CHECKLIST FOR QUALIFYING EXAMS

Student Responsibilities

□	Ensure that your advisory committee has been approved by the Graduate School. 
	Submit the “Advisory Committee Formation” form on the Graduate School webpage: https://ris.uky.edu/cfdocs/gs/DoctoralCommittee/Selection_Screen.cfm. If the membership of your committee has changed, submit a “Doctoral Advisory Committee Modification Request” on the same page. Forward your official approval to Michelle Del Toro.
	
□	Confirm that you have met coursework requirements. 
	You must complete all of the courses on your Program of Study form, and have earned a minimum of 36 credits (if you entered without a MA) or 18 credits (if you entered with a MA). You must resolve any incomplete (“I”) or satisfactory (“S”) grades before taking your qualifying exam.  

□	Work with your Chair and advisory committee to compile your reading list.
The reading list must be approved by all committee members.

□	Select dates and times for the written and oral exams.

Student should work with their Chairs and committees to select dates and times for the written exam. The written exam is three weeks long. Please notify Michelle Del Toro of the dates and times for your written exam.

The oral exam is conducted by all members of your committee and lasts up to
two hours. It must occur within one month of the day the written exam is completed. Students should work with their Chairs to schedule the oral exam. Once a date and time is determined, contact Michelle Del Toro to schedule a room.  Even if your exam is online, you need to notify Michelle of the date and time.

□	Submit the Request to Schedule the Qualifying Examination form to the Graduate School.
The Request to Schedule the Oral Qualifying Examination must be submitted to the graduate school at least two weeks prior to the date of the examination, but it is best to do it when you schedule the written exam. The form can be completed at: https://ris.uky.edu/cfdocs/gs/DoctoralCommittee/Selection_Screen.cfm. 

□	Begin and end exam on agreed upon start and end date and time.
Make sure you have discussed with your chair who will send you the exam and to whom you should return the exam to once you have completed it. You must send a copy of your completed exam to Michelle Del Toro.

□	Determine how each committee member will receive the written exam.
Student should ask each committee member whether an electronic copy or hard copy is preferable. If committee members prefer hard copies, it is the student’s responsibility to make copies and provide these to the committee member(s). 

□	Take the oral exam.
In the oral examination, faculty members typically ask students to expand on and clarify their answers from the written portion of the exam. Students must pass both parts of the exam (written and oral) to pass their qualifying exams. Students will be informed no later than the end of the oral examination whether they have passed or failed the written and oral components of the examination. If students fail their qualifying exam, they may attempt it one more time.

Advisory Committee Chair Responsibilities

□	Confirm that students have met coursework requirements. 
	Students must complete all of the courses on their Program of Study forms, and have earned a minimum of 36 credits (if they entered without a MA) or 18 credits (if they entered with a MA). They must resolve any incomplete (“I”) or satisfactory (“S”) grades before taking their qualifying exam.  

□	Work with the student and advisory committee to compile the reading list.

□	Work with the student to determine dates and times for the written and oral exams, and decide who will send the exam questions to the student.

□	Work with the committee to write questions for the written exam.
	If you have questions or need more information, please ask the DGS. Be sure to insert the highlighted information into the Qualifying Exams Instructions Template, and send it to the student along with the exam questions.

□	Coordinate the committee’s evaluation of the written exam.

□	On the day of the oral exam, print the exam card for committee members to sign. 
You should receive the exam card from the Graduate School 2-3 days before the exam. If you have not received it 2 days before the exam, contact the DGS ASAP. After the exam card is signed, inform the DGS that it is completed and place in the DGS’s mailbox. The DGS will sign it and give it to Michelle Del Toro to forward the Graduate School. The exam card must be submitted within 10 days of the exam.