Each student must pass a written and an oral qualifying examination. After completion of all courses in the degree plan, and in preparation for the qualifying examination, the student may register for 6910. The student must have been recommended by the Chairperson of the student's appropriate departmental committee and have been certified as eligible by the Director of PhD Programs & Research. The form (Form H) should be filed via the major area Ph.D. Coordinator.
Written Qualifying Examination
- Each student is required to pass a written qualifying examination within one long semester after completion of course work over the major and minor areas. The written qualifying examination will consist of at least two four-hour examinations. The minor examination may be taken prior to the completion of all course work.
- The written qualifying examination will be scheduled and administered by the appropriate departmental committee, within the guidelines established by the COBA Doctoral Program Committee and academic departments. Questions for the written qualifying examination will be solicited from all members of the appropriate departmental committee and will cover both the major and minor areas of course work.
- The Ph.D. Coordinator will confer with the appropriate departmental committee to determine if the student passed the written qualifying examination. The Coordinator will notify the student of the result of the written qualifying examination. If the student does not pass the written qualifying examination, he/she will have failed the qualifying examination and will be notified by letter.
- The results of the written qualifying examination will be reported to the Graduate Dean via the Director of PhD Programs & Research by the Ph.D. Coordinator no later than one month from the date of the examination (Form I & I-1).
- If for some reason, the student has not completed all requirements for the Ph.D. within three years from the time he/she passes the written qualifying examination, the candidate will be required to successfully retake the qualifying examination.
Oral Qualifying Examination
- Each student is required to pass an oral qualifying examination, within 90 days after successful completion of written qualifying. The oral qualifying examination will be scheduled and administered by the student's appropriate departmental committee within the guidelines established by the COBA Doctoral Program Committee and the academic departments.
- The Chairperson of the student's appropriate departmental committee will report the results of the oral qualifying examination to the Ph.D. Coordinator of the student's major area. The Coordinator will then notify the Director of PhD Programs & Research, who will notify the student by letter of the overall results of the qualifying examination. If the student does not pass the examination, he/she will be advised to contact his/her appropriate departmental committee Chairperson or Ph.D. Coordinator.
- The results of the oral qualifying examinations will be reported to the Graduate Dean via the Director of PhD Programs & Research by the Ph.D. Coordinator no later than one month from the date of the qualifying examination (Form J).
Examination Results
- The student can PASS, PASS CONDITIONALLY, or FAIL the oral and/or written qualifying examination(s). Only if the student passes both examinations may he/she be admitted to candidacy. If the student PASSES CONDITIONALLY he/she must resolve those deficiencies deemed by his/her appropriate departmental committee to have prevented an unconditional PASS. Once the deficiency requirements are met, the student will be considered to have an unconditional PASS and will not be required to retake any portion of the qualifying examination. All deficiency requirements must be resolved within one calendar year; otherwise, the PASS CONDITIONALLY will automatically be changed to a FAIL.
- If a student fails the oral and/or written qualifying examination(s) on the first attempt, the Ph.D. Coordinator will inform the student of the reasons for the failure. The student's appropriate departmental committee will then meet with the student to formulate and document a program of study designed to prepare the student to re-take the failed examination(s). Form J must be filed in the student's master file, with the major area Ph.D. Coordinator, and/or the major professor. Upon satisfactory completion of his/her remedial program of study, the student's appropriate departmental committee will certify to the Ph.D. Coordinator that the student is ready to re-take the failed examination(s). The examination(s) must be re-taken within six months.
- In the event that the student fails the oral and/or written qualifying examination(s) a second time or fails to re-take the exam(s) within six months, the Ph.D. Coordinator, after notifying the student's appropriate departmental committee and the Chairperson of the Department, will recommend to the Director of PhD Programs & Research and to the Dean of the Graduate School of the University that the student be withdrawn from the Doctoral Program in Business Administration. (Use Forms C & D for documentation).
Candidacy
- The student is admitted to candidacy when all course work other than the pre-dissertation research and dissertation research has been completed and the written and oral qualifying examinations have been passed.
- Doctoral students must maintain continuous enrollment subsequent to passing the qualifying examination for admission to candidacy. The student must register in 6940 subsequent to passing the qualifying examination.
- When the student is admitted to candidacy, the appropriate departmental committee is dissolved and a Dissertation Committee is formed. In the event that a committee is not formed, the appropriate departmental committee will serve as the default committee and the Ph.D. Coordinator will serve as chair. The Dissertation Committee consists of a major professor, who assumes primary responsibility for the dissertation, serves as chairperson of the Dissertation Committee, and is selected from the Graduate Faculty of the student's major area. This chairperson must be a Category III Doctoral Mentor Faculty. Two or more members are selected in consonance with the dissertation requirements from Category III or Category II Graduate Faculty member. Other faculty may be added if they possess special expertise needed by the committee. While the student may recommend to the department the composition of the committee, the selection will be made by the department in accordance with established departmental procedures. This may include a departmental requirement of an outside college member. The major area Ph.D. Coordinator submits the recommendations to the Director of PhD Programs & Research. The Director verifies appropriate qualifications and notifies the Dean of the Graduate School of the formation of the candidate's Dissertation Committee (Form K).
