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Home > Graduate Studies > Students > Blue Book (handbook) : Preliminary Exam FAQ

Preliminary Exam FAQ

Filing your degree program

1. Bear in mind that the English Ph.D. program is currently designed so the student should take the written and oral prelims in his or her third year. File your degree program as soon as a) you know what courses will be used to fulfill the requirements, and b) you have an advisor and have created your committee. Please do not wait until the semester of your written exam to file your degree program.

2. Please note that the degree program form is not the same as the "advising card" that you have been using to keep track of the degree (distribution) requirements.

3. You will need a minimum of 18 quarter credits or 12 semester credits in the "other courses" column for your supporting field or for an official minor field. You cannot declare a minor field after you take your preliminary oral. For a supporting field, a minimum of 8 quarter credits, or two classes in the semester system, must be in a department outside English.

4. Following a policy change beginning July 1, 1999, your committee should have three internal members, one external member. If you have a formal minor, the external examiner must have Graduate Faculty status in that minor. Normally the written prelim exam is read by the three internal members of your committee. Your advisor will be the chair of your prelim oral exam. If you have a five-person committees under the old system you may keep the committee as it is, or you may drop an outside member. To do this, or to make any other changes to your committee, contact the Graduate Office secretary

5. If you would like to have someone from outside the University on your committee, you must petition the Graduate School for permission. Explain on a petition form the reasons for your request, and attach the c.v. of the person you wish to add. Your advisor and the DGS need to sign the form.

Language Requirement

As soon as possible, have your language requirement certified either by a language department after taking a special course or exam, or after consultation and/or a translation examination arranged by the English Department DGS. A reading knowledge of two languages is generally required. It is possible that you may be able to exhibit "advanced proficiency" of one language; if this is the case you do not need to certify a second language. Check with the DGS about the guidelines for this. Note: The Graduate School must have a record of your language certification before your final defense.

Written Exam

1. Create the booklist for your preliminary exam in consultation with your advisor and committee. All committee members sign must your booklist (either the same list or two or more cover sheets depending on logistics). You should submit your signed booklist to the Graduate Office at least two months before taking your preliminary exam. Committee members should not be adding things to your list after this point.

2. Schedule your preliminary written exam with your committee, and inform the Graduate Office of the time you will be picking up the questions. It should be scheduled so there is no less than two weeks between turning in your exam and taking your preliminary oral exam.

3. Pick up the exam questions from the Graduate Office secretary. You will have one week to write the exam essay, or up to two weeks if you are an international student whose first language is not English.

4. Distribute a copy of your exam to all committee members, and give a copy to the Graduate Office for your file.

5. Committee members will turn in a copy of their evaluations, which will be put in your file. The committee has one week before they must tell you whether you have passed, and an additional week before distributing comments on the exam.

6. Be sure that the Graduate Office secretary knows that you have passed, as a Written Examination Report form needs to be signed by your advisor and DGS and submitted to the graduate school, no later than one week before your oral exam.

Oral Exam

1. Preliminary oral exams must be scheduled with the graduate school by the student. You must schedule it at least one week beforehand, by calling the Graduate School Student Services office (625-5833) or stopping by in person (316 Johnston).

Note: You must be able to tell them where your exam will be held, at that time. Exams are usually scheduled in 207a Lind, in the Wright Room, or in the Center for Medieval Studies, if appropriate. If one of your committee members has to attend the exam via speakerphone, inform the Graduate Office secretary as soon as possible so she can make arrangements for this, as it narrows the scheduling possibilities. The speakerphone can only be used in 207a Lind.

2. The Graduate School will mail the Report of Preliminary Oral Examination to your advisor. Following the exam, the committee signs this form and the student must deliver it to the Graduate School within 24 hours. If a committee member has attended via speakerphone the form must be sent via express mail to that person. You should inform the Graduate School of this fact so they know that the report form will be arriving in their office a few days late.

• Graduate Office = 204 Lind
• Graduate School = 316 Johnston (for purposes of these instructions)