The assembled student's committee shall administer the final oral examination.
Primarily, the final examination is of the student's completed thesis. The student should be able to defend the methodology, findings, and conclusions of the thesis, and be able to relate findings to the pertinent literature. Little time during the examination should be spent on minor editorial comments that can be addressed in separate meetings with the committee members.
The committee should also examine the student on academic studies and may recommend that a portion of the examination be written.
The M.S. final oral examination is scheduled by the adviser in consultation with the student and the committee members, giving two weeks advance notice to all faculty, the administrative support assistant for graduate studies, and graduate students in the Department. The Department's Office of Graduate Studies is to be notified when the exam is scheduled, and given written report of results (see Section VI.C).
