1. By 1 October for M.A. students taking their comprehensive exam in the Fall Semester, or 1 December for students taking their exam in the Spring Semester, students must file a form with the Director of Graduate Studies declaring whether or not they wish to be considered for continuation into the Ph.D. program, and if so, who they anticipate their Ph.D. dissertation advisor would be. The form will also indicate that the student has discussed this plan with the identified potential advisor. (Note: this does not imply that the identified advisor has committed him-/herself to directing the dissertation – only that the student has explicitly discussed this plan with the faculty member.)
2. Members of the M.A. exam committee will be informed in advance of the exam of the student’s choice of whether or not to be considered for continuation.
3. At the conclusion of the M.A. exam, the examining committee will immediately convene privately and decide if the student earned a “Pass” or a “Fail.” The committee will then immediately transmit its decision to the student and register it with the department and graduate school.
4. For these students who have expressed interest in continuation, the exam committee will also compile a brief written report and file it with the Graduate Committee. The report should include the exam committee’s assessment of the student’s suitability and readiness to undertake doctoral work.
5. The Graduate Committee, on the basis of a review of the student’s full academic record, the input of the faculty member identified by the student as the potential dissertation director, and the M.A. exam committee’s written report, will ultimately decide whether to offer the student continuation into the Ph.D. program. The Graduate Committee will be responsible for notifying the student of the decision within two weeks of the completion of his/her M.A. exam.
6. Students who are offered continuation to the Ph.D. program but choose not to accept the offer at that time are free to apply to the Ph.D. program at a later date according to the Department’s and Graduate School’s standard application procedures for graduate applications.

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