All M.S. students must pass an oral qualifying exam involving a defense of the student's written thesis proposal.
All Ph.D. students must pass a written comprehensive exam in each of the core areas and in their area of research specialization. The core area exams will be given once a year in the Fall, and, except in the case of retakes, must be taken together. Generally, these exams will be offered during the week immediately preceding the start of the Fall Quarter. The research specialization exam will cover material as determined by the student's supervisory committee and will be scheduled by arrangement with that committee. Ph.D. students will normally be expected to take both the core and specialized area exam no later than their third year of study. Students failing an exam will be offered the opportunity to take those portions of the exam which they failed the following year.
Subsequent to passing the written comprehensive exams, all Ph.D. students must pass an oral qualifying exam involving a defense of the student's written thesis proposal. At the supervisory committee's option, it may also include follow up questions relating to the written portion of the exam. This exam should be taken no more than four quarters after passing the comprehensive examination. It must be passed no less than two quarters before the thesis can be defended.
The core portion of the comprehensive exam will be prepared and graded by a faculty committee established for that purpose. The specialized portion of the comprehensive exam and the oral qualifying exam will be prepared, administered, and evaluated by the student's supervisory committee.
The written portion of the qualifying exam will cover the general area of specialization in sufficient depth to demonstrate the student's preparation for conducting Ph.D.-level research. Each member of the student's supervisory committee will contribute one or more questions to this exam. The supervisory committee will provide a written evaluation of this portion of the exam, including an indication of whether or not the student will be allowed to proceed to the oral portion of the qualifier.
Each year, the Department will prepare a reading list to assist students in preparing for the comprehensive and qualifying examinations. This list will be divided into two sections. The first section will include fundamental readings in computer science relevant to the comprehensive exam. All questions in this exam will be based on the listed readings. The second section will include a sampling of important readings in each of the research areas in which the department is active. Students are encouraged to discuss with their supervisory committees which of these readings are relevant to preparing for the qualifying examination.