PhD Committee Matrix
- All Members of the committee must have an earned doctorate
- For Qualifying exam (QUAL): 3 members, with at least two eligible to be internal members for the relevant Ph.D. program
- For Oral Defense (DEFENSE): At least 4 members:
- 1 Chair- must be tenure-eligible faculty without primary affiliation with the Ph.D. program and no academic/research relationship with the candidate or other members of the committee. The chair will monitor and promote fairness and rigor in the conduct of the defense. The chair’s status as a nonmember of the advisor’s and student’s working group, program, or department enables distance from previously established judgments on the candidate’s work and limits the role of administrative influence in the defense process. The chair is a voting member of the final oral examination committee.
- 2 internal members (at least one of which is the advisor)
- 1 external member
- Members must minimize conflicts of interest on the committee to the best of their ability (e.g. familial relationships, supervision authority) Sample COI Management Plan Document
The Regulations and University Policies document goes into more detail.
| Full-Time Tenure Eligible | Full-time, non-tenure eligible faculty | Full-time faculty-equivalents | External faculty | External PhD | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Defense Chair | Yes No primary appointment in PhD program | No | No | No | No |
Internal member | Yes Primary appointment in PhD program | Petition Primary appointment in PhD program | Petition or Senior Scientist list | No | No |
External member | Yes Primary appointment outside PhD program | Petition Primary appointment outside PhD program | Petition Primary appointment outside PhD program | Petition | Petition |
Beyond the maximum of five voting members, any subsequent additional members whose inclusion significantly contributes to the quality and rigor of the dissertation research and oral defense are permitted to serve without a vote, and a petition is not required for their participation.
For interdisciplinary degree programs with faculty from several departments, the definitions of “internal” and “external” for the final oral examination committee are set by the school that houses the program.