Once Graduate Planning and Audit System (GPAS) planner is approved and accepted by GSSP, students can declare their Preliminary Oral Examination Committee.
Students should work with their advisors to identify individuals who may fit well on the Preliminary Oral Examination Committee. The committee must consist of at least four members, including the advisor. It is efficient for the student and advisor to select and file the Preliminary Oral Examination Committee in conjunction with completing the GPAS planner. Committee members must have graduate education responsibilities in connection with the Graduate School and be listed on the University of Minnesota Graduate Education Faculty Role Roster. See the Graduate School for rules about committee assignments.
In all instances, the student should get confirmation from any potential committee member that they are willing to serve prior to declaring the committee membership online.
Once committee membership is confirmed, and at least one month prior to your exam, assign/update your examination committee. When submitting examination committees, PhD students or their advisors should note the following in the form:
Minors
If you are completing a minor, include what the minor is, and that the committee member listed to represent the minor has the appropriate appointment on the faculty of that minor and at the Graduate School.
If you are not completing a minor, include that you are not pursuing a minor.
For members outside the Nursing major, identify in the notes the school/college outside the nursing major that the committee member listed represents and that the member has the appropriate appointment at the Graduate School.
PhD in Nursing: Faculty Roles Guidelines - Criteria for PhD Advisor/Committees
Developed in Accordance with University of Minnesota Graduate Education Policies:
School of Nursing (SoN) PhD Advisors
SoN faculty appointment (Tenure/Tenure track)
Active program of research and peer-reviewed publications within last five years in the student's area of scholarship
SoN PhD Preliminary Written Examination Reviewers:
SoN faculty appointment
PhD degree
Method and/or content expertise in the student’s area of scholarship
Preliminary Oral Examination and Final Oral Examination Committee membership:
a. For internal SoN members:
Student’s current advisor(s) must be on committees
Other SoN faculty should have PhD degree and either method and/or content expertise in the student’s area of scholarship
b. For external (non-SoN) PhD Oral Examination Committee membership:
PhD degree (others required DGS pre-approval) and method and/or content expertise in the student’s area of scholarship
University of Minnesota (UMN) faculty appointment. Non-SoN UMN faculty should be included as the outside committee member if at all possible. Non- UMN faculty must be pre-approved by the DGS and an employee ID obtained through Human Resources—see below for how to process.
Changing PhD Examination Committee Members
If circumstances require changes of committee membership, students should first confer with their advisor to select a replacement. Notify the DGS of the anticipated change. The student is required to change the committee status online through the Graduate School. The DGS will approve and process the change through University electronic processes and students will receive email notifications of the change from the Graduate Education Office ([email protected]).
For students who were admitted to the program in fall 2017 or later or for those who had not completed their preliminary written examination prior to May 2017:
For students who were admitted to the program prior to fall 2017 and had completed the first preliminary written examination (CRP) prior to May 2017:
* The Final Oral Exam Committee members do not need to be the same as the Preliminary Oral Exam Committee members but doing so does streamline the process for students.
Procedure for Outside Committee Member to PhD Examination Committee
An external committee member is an expert outside of the University of Minnesota (UMN), with or without faculty appointments elsewhere, who serves on an examination committee in any role except as advisor or chair. It is possible to add an expert from outside the UMN to a student’s examination committee if the new member offers specific expertise in a narrow range or specific research focus, which is not provided by other members of the committee or other UMN faculty. The outside member’s appointment must be approved by the School of Nursing Director of Graduate Studies (DGS) and the School’s Dean.
To request an outside committee member the student’s advisor emails the following documents requesting appointment of an outside member to the DGS copying the student advisee:
-
A written letter conveying the need for the outside member that includes a summary of the expertise or specialty knowledge the faculty member has in the area of the student’s research, an explanation about the lack of a U of MN faculty member who can offer that expertise or specialty knowledge, and the contribution the outside member will make on the committee.
The curriculum vitae of the potential outside member
The DGS will evaluate the materials for meeting Graduate School eligibility requirements for committee membership (e.g., evidence for research expertise would include research grants, publications, etc. specialty expertise might include specialty clinical practice. (https://policy.umn.edu/education/gradexamcommittee). The DGS will make a recommendation to the Dean for appointing the individual to the committee. If approved by the DGS and Dean, the SoN Human Resources (HR) Director will create a temporary sponsored account for the outside committee member, which provides them with a U of MN Internet ID identification. If the outside member is not approved, the DGS will notify the advisor and student with a brief explanation.
The student and advisor should notify the DGS and SoN HR Director in writing within one week after the outside committee member has completed their work on the committee (i.e., after the examining committee has been completed) to which they were appointed so that the temporary sponsored account can be closed.