Qualifying Exam procedure

• Students identify a Qualifying Exam Committee of four or five faculty in the spring of their first year, as described above. The Qualifying Exam committee membership can change up until the submission of the application form for the Qualifying Exam (see above, no later than two weeks before the Qualifying Exam is scheduled to occur). Many students choose members for the Qualifying-Exam Committee that later also become members of the Dissertation Committee that supervises student progress after a student passes the Qualifying Exam, but it is also possible to substitute or add committee members between the Qualifying Exam and the formation of the Dissertation Committee.  Note that the members of the Qualifying Exam Committee require approval only by the EEB Graduate Advisor, whereas the members of the later Dissertation Committee (details below) also require approval by the Graduate School after a student has passed the Qualifying Exam.

• To clarify expectations for the exam, in spring of their first year, each student will meet individually, one-on-one, with each Qualifying Exam committee member to discuss the student’s research interests, possible research questions to be addressed, research strategies and techniques, relevant training, and funding. Each committee member should discuss with the student how the committee member’s research expertise can help facilitate the student’s training. Each committee member should also suggest and agree with the student on coursework, workshops, and independent reading assignments, to help train the student on agreed-upon topics relevant to the student’s interests.  Optimizing a training plan and research strategy may require follow-up meetings with each committee member or clarification/finalization of readings via email.  The emerging recommendations represent a plan for the student’s studies during their second year and define the topics that may be covered during the general knowledge portion of the Qualifying Exam.  To formalize this plan, and to help prepare for the Qualifying Exam, each student should establish a cloud document (e.g., a Google Doc) where each faculty lists their assigned readings and expectations, and committee members can understand each other’s expectations and assignments for the student, in preparation for the Qualifying Exam.  The recommendations compiled in this document serve to define the scope of what is expected of the student in the general knowledge part (see below) of the Qualifying Exam.

• Students are expected to take the Qualifying Exam by the end of their second year (by the end of the 4^th long semester). In exceptional cases, a student may appeal with the Graduate Advisor to take the exam as late as the fall of their third year (5^th semester).

• At least 4 weeks before the Qualifying Exam, each student must submit a 10-15 page Dissertation Proposal to their committee, as the written portion of the Qualifying Exam. In the communication to the committee, the student must also indicate the due date for feedback (within 2 weeks of submission, see below). The students are highly advised to provide the Committee with at least one reminder in the interim, ideally 1 week after the Dissertation Proposal submission.  The student should work closely with the Major Professor(s) to create this Dissertation Proposal, which will typically discuss:

• a succinct and clear summary of the existing literature on a topic the student aims to investigate;
• an overarching research question that a student plans to address in the dissertation research, and a clear explanation of why the question is worth answering;
• any preliminary data to motivate the question, as well as information or data that demonstrate that the planned work is feasible;
• a description of the research methods, planned data analyses, and possible interpretations of expected data;
• an explanation of how the research will be partitioned into dissertation chapters and eventual publications (at least three dissertation chapters, each corresponding to a journal article, is a common expectation);
• a time-line for completion of the research and all dissertation work;
• a description of the resources and funding required to complete the work, and how those resources and funding will be acquired or have already been acquired.

The proposal should be in 11- or 12-point font with 1-inch margins.  References do not count against the page limit of 10-15 pages.

If the student does not submit the proposal on time to the committee (no later than 4 weeks before the scheduled Qualifying Exam), the Qualifying Exam must be rescheduled to allow the Committee sufficient time to give helpful feedback before the Qualifying Exam takes place.

• No later than 2 weeks before the exam, each committee member must provide written feedback to the student and Major Professor on each of the projects and thesis chapters in the student’s Dissertation Proposal. Committee members may provide individual comments as a written review of the student’s Dissertation Proposal, or as track-changes or comments added to the student’s word-document of the Dissertation Proposal. The comments accumulated from all committee members provide essential early feedback that student should use to adjust the proposed research plan before the actual Qualifying Exam.  Students are encouraged to describe these changes to the research plan in their presentation within the Dissertation Research part of the Qualifying Exam (described below).

In the same communication as the Dissertation Proposal written feedback, no later than 2 weeks before the scheduled Qualifying Exam, each committee member will make a recommendation on how to proceed with the Dissertation Proposal:

a. The Dissertation Proposal is ready for discussion at the scheduled Qualifying Exam; no substantial revision of the Dissertation Proposal is necessary, but the student should consider the comments by all committee members and refine the student’s presentation of the research at the Qualifying Exam accordingly.

b. The Dissertation Proposal needs minor revision; the student should complete revisions no later than 3 days before the Qualifying Exam and send a revised version of the Dissertation Proposal to all committee members.  The revised Dissertation Proposal should provide the committee with a written description of any minor or substantive changes to the original research plan.

c. The Dissertation Proposal needs major revision; the Qualifying Exam and defense of the Dissertation Proposal should be rescheduled for a later date so the student has time to complete these major revisions.  The Major Professor must notify the committee if one committee member has made this particular recommendation so that a later date can be decided.

If Committee members disagree in their recommendations (e.g., some Committee members recommend minor revision, other members recommend major revision and therefore rescheduling of the Qualifying Exam), the entire committee should discuss their diverging recommendations expediently via Email or Zoom meeting to formulate a consensus recommendation.

• A Committee member, someone other than the major professor(s), is assigned by the Graduate Advisor the responsibility as Chair of the Qualifying Exam. The Chair is responsible for strictly enforcing the exam rules, such as format and timing. The Chair should also communicate with the student during the week before the Qualifying Exam to clarify any questions that a student may have about format of the Qualifying Exam.

• The proceedings of the Qualifying Exam are initiated with a brief discussion among the Committee members (the student steps out of the room) about the student’s progress and prospects for further work. At this stage the faculty mentor(s) should provide a brief summary of the student’s accomplishments and performance as an EEB graduate student. The Chair should briefly summarize the format, rules, and goals of the Qualifying Exam as a reminder to all Committee members.
• General-knowledge part of the Qualifying Exam: The first portion of the exam (no longer than 1-hour duration is recommended, to leave sufficient time for the dissertation research part of the Qualifying Exam) addresses general knowledge questions about topics decided upon as described in point 2) above. The Major Advisor(s) do not ask questions or comment during this general-knowledge portion of the Qualifying Exam.  Prior to the Qualifying Exam, the student may make a recommendation to the Chair of the Qualifying Exam which committee member should be first to ask questions during the general knowledge portion of the Qualifying Exam.  At the end of the 1-hour general-knowledge portion of the Qualifying Exam, the committee will discuss these following options i.-v. (but will not share this discussion with the student until the end of the overall exam, except in the below cases iv. and v.):

i. Pass general-knowledge part without conditions, and continue to discussion of the Dissertation Proposal.

ii. Pass general-knowledge part with condition(s) to be recorded by the Chair of the Qualifying Exam, and continue to discussion of the Dissertation Proposal.

iii. Fail the general-knowledge part for reasons to be recorded by the Chair of the Qualifying Exam, and continue to discussion of the Dissertation Proposal.

iv. Reschedule the Qualifying Exam for a later date (e.g., if a student appears unusually nervous and the student would benefit from a fresh start with an Exam at a later date).

v. Termination of the Ph.D. program.

• Dissertation Research part of the Qualifying Exam: In the second portion of the Qualifying Exam (minimum 1-hour duration, ideally 1-2 hours to allow sufficient discussion of the proposed research), committee members ask the student questions that address the specific research plan outlined in the Dissertation Proposal and submitted by the student 4 weeks before the Qualifying Exam (see points 4 & 5 above), and provide feedback on research feasibility. The Committee should determine through the questioning whether the student has sufficient knowledge and critical thinking skills to pursue the work effectively.  To facilitate the research portion of the Qualifying Exam, the student should prepare a brief power point presentation (~15-20 minutes) given at the start of the research portion of the Exam to guide the discussion.  In this presentation, a student should specify where the student has made changes based on feedback given earlier by the Committee.  The Major Advisor(s) should take a back-seat to this discussion, but may contribute.
• The entire Qualifying Exam should not exceed 3 hours, with a short break between the general-knowledge and the research parts of the Qualifying Exam. Ideally, more time should be allocated for discussion of the Dissertation Proposal (1-2 hours) than for assessment of general knowledge (no more than 1 hour).
• At the end of the Qualifying Exam, the student leaves the room and the committee members consult about their decisions. Each committee member provides a separate evaluation for the student’s written research proposal, general knowledge, and research plan of the Dissertation Proposal. By weighting these considerations, with feedback from the Major Advisor(s), the committee will decide between these options:

i.  Admit to Candidacy.

ii. Pass with condition(s) recorded by the Chair of the Qualifying Exam; continue to Candidacy.

iii. Pass with condition(s) recorded by the Chair of the Qualifying Exam; required rewrite of dissertation proposal, and/or required re-examination of general knowledge; do not admit to Candidacy.

In their deliberations following the Qualifying Exam, the Qualifying Exam Committee may consider not only responses to questions during the exam, but also the successful completion of formal coursework, prior research experience, and other evidence of academic achievement.  When the committee has completed its deliberations on the student's performance and has decided on a recommendation, the student will be invited back before the committee to discuss the results of both parts of the examination.  Approval of the dissertation proposal should occur no later than the end of fifth long semester in residence, with admission to Candidacy no later than the sixth long semester.

The Qualifying Examination Results form must be signed by all committee members. This form is completed through DocuSign and this process must be initiated by the graduate student after the Qualifying Exam.  The student should go to the webpage with EEB forms, https://integrativebio.utexas.edu/eeb-graduate-program/current-students-eeb/forms and then to Qualifying Exam Results, which links to the relevant DocuSign portal.  Once initiated by the student, the forms will be forwarded to each committee member for their signatures.  If any additional coursework is required by the committee, the student and the Major Advisor(s) should make sure to add this coursework to the student’s Program of Work for the Doctoral Degree. 

Advance to Candidacy

When the student has passed the Qualifying Exam, the Dissertation Proposal has been accepted by the committee, and the Qualifying Examination Results form (see preceding paragraph) has been signed via DocuSign by all members of the student’s committee, the student must return the signed form of the Qualifying Exam Results to the Graduate Program Administrator, who will then send the student the online form to apply for Candidacy with the Graduate School.  In the application for Candidacy with the Graduate School, the student has to list all official members of the Dissertation Committee, which the student should discuss in advance with the Major Advisor(s) and the committee members.  A student is not officially in Candidacy until the online form listing all members of the Dissertation Committee has been approved by the Graduate School.

After the Qualifying Exam, each student should check with the Graduate Program Administrator to be sure all the degree requirements (e.g., coursework) will be met well in advance of the Dissertation Defense.

All students are expected to make reasonable progress toward the degree.  Once a student has been admitted to Candidacy for the Ph.D., the Dissertation Committee will meet with the student annually to review progress.  It is the student’s responsibility to set up these annual meetings.  After each of the annual meetings, the student will prepare a written summary of recommendations that emerged from the meeting, the Annual Dissertation Committee Meeting Self-Report.  See link to Forms at https://integrativebio.utexas.edu/eeb-graduate-program/current-students-eeb/annual-review-of-graduate-student-progress.  Each member of the committee will indicate approval by signing the Annual Dissertation Committee Meeting Self-Report, and the final signed document has to be submitted by the student to the Graduate Program Administrator to become part of the student’s file.  The Annual Dissertation Committee Meeting Self-Report must be submitted by November 1^st of each year.  Together with the Annual Student Self-Assessment (also due November 1^st of each year), the Annual Dissertation Committee Meeting Self-Report is used by the EEB Graduate Student Evaluation Committee in its annual review of graduate student progress, and both reports are important evidence when the Committee awards merit fellowships and research and travel funds.  Flagrant or repeated violation of filing the Student Self-Assessment and the Committee Meeting Self-Report may affect a students’ eligibility for TA/RA appointments or fellowships.  A formal meeting of the Dissertation Committee can be requested at any time by the student, or any member of the Dissertation Committee. 

Forms

Application- https://www.docusign.net/Member/PowerFormSigning.aspx?PowerFormId=2dac8ff1-ae93-4b48-bc71-d8c2dda66616&env=na1&acct=d40a37d5-d708-44dd-9ea7-aab378b81326&v=2

Program of Work EEB - https://www.docusign.net/Member/PowerFormSigning.aspx?PowerFormId=bc0b9352-0798-42df-8659-1936c1b6d889&env=na1&acct=d40a37d5-d708-44dd-9ea7-aab378b81326&v=2

Qualifying Exam Results-  https://www.docusign.net/Member/PowerFormSigning.aspx?PowerFormId=c8e38bec-b377-4e88-a789-08fd0a27278a&env=na1&acct=d40a37d5-d708-44dd-9ea7-aab378b81326&v=2