Doctoral Procedures at a Glance

Doctoral Procedures at a Glance

Supervisory Committee and Program of Studies

  • Chair and student determine committee's membership and student submits Appointment of Supervisory Committee for the Doctoral Degree to the Graduate Committee for approval.
  • The Program of Studies must be submitted to the Office of Graduate Studies before 45 credit hours (including masters degree) are recorded. The following steps must be taken to comply with this requirement:
  • Chair and student complete draft of Program of Studies.
  • Draft is approved by the Supervisory Committee.
  • Student submits to Graduate Committee for approval.
  • Approved Program of Studies sent to Office of Graduate Studies to be recorded.

Comprehensive Exams

  • Piano Proficiency (required of DMA composition and conducting students only) must be completed before the Comprehensive Examination may be scheduled.
  • An application form, secured from the Graduate Secretary, must be signed by all committee members and filed with the Graduate Secretary during the first twenty (20) in-session working days of the fall or spring semester. If the form is not filed in the Graduate Office of the Glenn Korff School of Music within the time limit, the date of the examination is not confirmed and the student is required to set new dates.
  • Chair assigns questions to committee members. Then the Supervisory Committee meets to evaluate the structure of the exam and discuss suggestions that the members may have for the student concerning what to study (the Direction of Study).
  • There must be at least five working days between the written exam and the oral exam for committee to evaluate the answers to the written exam and determine if the student qualifies to proceed with the oral exam.
  • After successful completion of the comps, student submits a completed Application for Admission to Candidacy for the Doctoral Degree to the Graduate Secretary.

Document

  • Supervisory Committee must meet and approve a formal proposal for the document after admission to candidacy.
  • The chair assumes major responsibility for guiding the research.
  • At this time the Reading Committee (2 members) is chosen from among the members of the Supervisory Committee.
  • After approval of the student's document has been given by the supervisor, the supervisor presents the document and abstract to the Reading Committee for review.
  • Upon approval of the Reading Committee, the chair submits a completed Application for Final Oral Examination to the Office of Graduate Studies (must be at least three weeks before the oral defense examination).

Final Oral Examination (Document Defense)

  • The chair is responsible for making arrangements for the exam, including the distribution of copies of the document/composition to the committee at least two weeks before the exam.
  • The exam must take place prior to the Office of Graduate Studies' deadline.  (www.unl.edu/gradstudies/current/degrees)

Graduate Forms:

Required Procedure and Timeline for Exam Administration

Committee votes approval for student to take Written Exam (signature and date on this form)
Questions assigned to committee members by chair
Questions submitted to chair (must be at least one month before exam)
Questions circulated to committee members for approval
Approved questions filed with graduate secretary (must be at least 3 business days before exam)
Committee members receive a copy of the written questions and answers
Committee votes approval for student to take Oral Exam

Form: DMA Document Proposal

Form: Application for Admission into Candidacy

Form: Application for Final Oral Exam

For more information please visit the Graduate studies website at: www.unl.edu/gradstudies/current/degrees