Procedures Prior to the Exam

6 months before the exam

• the graduate office will communicate a calendar of staggered deadlines to serve as the timeline for completing the candidacy exam.

2-3 months before exam

• the student should (in consultation with their advisor) select a committee to serve for this exam.  Beyond the advisor and any co-advisor(s), the candidacy exam committee should consist of at least two additional Chemical Engineering GSC members and one member outside the Chemical Engineering GSC.  Outside members may include faculty from other departments and programs, other universities or research scientists in industry.  The student should compose this candidacy exam committee in consultation with their supervising professor.  After successfully completing the candidacy exam, the dissertation committee must consist of (at a minimum) at least three members of the ChemE GSC and one outside member (in this committee, the advisor/co-advisor count in this total).  Note that for the candidacy exam, it is permissible for 1 person to be missing if schedule conflicts cannot be avoided.

2 weeks before the exam

• the student should provide the committee the written research proposal document via email.

1 week before the exam

The student should complete the Candidacy Exam + Rubric form. 

1. Student initiates the form – 1 Week Prior to Scheduled Exam
2. This form should be sent to the Graduate Program Administrator electronically at least 1 week prior to the exam. The Graduate Program Office reviews and verifies committee composition
3. Student receives the form until after the exam when they hit the “Release” button on the form
4. Form routes to student’s advisor to enter outcome, include comments, and sign
5. Form then routes to all committee members for signatures

A copy of the rubric can be found here. 

Failure to follow these timelines will require the exam to be rescheduled, but such a rescheduling does not provide a waiver for the candidacy exam date deadline set by the graduate office.