PhD Exam Procedures
A. PhD Written Candidacy Examination
1. The written candidacy examinations are to be held after the modern language requirements have been completed, but well in advance of the oral candidacy examinations; they should be completed at least one (1) month before the date of the oral candidacy examination.
2. In September or October of the second year of the program, or when the candidate has completed all except one (1) course of his/her course requirements, whichever is the latter, the Supervisor shall call a meeting of the Supervisory Committee. The Committee shall decide on the make-up of the examinations, who, if anyone, will be called as an assessor to the assist in the setting of questions and the assessment of papers, and on any other points that may arise. The Committee will consult with the candidate on the assessors and on the times for the examinations. The Supervisory Committee is to furnish the Graduate Committee with a copy of the Examination Questions for approval of non-Greek or Latin Examinations before the examination is given.
3. At least three (3) weeks prior to the examination the Committee shall approve the examination to be given and shall warn the candidate to be ready. No examination should be more than three (3) hours in duration.
4. At a suitable time and place, assigned by the Committee after consultation with the student, the candidate shall write the examination.
5. The Supervisor shall send copies of the papers to all committee members and any other assessors, together with an appraisal sheet.
6. Within one (1) week of each examination each committee member and assessor shall have filled out the appraisal sheet and returned it to the Supervisor.
7. Each examination may receive one (1) of the following:
- Unconditional Pass;
- Conditional Pass: the candidate must fulfil certain specified requirements (e.g., further reading and study in certain works and areas);
- Conditional Failure: the candidate must be re-examined at a later date;
- Failure: the candidate must withdraw from the PhD Program.
8. If more than one (1) member of the committee and the assessors vote for "Failure," the candidate will be required to withdraw; in other cases the majority prevails.
9. The Committee will meet as soon as possible, in any case within one week, after the examination to discuss the outcome and to inform the candidate.
10. If a member or assessor does not turn in his appraisal sheet within one (1) week after the examination, his opinion shall not be counted. This requirement may be ignored if the member is absent from Campus, or medical grounds or severe domestic affliction may be adduced.
B. PhD Oral Candidacy Examinations
1. The candidacy examination is normally to be held within two (2) years of the commencement of the program, when the course work is completed, and the thesis is started or well defined. The written qualifying examinations must also have been successfully completed.
2. Notice of the candidacy examination must be published and presented to the FGSR at least three (3) weeks before the date set [Calender 202.11].
3. The candidacy examination must be passed no less than six (6) months prior to the final oral examination.
4. The candidacy examination is arranged by the Supervisor and not the student, to ensure that it is held in accordance with FGSR regulations.
5. The candidacy examination shall be carried out by an Examining Committee, consisting of the Supervisory Committee and two (2) other members of the staff, at least one (1) of whom must be from outside the Department of Classics. The Dean or Associate Dean of the FGSR ex officio may attend and participate fully. Others may attend only with the permission of the Supervisor or the Dean of the FGSR; such visitors may not take part in the discussion of the student's performance or in any decision.
6. Students must demonstrate:
- An adequate knowledge of the discipline and of the subject matter relevant to the thesis.
- The ability to pursue and complete original research;only minor attention should be given to the work done on the thesis
- Discussion of the scope and viability of the proposed thesis will normally be part of this examination.
7. A Chair who is not a member of the Supervisory Committee shall be appointed by the Department for each candidacy examination. The membership of the Examining Committee shall in the first instance be approved by the Graduate Committee on behalf of the Department. In case of a disagreement between the Supervisory and the Graduate Committees, the Departmental Council shall make the final recommendation to FGSR.
8. The length of the candidacy examination shall not normally exceed two (2) hours. If more time is required, there should be a break of at least five (5) or ten (10) minutes at the end of two (2) hours before the examination is resumed. In no case should the examination continue beyond three (3) hours.
9. The time should normally be divided on the following basis: about fifteen (15) minutes each to each member of the Committee for the asking of questions. The extra time should be used in a five-minute allocations to each member for clarification or further probing. It will be the responsibility of the Chair to see that the division of time is followed equitably.
10. Questions should normally be centred in the area of the student's specialization and in the case of his/her research and training.
11. The candidacy examination may touch on areas and topics covered in the written preliminary examinations, particularly if the answers were not fully satisfactory or if they provoked further interest.
12. If all but one (1) member of the Committee agree on a favourable decision, the decision shall be that of the majority. If two (2) or more dissenting votes are recorded, the case must be referred to the Dean of the FGSR, who will determine an appropriate course of the action. The candidate will be kept informed of the action taken by the Dean. [FGSR Manual, p. 65].
13. If the student successfully completes the candidacy examination, the Department is responsible for sending in a Recommendation for Change of Category" form. [FGSR Manual, pp. 65f]. Specifically, the Chair of the Supervisory Committee, the Supervisor, shall be charged with seeing to this and ensuring that the form is submitted to FGSR.
14. If the student is not successful, the Department shall inform the FGSR in writing (with copy to the student) of the outcome of the examination and of the department's recommendations for the student's program.
C. PhD Final Oral Examinations
1. Notice of the final oral examination must be submitted to FGSR at least three (3) weeks before the examination date.
2. The final oral examination is to be arranged by the Supervisor and not by the student, so as to ensure that it is scheduled and held in accordance with FGSR regulations.
3. The final oral examination shall be based largely on the thesis and shall be conducted by the Examining Committee.
- Members of the academic staff of the Classics Division, as well as members of the Council of the FGSR, have the right to attend, but should so notify the Chair of the Examining Committee.
- Other persons may attend with the permission of the Dean of the FGSR or the Chair of the Examining Committee.
- Persons who are attending but who are not members of the Examining Committee:
- may participate in the questioning only by permission of the Chair of the Examining Committee;
- and are not permitted to participate in the discussion of the candidate's performance and must withdraw before such discussion commences.
4. The Examining Committee shall consist of the Supervisory Committee and two (2) other examiners. At leat one (1) member shall be from a Department other than History and Classics. This person should not have read earlier drafts of the finished thesis. One member shall be an external examiner. He/she shall be nominated by the Department and approved and invited by the Dean of the FGSR. He/she shall be a recognized authority in the candidate's special field and should have no previous association with the candidate. The Dean of FGSR or his Deputy is a member ex officio. Any committee members from departments that have no graduate programs shall be EXTRA to the regular committee, though otherwise accorded full rights.
5. A Chair who is not a member of the Supervisory Committee shall be appointed by the Department for each final oral examination. There should also be normally at least one (1) other outside the Supervisory Committee from the Department of History and Classics, that is, at least two (2) beyond the minimal established in point 4 above. The membership of the Examining Committee shall in the first instance be approved by the Graduate Committee on behalf of the Department. In case of a disagreement between the Supervisory and the Graduate Committee, the Departmental Council shall make the final recommendation to FGSR.
6. Before the final oral each member of the Supervisory Committee shall declare in writing, normally on "Preliminary Acceptance of Thesis" forms, to the Supervisor either that the thesis is of adequate substance to warrant proceeding to the final examination, or that the thesis is unsatisfactory and that the student should not proceed to the final oral. If any member of the Supervisory Committee dissents, the thesis shall not go forward to a final oral examination.
7. The length of the candidacy examination shall not normally exceed two (2) hours. If more time is required, there should be a break of at least five (5) or ten (10) minutes at the end of two (2) hours before the examination is resumed. In no case should the examination continue beyond three (3) hours.
8. The time should normally be divided on the following basis: about fifteen (15) minutes for each member of the Committee, with about twenty-five (25) for the External Examiner; any extra time should be used in five-minute allocations for clarification or further probing. It will be the responsibility of the Chair to see that the division of time is followed equitably.
9. Questions should normally be directed to the thesis, the methodology and other subjects pertinent to the candidate's defence of his/her thesis.
10. Questions not related to the thesis shall be ruled out of order by the Chair, whose decision shall be final.
11. The decision of the Examining Committee shall be based on the contents of the thesis and the candidate's ability to defend it. If all but one (1) member agree on a favourable decision, the decision shall be that of the majority, except where the dissenter is the External Examiner. In that case, there must be a report to the Dean of FGSR, who will determine an appropriate course of action.
12. If two (2) or more dissenting votes are recorded, the case must be referred to the Dean of the FGSR, who will determine an appropriate course of action. The candidate will be kept informed of the action by the Dean. Immediately after the examination the Department will advise the FGSR of the Examining Committee's decision on a "Report of Completion of Final Oral Examination" form. It is the responsibility of the Supervisor to see to this and to ensure that the form is submitted to the FGSR.
14. The decision may be one of the following:
- Acceptance: the student has passed the examination and no revisions are required;
- Acceptance Subject to Revisions: there are minor changes in substance or corrections of typos and punctuation; the thesis can be submitted before the deadline;
- Examination Adjourned: the revisions are more substantial, i.e., if further research or a major reworking of several sections is required. The Committee should not propose that the candidate has passed, but that the examination be adjourned;
- Rejection: the Committee inform the Dean of the FGSR of the reasons for the rejection and make recommendations on the suitability of the candidate's continuing in the program.
15. If the examination is adjourned, the Committee shall:
- Specify in writing to the student, with as much precision as possible, the nature of the deficiencies and the extent of the revisions required.
- Set an appropriate date to reconvene, within at most two (2) months.
- Make it clear to the student what is required in the way of approval before the Committee is reconvened, e.g., the approval of the Supervisor, or the entire Committee, or of select members of the Committee.
- Specify the supervision and assistance that the student may expect in meeting the necessary revisions.
- Advise the FGSR of the adjournment and the conditions (a) through (d) above.
16. Each examiner will be asked to give his/ her opinion on two (2) points: the acceptability of the thesis and the acceptability of the defence. After the vote the candidate shall be called back to the room to hear the announcement before the Committee.