Ph.D Degree Requirements and Procedures

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By the end of the second year of Ph.D. study the student should take the General Exam, which centers on the student's dissertation proposal and his or her qualifications to successfully perform the research. Note that the Department views the failure of full-time students to take the General Exam within four years of entering the program as an indication of inadequate progress towards the degree.

Graduate School Requirements. The following requirements must be met before the General Exam can be scheduled:
1. The student must have completed at least 18 credits of numerically graded course work at the 500 level and above prior to scheduling the General Examination. The Graduate School accepts numerical grades in approved 400 level courses accepted as part of the major, and in all 500-level courses. A minimum cumulative GPA of 3.00 is required for a graduate degree at the University. Consult the General Catalog of the University of Washington for more information: Doctoral Degree Requirements.
2. The Supervisory Committee should have been in existence formally for at least four months prior to the examination date.
3. The student must have prepared a written dissertation proposal, approved by the Committee members.
4. Any language requirement must have been satisfied. The Supervisory Committee determines if study of a foreign language is necessary for the student. The Committee may defer to the minimum language requirement of the department, which is two years of a foreign language in either high school or college, or demonstration of capability in a language other than the native language of the student.
Scheduling the Exam
1. The General Exam must be formally scheduled (through the ME Student Services Office) with the Graduate School at least three weeks in advance of the exam date. The form may be obtained from the Graduate School website (http://www.grad.washington.edu/forms/forms.htm). Students must complete "Request for General Exam Form", with Day/Date/Time/Location plus the names of all of the Advisory Committee typed, and signatures obtained. (E-mails and faxed signatures are acceptable if stapled to this form.)
2. The student's transcript is then evaluated to be certain that all minimum Graduate School requirements, with the exception of the dissertation credits and the Final Examination, have been satisfied. If there is a problem or question with an evaluation, the Department will be notified. Occasionally a contingency will be noted on the application in which case candidacy will not be conferred until it has been met.
  Please note: Full or part-time registration is required the quarter the General Examination is taken and Candidacy is awarded.
3. The warrant will be mailed to the ME Student Services Office. It will normally be mailed no later than the week before the scheduled examination. All General Examinations should appear in University Week the Thursday before the examination is held. If an application has not arrived a few days before the examination, check first with the ME Office and the supervisory Committee Chair, and then call Student Services.
4. All members of the Supervisory Committee, including the Graduate School Representative, must be notified by the student the examination date, time, and place. The ME Student Services Office must also be notified and provided with the dissertation title so an announcement can go out to students and faculty.
Taking the Exam
1. The oral examination is administered by the Supervisory Committee, and usually centers around the student's oral presentation of his or her dissertation thesis proposal.
2. The warrant is signed by the Supervisory Committee after successful completion of the exams. The student needs to make a photocopy of the signed warrant for the ME Student Services Office, and then return the original to the Graduate School no later than the last day of the quarter (defined as the last day of exams) in which the student is to receive candidacy. If it is received by the Graduate School after this deadline, candidacy will be awarded the following quarter and registration for that quarter will be required.
3. The candidacy will be posted to the student's transcripts, and a letter of certification should be received by the student two to three weeks after the end of the quarter in which candidacy is conferred. A Certificate of Candidacy will be sent from the Graduation Office approximately three months later, and should be received by the student at the end of the following quarter.