Canceling or Recessing the Doctoral Preliminary and/or Master's or Doctoral Final Oral Examination

Cancellation of a Doctoral Preliminary or Final Oral Examination

If the doctoral preliminary or final oral examination cannot be held on the scheduled date, the student must reschedule the examination with their committee members and program, following any departmental policies. If a new date is not immediately found, or the exam is rescheduled for more than one month out, students or their committee chairs may reach out to Graduate Student Services & Progress (GSSP) to cancel any active exam form. In that case, the student must then initiate a new Preliminary or Final Oral Examination Report Form on or prior to the new exam date.

Recess of a Doctoral Preliminary or Final Oral Examination

On rare occasions, the examining committee may conclude that the preliminary or final oral examination should be recessed and reconvened at a later date. Guidelines for such circumstances are sent to the committee chair with the Preliminary or Final Oral Examination Report Form.

Recessing a doctoral preliminary oral examination:

If the committee recesses without having determined whether to pass the student, the committee and the student select a date and time to reconvene the examination. The committee must comprise the same members as the original preliminary oral examining committee. 

The student must reschedule the examination with their committee at least one week in advance of the date of the reconvened exam. The committee must comprise the same members as the original preliminary oral examining committee.

Recessing a doctoral final oral examination:

Because the designated thesis reviewers must determine prior to the examination that the dissertation is ready for defense – without revision or with only minor revisions – recessing the final oral examination for more than one week should be necessary only in exceptional circumstances. In that instance, the committee chair emails the student with the reasons for the recess and when the committee expects to reconvene to resume the examination. The committee must comprise the same members as the original final oral examining committee.

Recess of a Master's Final Oral Examination

On rare occasions, the examining committee may conclude that the master’s final oral examination should be recessed, to be reconvened at a later date. Guidelines and procedures for recessing the master’s final oral examination are determined by the program. The reconvened committee must comprise the same members as the original final oral examining committee.

Plan A final oral examinations:  Because the designated thesis reviewers must determine prior to the examination that the thesis is ready for defense – without revision or with only minor revisions – recessing the final oral examination for more than one week should be necessary only in exceptional circumstances. In that instance, the committee chair emails the student with the reasons for the recess and when the committee expects to reconvene to resume the examination. The reconvened committee must comprise the same members as the original final oral examining committee.

Plan B final oral examinations: For recesses longer than one week, the committee chair emails the student with the reasons for recessing the examination and when the committee expects to reconvene to resume the examination. The committee chair is responsible for sending this email to the student within one week of the recessed examination. The reconvened committee must comprise the same members as the original final oral examining committee.