• ABOUT
• COURSES
• GRADUATE
  • { MA & PhD in RSTC }
  • { M.S. in S&TC }
  • { Tech Comm Certificate }
  • { Assistantships & Aid }
  • { Graduate Minors }
  • { Handbook }
  • { Diversity Statement }
• UNDERGRADUATE
• NEWS & EVENTS
• PEOPLE
• MAKE A GIFT
• INTRANET

{Home > Graduate : Graduate Handbook: Ph.D.: Preliminary Examinations Overview }

Preliminary Examinations Overview

To complete this stage of your degree and become a Ph.D. Candidate, you must take and pass a written exam (also known as the preliminary written), followed by an oral examination (also know as the preliminary oral). The oral exam is based on your answers to the written exam.

You must have a Preliminary Examination Committee. It has four members: your advisor, usually two other members of the Writing Studies graduate faculty, and always one member from another department. You should choose committee members who teach and publish in the area of the exam for which they will write questions. Also, ideally, you should have established a working relationship with faculty members on your committee; typically, students ask faculty with whom they have had at least one course. (In unusual cases, your committee can have five members.)

Some professors hold graduate faculty status in Writing Studies and another department, and can serve in either capacity.  If you have taken a formal minor, the outside member must represent it. You should meet with your advisor to create a committee to be proposed to the DGS, with final approval granted by the Graduate School. The names and roles of the committee members appear in your Degree Program Form (GS 89a.) Once the committee has been submitted to the Graduate School, any changes must be approved by them as well.