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PhD Student Handbook
Degree Requirements - Comprehensive Preliminary Examinations
Written Preliminary Examination
Students may sign up for the written preliminary exam only after completion of all required coursework and after a Plan of Study, Program of Study, and Advisory Committee forms are on file with the student's major department. A student may cancel his/her registration for prelims up to two (2) weeks prior to the exam. All exams are administered through the student's department.
Written Preliminary Examination in Business Administration - Students may sign up for the written preliminary exam only after completion of all required coursework and after turning in approved Plan of Study, Program of Study, and Advisory Committee forms to the student's major department. Students should contact their major departments for dates of the exams. In order to sit for the prelim, the student must meet the following criteria:
- must have a 3.0 grade point average on coursework taken in the Major Field, Minor Field, Research Methodology, and Research Apprenticeship combined.
- must have no less than a C in any course on the Plan of Study, including each mathematics course and each course taken in the foundation in business background.
- must have no "Incompletes" (I) on his/her transcript.
- must be registered for a minimum of 3 hours (9000) in the semester the exam is to be given.
Written preliminary exams test the student's competence in the Major Field of study and are administered by a Preliminary Examining Committee assembled from the Graduate Faculty in the appropriate area. The written prelim for the major field lasts eight to sixteen hours. The exam may be taken a maximum of two times in each field. If a student fails the written exam after two attempts, he/she will be dismissed from the Ph.D. Program in Business Administration. If a student has an unexcused absence from the prelim, he/she will automatically receive a "fail" grade.
Written Preliminary Examination in Economics - Written preliminary examinations are given in the core areas of Microeconomics and Macroeconomics and in the student's chosen two fields of specialization. Ph.D. students in Economics may sit for the written prelims as they successfully complete each area. Field exams may be taken only after passing the core exams in Microeconomics and Macroeconomics. Each prelim lasts four hours and is given during fall and spring semesters. If a student fails any prelim, that exam must be retaken at the next sitting. Students have two chances to pass each exam. Students who fail twice on a core theory exam will be dismissed from the Ph.D. program. Students failing a field exam twice will have one chance in an alternative field. Preliminary exams are written and graded by ad hoc committees set up for that purpose; usually the faculty members who teach the relevant courses sit on the prelim committees.
Oral Preliminary Examination
The student's Doctoral Advisory Committee will administer the oral prelims to assess the integration of technical competence within the student's entire field of study. The oral prelims are open to all members of the faculty and shall be announced by the Graduate School. The student must complete The Announcement of Doctoral Oral Preliminary Examination form and return it to the major department a minimum of two weeks prior to the date of the exam. The student is also responsible for reserving a room and contacting each member of his/her Doctoral Advisory Committee to find a convenient time for the examination. The major department will fax the notification to the Graduate School.
The Graduate School will post the Announcement of the Oral Prelim and will send a Notification of Results of Oral Preliminary Examination form to the Major Professor. This form can only be obtained from the Graduate School. Upon completion of the exam, the Major Professor will report the results to the student's major department no later than two weeks after the exam is given on the form provided by the Graduate School.
The Oral Prelims may be taken a maximum of two times. If a student fails the oral prelim after two attempts, he/she will be dismissed from the Ph.D. program.
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