DOCTORAL QUALIFYING EXAM
The Doctoral Qualifying Exam consists of an oral examination in which three faculty examiners question the Ph.D. student about the primary and about the contextual/ secondary fields of study. The primary field relates directly to a student's proposed dissertation topic, including both primary and secondary texts. The contextual or secondary field, which also encompasses both primary and secondary sources, is selected for its relevance to the primary field. Both grow out of work done in English 8830.
Purpose: The oral DQE provides students the opportunity to
- Defend their dissertation proposals
- Defend their contextual or secondary areas of study
Once the exam is completed, the candidate should be ready to write the dissertation and complete it within 18-24 months.
Readiness for Taking the Exam: Students may schedule their DQE if they have met the following requirements:
- Successfully completed English 8830
- Obtained DQE committee members' approval for their dissertation outlines and for their contextual/secondary field annotated bibliographies.
Faculty Committee:
- Composition: The DQE committee is composed of three faculty, chosen by the student in consultation with the faculty advisor who chairs the committee. (The student’s three-person dissertation committee is usually though not always drawn from this group.)
- Function: Committee members generate questions based on the student's dissertation outline and on the contextual/secondary field bibliography. Prior to the DQE, the faculty advisor collects the questions from committee members and compiles the questions into an exam format, culling out any repetitive questions; the exam is then circulated to all committee members before the exam and serves as a script for the oral DQE exam.
Scheduling of Exam: When students are ready to register for their DQE (usually the semester after they complete English 8830), the faculty advisors should
- Fill out the DQE Checklist
- Submit it to the DGS.
To accommodate the individualized exam format and to assist student progress through the program, Ph.D. qualifying exams are offered between September 30 and May 15, normally within two months of the student's request to take the exam.
Evaluation: The qualifying exam requires a vote of 3-0 or 2-1 to pass. To pass the DQE, students must demonstrate their readiness to write their dissertations by meeting the criteria on the following form:
Reporting: To record the results of the DQE, the advisor/committee must complete the following forms and submit them to the DGS, so they can be processed and sent on to the Graduate School:
Post-Exam Consultation: After the DQE has been graded and the results reported to the Graduate School, students are encouraged to review their performance with their field advisors.
English Department
