee.

A student who passed the preliminary examination before August 21, 1997, may request that the final examination be conducted under the policy in effect prior to that date. Under the previous policy, the committee must be composed of at least three members of the Graduate Faculty, with at least one member being tenured.

Final examinations are oral and public. The committee chair is responsible for convening the committee, conducting the examination, and submitting the Certificate of Result to the unit in which the student is enrolled and to the Graduate College. The committee chair and the defending student must be physically present at the examination (e.g. presence by teleconference is not acceptable). All other voting members of the committee must be present in person or via appropriate electronic communication media at the final examinations. Non-voting members need not be present at the final examination.

Doctoral Examination Results

Decisions of the committees for both preliminary and final examinations must be unanimous. In the case of a final examination, each committee member must also indicate that the thesis has been read and approved. If a student does not pass a preliminary or final examination, the committee may make one of three decisions:

1. The committee may adjourn with its decision deferred for a period of time not exceeding six months.
2. The committee may record a failure but grant the student another opportunity to take the examination after completing additional course work, independent study, or research. In this case, the Graduate College will be informed of the failure, and the committee chair will indicate that the student should be given a second examination.
3. Failure can be final.

Both voting and non-voting committee members may sign the Certificate of Committee Approval. Only the voting members of the dissertation committee sign the Certificate of Result. The result of the examination should be reported to the Graduate College immediately; if the Graduate College is not informed of the result of the examination within six months after the scheduled examination date, the committee is considered to be dissolved,and a new committee must be appointed before the examination occurs. The newly appointed committee may, but does not have to, consist of the same members as the dissolved committee.

¹January 28, 2004 This revised policy increases the minimum size of doctoral committees from three to four voting members, and it allows participation at preliminary examinations and final examinations via appropriate electronic communication technology. The revised policy encourages the early appointment of dissertation committees, with intellectual diversity among committee members.