QE Steps

Step 1:  Identifying the QE Committee and Chair

The student will need to identify who will be on the Qualifying Exam Committee and who the Chair will be.  For details on who is part of a Qualifying Exam Committee and the roles of individuals click here and read the section under “Qualifying Examination Committee.”  Additional information on forming a Qualifying Exam Committee more specific to the Rhetoric department can be found here on page 2 under “Identify PhD Examination Committee.”

The student should confer with the chair of the Qualifying Exam Committee when prepared to set the date of the examination. The student should begin this consultation well in advance of the planned exam date to ensure the availability of the examination committee and approval of the examination application by the Graduate Division. The student will be responsible for coordinating with the QE committee to schedule time and place.)

The student will need to submit the eForm to Apply for the QE on CalCentral, view a tutorial video on how to submit this form. The student must do so no later than three weeks before the examination date, to allow the Graduate Division time to review and approve the application. 

Students are required to circulate QE statements to the entire committee no later than three weeks prior to the oral examination. Each examiner must approve the final version of the statement(s) they are individually supervising before circulation to the full committee.

Students should work with individual examiners on drafts in advance of the three-week deadline to ensure timely approval and smooth circulation. It is recommended that statements be completed and approved on a staggered schedule as the deadline approaches.

Once approved, students should submit the statements to the GSAO in both PDF and Word (.docx) formats so they may be shared with the full committee. Students may also circulate materials directly to the committee using a shared Box or Google Drive folder with appropriate sharing permissions enabled.

As a general rule, statements circulated at the three-week deadline are understood to be final. In limited cases, minor revisions may be requested after circulation at the discretion of individual examiners, provided that any such changes are shared with and acknowledged by the full committee prior to the examination. Substantive revisions after circulation are not permitted.

Once the student has completed the exam, the Committee Chair and Committee Members should provide results to the GSAO via DocuSign within 48 hours of the examination. The GSAO will then upload the committee’s responses to CalCentral.

Once the student has passed their Qualifying Exam, then they will submit the “Application for Candidacy to the Doctoral Degree” form on CalCentral, and pay the $90 Advancement to Candidacy Fee. In this form, the student will need to choose their Dissertation Committee, however this can be changed after submission. The Head Graduate Adviser of the student’s major, the Chair of the Dissertation Committee, and, if applicable, the Head Graduate Adviser of the Designated Emphasis, must sign this form. For help on how to update the dissertation committee after advancing to candidacy, view a how-to video.