Texas A&M University Graduate Catalog

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Degree Information

The Degree of Doctor of Philosophy

Examinations

The student's major department (or chair of the intercollegiate faculty, if applicable) and his or her advisory committee may require qualifying, cumulative or other types of examinations at any time deemed desirable. These examinations are entirely at the discretion of the department and the student's advisory committee.

The preliminary examination is required. The preliminary examination for doctoral students shall be given no earlier than a date at which the student is within approximately 6 credit hours of completion of the formal course work on the degree plan (i.e., all course work on the degree plan except 681, 684, 690, 691 and 692 courses) or no later than the end of the semester following the completion of the formal course work on the degree plan. The Office of Graduate Studies must receive preliminary examination results at least 14 weeks prior to the final examination date. The examination shall be both oral and written unless otherwise recommended by the student's advisory committee and approved by the Office of Graduate Studies. The written part of the examination will cover all fields of study included in the student's degree plan. Each member of the advisory committee is responsible for administering a written examination in his or her particular field, unless he or she chooses to waive participation in this part of the examination. Two or more members of the advisory committee may give a joint written examination. One or more members may require a student to take a departmental or intercollegiate faculty examination to supplement or replace a written examination. Each written examination must be completed and reported as satisfactory to the chair of the advisory committee before the oral portion of the examination may be held. In case any written examination is reported unsatisfactory, the entire advisory committee must agree (1) to proceed with the oral portion of the preliminary examination, or (2) to adopt another course of action regarding the unsatisfactory written examination. Either procedure is subject to the approval of the Office of Graduate Studies.

Prior to scheduling the preliminary examination with the other committee members, the committee chair will review with the student eligibility criteria, using the Preliminary Examination Checklist to ensure the student is ready for the examination. The following list of eligibility requirements applies.

• Student is registered at Texas A&M University for the semester or summer term during which any portion of the preliminary examination may fall. If the entire examination falls between semesters, then the student must be registered for the term immediately preceding the examination.

• An approved degree plan was on file with the Office of Graduate Studies at least 90 days prior to the first written examination.

• Student's cumulative GPR is at least 3.000.

• Student's degree plan GPR is at least 3.000.

• All English language proficiency requirements have been satisfied.

• All committee members have scheduled or waived the written portion and agreed to attend the oral portion of the examination or have found a substitute. Only one substitution is allowed and it cannot be for the committee chair.

• At the end of the semester in which the exam is given, there are no more than 6 hours of course work remaining on the degree plan (except 681, 684, 690, 691 and 692). The head of the student's department has the authority to approve a waiver of this criterion.

• The time span from the first written examination to the oral is no more than three weeks. (In cases of department-wide written examinations, this criterion is not applicable.) The head of the student's department (or chair of the intercollegiate faculty, if applicable) has the authority to approve a waiver of this criterion.

Once all requirements are met, departments or interdisciplinary degree programs may announce the schedule of both the written and oral parts of the examination.

Credit for the preliminary examination is not transferable. If a departmental or intercollegiate faculty examination is used as part of the written portion of the preliminary examination, it must be the last examination offered prior to the date scheduled for the preliminary examination. In the schedule of the written portion, all members of the student's advisory committee are to be included.

Through the preliminary examination, the student's advisory committee should satisfy itself that the student has demonstrated the following qualifications:

1. a mastery of the subject matter of all fields in the program;
2. an adequate knowledge of the literature in these fields and an ability to carry out bibliographical research.

In case a student is required to take, as a part of the written portion of a preliminary examination, an examination administered by a department or intercollegiate faculty, the department or intercollegiate faculty must:

1. offer the examination at least once every six months. The departmental or interdisciplinary degree program examination should be announced at least 30 days prior to the scheduled examination date.
2. assume the responsibility for marking the examination satisfactory or unsatisfactory, or otherwise graded, and in the case of unsatisfactory, stating specifically the reasons for such a mark.
3. forward the marked examination to the chair of the student's advisory committee within one week after the examination.

The chair of the student's advisory committee is responsible for making all written examinations available to the members of the advisory committee at or before the oral portion of the examination. A positive vote by all members of the graduate committee with at most one dissention is required to pass a student on his or her exam. A department or interdisciplinary degree program can have a stricter requirement provided there is consistency within all degree programs within a department or interdisciplinary program.

The chair of the advisory committee will report promptly, using the Report of Doctoral Preliminary Examination form, with the signatures of all committee members, and the Preliminary Examination Checklist, to the Office of Graduate Studies the results of the preliminary examination. An examination which is not completed and reported as satisfactory to the Office of Graduate Studies within 10 working days of the scheduled examination date will be recorded as a failure.

After passing the required preliminary oral and written examinations for the doctoral degree, the student must complete all remaining requirements for the degree within four calendar years. Otherwise, the student will be required to repeat the preliminary examination.

Upon approval of the student's advisory committee, with no more than one member dissenting, and the approval by the Office of Graduate Studies, a student who has failed the preliminary examination may be given one re-examination, when adequate time has been given to permit the student to address the inadequacies emerging from the first examination (normally six months). The student and the advisory committee should jointly negotiate a mutually acceptable date for this purpose.

A student must be registered at Texas A&M University for a minimum of one semester credit hour in the semester or summer term in which they will appear for the preliminary examination.

For the Doctor of Philosophy specific to Mays Business School, please visit the website maysbschool.tamu.edu/phd.