GPAThesisDefenceExam

Defending Thesis MSc

1.	Committee meeting minutes indicate student ready to write and defend thesis

2.	Student sets up meeting time, place – JF identifies Neutral Chair, student emails thesis title and indicates grandfathering, GPA creates Notice

FGS has been receiving examination notices and thesis approval pages listing examiners and supervisors variously by their academic department and/or by their graduate program affiliation. It should be noted that for the purpose of FGS examinations, academic staff members act as FGS-approved examiners and supervisors. Thus, their graduate program affiliation is the important one and should appear on notices/approval pages.

In order to apply a consistent guideline for students submitting their theses and to facilitate the processing and approval of [exam notices] and [approval pages], FGS is requiring all medicine graduate programs to use the name of the graduate program as the “Department” when submitting notices of exams as well as when advising students on their thesis approval page.

Main changes:

- for the purpose of FGS examinations all examiners should be listed by their FGS affiliated graduate program, not their academic department of appointment

- The listing of the graduate program affiliation of the supervisor must be identical to the graduate program the student is registered in.

- Each examiner should have only one FGS affiliated graduate program listed as the “Department”. This program listing should be the FGS program that the committee member/examiner has approved status in that is most closely associated with the exam taking place.

- In the rare cases that the 'Internal'-External examiner is from outside the University, they still need to be listed by the FGS program that they have been approved for as a committee member/examiner; their home University should not be listed. (This examiner is acting as internal examiner to the University rather than an external examiner)

Neutral Chair Guidelines:http://grad.ucalgary.ca//files/custom/e_guidelines_chairing_exam.pdf (main page is http://grad.ucalgary.ca//policies/exams).

Please note that: "A Neutral Chair must be a University of Calgary faculty member with a professorial appointment. It is important that a Neutral Chair not have a close relationship with the candidate or the supervisor, and not be involved in the candidate or the supervisor’s research."

3.	Student, supervisor sign, return to JF, gets FS and Frans to sign

4.	Caroline scans document

5.	JF emails package (list docs, incl scanned notice) to committee and package to neutral chair (cc supervisor) (list docs, incl scanned notice)

6.	Exam happens

7.	Procedure following failure of exam - NEW (***check for old procedures***)

a.	Neutral chair brings the exam report to JF(including individual examiner's reports) indicating fail. All examiners must sign report; if some teleconferenced, must receive fax copy of signature.

b.	JF e-mails all examiners to provide a letter explaining their decision to fail within 5 business days

c.	JF e-mails neutral chair to provide a summary of what happened in the examination - within 5 business regarding the conduct of the examination (not any science but rather relay the details of the start and finish times, how the examination proceeded etc. Focus on the fairness of the proceedings and the fact that the examination followed protocol if this is possible).

d.	FS reads reports and writes a letter to the student summarizing the major point of the decision made

e.	All goes to Frans

f.	Frans writes his recommendation

g.	All goes to FGS, you keep a copy on the students file

h.	Dean of FGS makes a decision and lets student know

i.	Exam rebooked as appropriate between 6 and 12 months

8.	Procedure following passing of exam (***check under new and old procedures***)

Defending Dissertation PhD

Final version of thesis submitted to FGS (***list forms, copies, and signatures required***)

Once passed, must Apply for Graduation under the Student Information- Academic in MyUofC student. This is to graduate and also go on the convocation list. See deadlines below???

Make sure to include links back to GPA Overview, GPA and FGS

--ExecGerbil 10:23, 26 August 2008 (MDT)