Doctoral Final Examination Procedure

Preliminary Acceptance of Thesis

 

Before scheduling the exam or sending the thesis to the external examiner, the PhD Supervisory Committee must declare the thesis is of adequate substance (and quality) to proceed. If the thesis is unsatisfactory, the student is not allowed to proceed to the final exam. If the thesis is adequate for the defense, the Supervisory Committee members sign the “Preliminary Acceptance of Thesis for Doctoral Final Examination” form and email it to the Graduate Advisor.

 

This process is critical because:

  • We must protect and uphold the reputation of the Department and the 伊人直播 for excellence in graduate programs.
  • External examiners and members of the examining committee are not asked to invest time in substandard theses.

 

In order to assist in timely final exams the Supervisor and Supervisory Committee members:

  • Should strive to respond with comments on preliminary thesis drafts promptly upon receiving the material.
  • Are not expected to read a long thesis on short notice, and Supervisory Committee members are not expected to read multiple drafts.

 

Examining Committee Structure

 

GPS (formerly FGSR) has made changes to the composition of the examining committee which are in effect starting September 2023. 

 

The doctoral examining committee is:
- the supervisor and supervisory committee members;

- either one university examiner or one specialized knowledge examiner; and

- one external examiner.
At least half of the examiners must hold a doctoral degree or higher.  At least half of the examiners must be current or retired Academic Staff members or hold other positions detailed in the Calendar. 

 

Refs: A. Calendar, Regulations of the FGPS, The Role and Structure of Examining Committees

  1. Calendar, Regulations of the FGPS, Size and Composition of Examining Committees

 

 

 

 

 

Exam Chair

 

The exam shall be chaired by a faculty member who is not the Supervisor, and is a faculty member in the student’s home department with experience supervising students. The chair:

  • Is provided with a checklist of the examination procedure, student CV and a copy of the thesis.
  • Ensures departmental and GPS regulations related to final exams are followed.
  • Is responsible for moderating the discussion and directing questions.
  • May participate in the questions.
  • Does not vote.
  • Should not have a real or apparent conflict of interest with the student or any of the examiners.
  • Takes notes during the exam on the general line of questioning, answers provided, final decisions by the committee members and suggestions/requests by the committee members. These notes are kept as a written record in the student’s file.
  • Polls the committee for awards.
  • Provides in writing a report if the outcome of the exam is “Pass Subject to Revisions” within five working days of the exam. The report includes:
    • The reasons for the outcome
    • Details of the required revisions
    • Approval mechanism for meeting the requirements for revisions (i.e. approval by Supervisor)
    • The supervision and assistance the student can expect to receive from committee members.

Note:  The Department of Anthropology has a memo template to aid exam chairs in composing the report. The memo template is given to the exam chair by the Graduate Advisor.

 

External Examiner

 

All Doctoral final exams are required to have an external examiner (i.e., an arm’s length examiner from outside of the 伊人直播).

 

The external examiner shall be:

  • A recognized authority in the specific field of research of the student's thesis,
  • Experienced in evaluating doctoral area work,
  • In a position to review the thesis objectively and to provide a critical analysis of the work and the presentation,
  • Must not have an association with the student, the Supervisor, or the department, within the last six years.
    • That is, a proposed External who has within the last six years been associated with the student as a research collaborator or co-author would not be eligible.
    • Must not have had an association within the last six years with the doctoral student's Supervisor (as a former student, Supervisor, or close collaborator, for instance).

 

Departments that are in doubt about the eligibility of a potential External should contact the Faculty of Arts to review the case before approaching the External. All Externals must be approved – and invited to act as an External – by the Faculty of Arts.

 

The external examiner attends the examination either in person or via teleconference.

 

Note: This requirement may be waived in extraordinary circumstances in which medical, technological, or geographical circumstances make attendance impossible. In such cases, the external examiner will be considered to be in attendance at the examination. The written commentary of an external examiner who has been excused from attendance will include either a list of clear, direct, contextualized questions to be posed to the candidate during the examination, or a brief written commentary on the thesis which can be read to the candidate.  Contact the Graduate Advisor for more information.

 

The external examiner’s invitation asks them to preliminarily place the thesis into one of the following categories:

  • The thesis is acceptable with minor or no revisions
  • The external examiner wishes to reserve judgement until after the examination, or
  • The thesis is unacceptable without major revisions

 

If the thesis falls into the last category, the examiner is requested to contact the Dean of GPS immediately as the exam may need to be postponed.

 

Additionally, the external examiner is required to provide a brief written commentary on the structure, methodology, quality, significance and findings of the thesis for the benefit of both the candidate and the Supervisor to the Director of Graduate Programs one week before the exam.

 

It is up to the Department to cover the travel expenses for external examiners attending the exams in person.

 

Process of Inviting an External Examiner:

 

Note: The Faculty of Arts requires the request for an external examiner at least 8 weeks prior to the exam. It is recommended that Supervisors complete the process below with as much lead time as possible (more than 8 weeks if possible).

 

  1. The Supervisor provides the name of the external examiner and their CV to the Graduate Advisor.

Note: The Faculty of Arts is particularly interested in the External’s current scholarly publications and research activities as well as experience in graduate student education.

  1. The Graduate Advisor will prepare the “Approve External Examiner for Final Doctoral Oral Exam” form.

 

Upon approving the External, the Faculty of Arts Associate Dean, Graduate Studies, will prepare a letter of invitation and give it to the Graduate Advisor.  The Graduate Advisor emails the letter of invitation to the External.

 

Once the official invitation has been extended to the External, the Supervisor and Student are not to have contact with the External.

 

 

Setting the Exam

 

It is the responsibility of the Supervisor, not the student, to arrange the exam, ensuring it is scheduled and held in accordance with GPS regulations.

  • The Supervisor is to provide the Graduate Advisor with the date, time, examining committee membership (and their roles) as well as indicate if any member will be teleconferencing in.
  • The Graduate Advisor will check to ensure the student has completed all program and GPS requirements, find an exam chair (if one was not secured by the Supervisor), and process the paperwork.
  • The Graduate Advisor will provide a copy of the exam notice to all members of the examining committee and the student.

 

The student is to ensure the examining committee members have copies of the thesis at least four weeks prior to the exam, and the external examiner at least 5 weeks prior to the exam.

 

Exam Subject Matter

 

The exam will be based largely on the thesis, which must be of sufficient merit to meet the standards of reputable scholarly publications. The decision of the examining committee will be based on both the content of the thesis and on the student’s ability to defend it.

 

Exam Introduction

 

The student is to send an updated CV to the Graduate Advisor prior to the examination date (the student will be requested to send one at least one month prior to the exam). The CV will assist the chair in giving a brief review of the academic record of the student at the beginning of the public lecture.

 

Exam Procedures

The exam has two components:

  • Public lecture (maximum 45 minutes in length)
    • Intended to recognize the significant accomplishments of the student who has completed a PhD thesis.
    • The lecture will summarize the thesis.
    • Emphasize the major findings of the thesis.
    • Attendees may briefly ask questions at the end of the presentation.
  • Closed examination (follows immediately after the lecture)

Anthropology faculty members as well as members of GPS Council (or their alternates) have the right to attend doctoral examinations following the public lecture but should notify the exam chair that they will be doing so in advance.

Except for the Dean of GPS (or Associate Dean or Pro Dean) who may participate fully in the exam, persons who are not members of the examining committee:

  • May participate in the questioning only by permission of the chair of the committee
  • Are not permitted to participate in the discussion of the student’s performance and must withdraw before such discussion commences.

Conduct of the Questioning during the Exam

  • It is customary for the student to leave the room while procedures are determined and explained (e.g. the order of questioning, the length of time allocated per question, the number of rounds, etc). Normally, the external examiners are given first right of refusal. 
  • Students should never play host or hostess, serving tea, etc. 
  • In the first round of questions, each committee member will have approximately 15-20 minutes. When questions related to an on-going line of questioning arise, other members may interject on that topic. 
  • A second round of supplemental questions allowing 5-10 minutes per examiner will conclude the questioning. 
  • If the student wishes, s/he may be allowed a further 5-10 minutes after the questioning has ceased to provide further information or to clarify answers. 
  • The Chair’s participation in questioning is optional; the Chair may raise a significant point missed by others, or pursue a line of questioning further. 
  • The Chair may intervene in questioning or rule upon matters that in her/his judgement go beyond the purpose of the examination. 
  • The Chair may adjourn the exam if the student or a member of the examining committee becomes ill or unable to continue.

Conclusion of the Exam

The examining committee will assess the student’s performance once the student leaves the room. The decision of the committee will be based on the content of the thesis and on the candidate’s ability to defend it.

Members of the committee are polled individually by the chair for their decision. The student is called back into the room for the announcement of the decision. The possible outcomes are:

  • Adjourned
  • Pass
  • Pass subject to revisions
  • Fail

Adjourned

  • A majority of examiners must agree to an outcome of adjourned.
  • An adjourned examination is one that has been abandoned officially.
  • The examination should adjourned in the following situations:
    • The revisions to the thesis are sufficiently substantial that it will require further research or experimentation or major reworking of sections, or if the committee is so dissatisfied with the general presentation of the thesis that it will require a reconvening of the examining committee. In such circumstances the committee cannot pass the student, and must adjourn the examination.
    • The committee is dissatisfied with the student’s oral presentation and defense of the thesis, even if the thesis itself is acceptable with or without minor revisions.
    • Compelling, extraordinary circumstances such as a sudden medical emergency taking place during the examination.
    • Discovery of possible offences under the Code of Student Behaviour after the examination has started.
  • If the examination is adjourned, the committee should:
    • Specify in writing to the student, with as much precision as possible, the nature of the deficiencies and, in the case of revisions to the thesis, the extent of the revisions required. Where the oral defense is unsatisfactory, it may be necessary to arrange some discussion periods with the student prior to reconvening the examination.
    • Decide upon a date to reconvene. If the date of the reconvened examination depends on the completion of a research task or a series of discussions, it should be made clear which committee members will decide on the appropriate date to reconvene. The final date set for reconvening shall be no later than six months from the date of the examination. The new examination must be held within 6 months of the initial examination.
    • Make it clear to the student what will be required by way of approval before the examination is reconvened (e.g., approval of the committee chair or Supervisor, approval of the entire committee, or of select members of the committee).
    • Specify the supervision and assistance the student may expect from the committee members in meeting the necessary revisions.
    • Advise the Dean of the department’s Faculty following the procedures established for this purpose.
      • The memo for GPS can be cc’d to the Faculty of Arts Associate Dean, Graduate Studies.
    • Advise GPS in writing of the adjournment and the conditions.
      • The memo, written by the exam chair, must be addressed to the Dean of GPS, but emailed to the Department of Anthropology’s Graduate Advisor and Director of Graduate Programs for further processing/forwarding.
    • When the date is set for the adjourned final examination, the department will notify the Dean of the department’s Faculty and GPS. Normally a Pro Dean attends the examination.
  • No member of the examining committee signs the “Thesis Approval/Program Completion” form.

Pass

  • All or all but one of the examiners must agree to an outcome of Pass
  • Pass is the decision given when the only revisions required are typographical or minor editorial changes.
  • If the student passes the examination, the department (Graduate Advisor) submits the completed “Thesis Approval/Program Completion” form to GPS.
  • If one of the examiners fails the student, that examiner does not have to sign the “Thesis Approval/Program Completion” form.

Pass subject to revisions

  • All or all but one of the examiners must agree to an outcome of Pass subject to revisions.
  • The student has satisfactorily defended the thesis but the revisions to the thesis will not require a reconvening of the examining committee.
  • If the examining committee agrees to a “Pass subject to revisions” for the student, the chair of the examining committee must provide in writing, within 5 business days of the examination, to the student, Director of Graduate Programs and GPS a memo. The memo contains:
    • The reasons for the outcome
    • The details of the required revisions
    • The approval mechanism for meeting the requirement for revisions (e.g., approval of the examining committee chair or Supervisor, or approval of the entire examining committee, or select members of the committee)
    • The supervision and assistance the student can expect to receive from the committee members
    • The date for the revisions to be resubmitted, as negotiated with the student, but which should be no less than six weeks and no more than six months.

Note: A memo template is provided to the exam chair by the Graduate Advisor.

  • The student must make the revisions within six months of the date of the examination.
  • Once the revisions are made and approved, the department (Graduate Advisor) submits the completed “Thesis Approval/Program Completion” form to GPS.
  • If one of the examiners fails the student, that examiner does not have to sign the “Thesis Approval/Program Completion” form.
  • If the required revisions have not been made and approved by the end of the six months deadline, the student will be required to withdraw from the program.

Fail

  • All or all but one of the examiners must agree to an outcome of Fail.
  • No member of the examining committee signs the “Thesis Approval/Program Completion” form.
  • The committee chair will provide the reasons for this decision to the Director of Graduate Programs.
  • The Department will provide this report, together with its recommendation for the student’s program, to the Dean of the department’s Faculty, GPS and to the student.
  • An Associate Dean, GPS, will normally arrange to meet with the student and with the Director of Graduate Programs before acting upon any department recommendation that affects the student’s academic standing.

Time Limit for Submission of Thesis to GPS

The student has six months from the date of the exam to submit their thesis to GPS. If the thesis is not submitted and approved by GPS within the six months, the student is considered to have withdrawn from the program. After this time the student will have to apply for re-admission to the program and register before the thesis can be submitted and accepted.

If the exam is adjourned, the six-month time limit will take effect from the date of completion of the examination where the thesis was passed with or without revisions.

In order to convocate, all doctoral students must submit their thesis and have it approved by the deadlines set out by GPS. Students must also ensure they are registered in thesis in their last registration period prior to convocation. For GPS deadlines please visit:

/en/graduate-studies/resources/graduate-students/thesis-preparation-requirements-deadlines/index.html