Policies and Procedures
Policy on Doctoral Committees
Adopted October 24, 1999; Revised January 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.
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.
The preliminary examination or some other review of progress toward the doctorate is required by the Graduate College to be taken at 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 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. This last requirement may be met by term members of the Graduate Faculty who retired or resigned with tenure for a period of three years following their resignation or retirement; that period may be extended at the request of the unit, so long as the faculty member remains actively involved in the graduate program.
The Graduate College encourages appointment of 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 appointed 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. The final examination committee is appointed by the dean of the Graduate College, upon recommendation of the unit executive officer.
The chair of the dissertation 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 dissertation committee should the original chair be unable to serve for any reason.
The dissertation 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. This last requirement may be met by term members of the Graduate Faculty who retired or resigned with tenure for a period of three years following their resignation or retirement; that period may be extended at the request of the unit, so long as the faculty member remains actively involved in the graduate program. 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.
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 dissertation 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. All voting members of the committee must be present in person or via appropriate electronic communication media at the preliminary and final examinations.
Upon request, the dean may also appoint non-voting members of doctoral committees, such as an external reader, an Urbana-Champaign faculty member who is on leave off campus, or others who have made a significant contribution to the dissertation. Non-voting members need not be present at the final examination. Both voting and non-voting committee members may sign the red-bordered sheet that becomes a part of the thesis document. Only the voting members of the dissertation committee sign the Certificate of Result.
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:
- The committee may adjourn with its decision deferred for a period of time not exceeding six months.
- 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.
- Failure can be final.
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. If the examination is scheduled to be held within two months after the committee dissolution date, the unit can extend the committee's lifetime by sending a memorandum to the Graduate College giving the scheduled examination date and certifying that all original committee members have agreed to meet at that time.
Master's Degree Committees
The Graduate College does not require examination or thesis committees for the master's degree. Units that do require such committees may determine their own rules for committee membership.
