Calendar - General Information & Regulations

The required period of enrolment for the PhD degree is six terms from the completion of a Master's degree, or nine terms from the completion of an Honours Bachelor's degree. The actual time taken to satisfy the degree requirements may be considerably longer. For information on required full-time attendance at the University see Academic Regulations: Definitions .The acceptance of the transfer of credits for prior enrolment at another university will be determined in individual cases by the Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) of the Faculty at the time of admission to the program.

The requirements for the degree must be completed within the time periods stipulated by the Senate of the University. A maximum of 18 terms (6 years) from an Honours Bachelor's degree or its equivalent, 12 terms (4 years) from a Master's degree or its equivalent, 15 terms (5 years) from a Master's degree or its equivalent for the PhD in Clinical Psychology, 21 terms (7 years) from an Honours Bachelor's degree or its equivalent for PhD programs in which students are proceeding to a degree totally on a part-time basis, 18 terms (6 years) from a Master's degree or its equivalent for PhD programs in which students are proceeding to a degree totally on a part-time basis is allowed for the completion of all requirements. Students must petition the Associate Dean of Graduate Studies to continue their enrolment beyond these limits. Progress of students who have been granted extensions will be reviewed every term. For more information on Time Limits see Academic Regulations - Time Limits .

Students whose work does not measure up to the standards of their program may be required to withdraw from the program. Such students may be readmitted although there will be a limit on the time-span in which readmission may occur.

Candidates must remain continuously enrolled at the University to the end of the term in which they complete the degree requirements. See also Academic Regulations - Continuous Enrolment .

For further information the minimum degree requirements specified by each Faculty should be consulted.

The PhD degree is granted by the University to candidates who have demonstrated both achievement in independent research in a particular field and a broad knowledge of that field.

The first requirement is satisfied when candidates have demonstrated a broad knowledge of their field to the satisfaction of the Faculty, normally by the successful completion of an assigned program of courses and the passing of a comprehensive examination, as determined by the department in which they are enrolled.

The second requirement is satisfied when candidates have presented and defended a thesis embodying the results of their own original research on an approved topic.

The departmental Graduate Officer will establish a Comprehensive Examination Committee (and advise the student of the membership of the Committee), which will submit an examination to the Graduate Officer or Graduate Committee for approval, where there are written or oral examinations. In certain departments the comprehensive requirement is met by a series of examinations or other special assignments rather than by a single examination. In both cases, such procedures must begin within four academic terms of the student's first enrolment in the PhD program and completed within at least seven academic terms from initial enrolment. Students must enrol for the comprehensive in the term in which they begin the comprehensive process. Candidates who fail to pass the comprehensive the first time or who are required to complete additional requirements must satisfy the comprehensive requirement of their department within one calendar year after the unsuccessful attempt, provided the decision made at the time of the comprehensive allows for another opportunity. Students who fail to meet these conditions will be required to withdraw.

When a department considers that a candidate must have some level of competence in a particular foreign language or languages, the successful demonstration of this competence becomes a requirement for the degree.

Candidates shall have their program of study and research approved by the department (or delegated committee) in which they are enrolled. In certain Faculties, a candidate will be responsible, upon entry to the program, to a supervisor who will be approved by the Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) of the Faculty. In other Faculties, the candidate will be responsible to a provisional supervisor to be approved by the departmental Graduate Studies Committee.

When a department wishes to appoint a supervisor (at the latest a month after the comprehensive), the departmental Graduate Officer shall consult with the candidate about an Advisory Committee and shall recommend to the Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) of the Faculty the composition of that three to five person Committee. In certain Faculties the Advisory Committee is appointed upon the passing of the comprehensive examination. This Committee must consist of the supervisor(s) and at least one other faculty member from the department. The supervisor must be a regular member of the University faculty; or, when a supervisor has adjunct status, another on-campus professor must serve as co-supervisor. Two other faculty members, one of whom may be external to the department or Faculty, may also participate in this Committee. In any event, the Advisory Committee must have a minimum of the supervisor and two other faculty members or a maximum of two supervisors and three other faculty members.

The PhD thesis examination is the culmination of the candidate's research program. It exposes the candidate's work to scholarly criticism by members of the University and gives him or her the opportunity to defend it.

When candidates give notice of readiness to submit the thesis, they must deposit a copy of it in the office of the Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) of their Faculty. They should be prepared to defend this thesis within 4 - 6 weeks of depositing it. When they are ready to submit it, the Graduate Studies Committee of the department in which they are enrolled recommends to the Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) of the Faculty an Examining Board consisting of five members (or six where there are co-supervisors).

The Examining Board consists of a minimum of five to six members: the supervisor or co-supervisors, three other members of the University, at least one of whom must be from the home department, and at least one of whom must be external to the home department (referred to as the internal-external), and an external examiner. Normally internal members of the Examining Board will be drawn from the Advisory Committee. The internal-external may be appointed from the Advisory Committee, or appointed at the time the Examining Board is struck. The external examiner must be at arm's length from the candidate and supervisor. (For example, he or she cannot have vested interest in the outcome of the examination, or be in a conflict-of-interest position with regard to the candidate and/or the supervisor.) Recommendations to the Associate Dean concerning external examiners must be accompanied by a curriculum vitae and a conflict-of-interest statement. (See Policy #70 ).

Six copies of the thesis are submitted to the Office of the Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) of the Faculty. Five are distributed to members of the Examining Board and the sixth is held in the Faculty Graduate Office where it is available for at least four weeks, for examination by any member of the University. The Faculty Graduate Office announces the submission of the thesis and the date and location of its defence in the University of Waterloo Gazette. Major criticisms of the thesis by members of the University other than those on the Examining Board must be submitted in writing to the Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) of the Faculty concerned no later than one week before the thesis defence and conveyed to the Chair of the Board.

When seeking the protection of intellectual property by filing a patent application, the student and supervisor(s) may request a closed thesis examination and a restriction on the circulation of the thesis.

Any request for a closed thesis examination must be forthcoming, at the latest, one week prior to the submission of the thesis to the Faculty Associate Dean for Graduate Studies for the examination committee, by completing a Request to Restrict Circulation of Thesis Form. Theses are withheld by the Graduate Studies Office for a maximum of one year. Requests for extensions must be sent in writing to the Graduate Studies Office writing at least two months before the date of release.

Committee members, including the external examiner will be asked by the University of Waterloo to sign a Non-disclosure Agreement regarding the contents of the thesis before examining the thesis.

The requirements for non-disclosure by the committee members as requested by the University of Waterloo and the restriction on the circulation of the thesis will expire after one year from the date of the orgiinal thesis submission date, unless the graduate student and supervisor(s) have obtained the consent of all non-disclosing parties to extend the term of the agreement.

The complete guidelines and forms are available at http://www.grad.uwaterloo.ca/students/Guidelinescloseddefense.html

The external examiner must provide the Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) with a written assessment of the thesis at least one week before the scheduled defence. Whether the assessment is positive or negative, the Associate Dean will copy the report of the external examiner to the supervisor, who will inform the candidate of any major criticisms of the thesis, so that the student can respond to these, but the evaluation must not be shown to the candidate. The candidate may be shown the evaluation after the defence, with the permission of the external examiner. Should the assessment be negative, the Associate Dean may wish to advise that the candidate withdraw the dissertation and defend with the same external examiner at a later date. (A candidate may withdraw the thesis only once.) Despite a negative assessment, a candidate has the right to proceed to a defence.

The thesis defence is an oral examination conducted by an impartial Chair appointed by the Dean of Graduate Studies. Any member of the University is free to attend. Candidates first present their thesis orally with whatever aids they require to make an effective presentation. This presentation should be limited to no more than thirty minutes with the focus being on the main contributions and conclusions of the work. They are then questioned on the thesis. The Chair will give priority to questions from members of the Examining Board and any member of the University who has submitted written criticism. Any member of the Examining Board who cannot attend the defence must submit a written report on the thesis to the Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) of the Faculty at least one week before the defence. The Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) will then appoint a delegate, who cannot be an existing member of the Examining Board, to carry the absent member's report to the examination. No more than two members may be absent from the defence. The supervisor must attend the defence.

The oral examination should be structured in such a way that a period be set aside at the end of the examination for questions from non-Board members. If the Chair of the Examining Board is unsure of the appropriateness or relevance of a particular question, he or she should ask the members of the Board, whether or not any of them wishes to have the candidate answer that particular question, thus in effect making the question posed by a non-member de facto a question which would be authorized by a member of the Board.

It is the responsibility of the Chair of the Examining Board to ascertain that all of the questions of an absentee member be adequately handled by the Examining Board. In addition, the Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) of the Faculty concerned must provide copies of all questions from absentee members of the Board to the other members of the Examining Board.

The decision of the Examining Board is based both on the thesis and on the candidate's ability to defend it.

Four decisions are open to the Examining Board:

A. Accepted
Thesis may require typographical and/or minor editorial corrections to be made to the satisfaction of the supervisor normally within one month.

B. Accepted Conditionally
Thesis is acceptable but requires content changes that do not require re-examination. The Examining Board's report must include a brief outline of the nature of the changes required and must indicate the time by which the changes are to be completed. In any case, changes must be completed to the Board's satisfaction within one calendar year of the date of the defence or the student must withdraw from the program.

C. Decision Deferred
Thesis requires modifications of a substantial nature, the need for which makes the acceptability of the thesis questionable. The Examining Board's report must contain a brief outline of the modifications expected and should indicate the time by which the changes are to be completed. The revised thesis must be re-submitted to the Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) of the Faculty for re-examination. Normally, the re-examination will follow the same procedures as for the initial submission except that the display period may be reduced or eliminated at the discretion of the Associate Dean. Normally, the same Examining Board will serve. A decision to defer is open only once for each candidate.

D. Rejected
Thesis is rejected. The Examining Board shall report the reasons for rejection. A student whose doctoral thesis has been rejected will be required to withdraw from the PhD program. The departmental Graduate Officer/Associate Chair will confirm in writing the decision of the Examining Board to the student and the requirement to withdraw within one week of the date of the examination.

If the Examining Board is not prepared to reach a decision concerning the thesis at the time of the thesis defence, it is the responsibility of the Chair to determine what additional information is required by the Board to reach a decision, to arrange to obtain this information for the Board, and to call another meeting of the Board as soon as the required information is in his or her hands. It is also the responsibility of the Chair to inform the candidate that the decision is pending. Candidates should not normally be required to present themselves before the Examining Board at the second meeting.

If all but one member of the Board agree on a decision, the decision shall be that of the majority, except when the one dissenting vote is that of the External Examiner and the External Examiner is present. In this case, the occurrence must be reported to the Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) of the Faculty concerned who will inform the Dean of Graduate Studies. The Dean will seek the advice of the Associate Deans (Graduate Studies) and come to a decision, which will be reported back to the PhD candidate and the Chair of the Examining Board. In very exceptional cases, the Dean of Graduate Studies may wish to take the matter before the Senate Graduate and Research Council, which is specifically given authority to make such decisions.

If two or more dissenting votes are recorded, the case must be referred to the Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) of the Faculty who will ascertain what is needed to reach a consensus.

On the basis of the Examining Board's report and its own records of candidates' progress in their assigned program of study, the Associate Dean (Graduate Studies) of the Faculty, or a committee specifically appointed by a faculty for this purpose, decides whether candidates have fulfilled the requirements for the PhD degree. If the decision is that they have, he or she forwards the supporting documentation to the Dean of Graduate Studies with the request that he or she recommend to Senate that the degree be awarded. The Dean of Graduate Studies examines this request in light of the report from the Chair of the thesis examination. If the Dean of Graduate Studies has any reason to feel that the acceptance of the thesis is open to dispute, the Dean will take the matter before the Associate Deans (Graduate Studies) for advice or, if necessary, to the Senate Graduate and Research Council, which is specifically given authority to decide in such cases.

A request for re-examination of a graduate thesis is a special case of an academic grievance. Students who decide to appeal a thesis decision should contact their Faculty Associate Dean (Graduate Studies), in the first instance, but they may also appeal formally to the Faculty Committee on Student Appeals (FCSA). The Faculty Committee on Student Appeals (FCSA) tribunal may order a re-examination of the thesis, or the tribunal may deny the student's appeal. (Reference copies of the Student Grievance Policy [Policy #70] are available from the Associate Deans, Graduate Studies Office, or University Secretariat.)

When the thesis is accepted by the department and Faculty, and all other requirements for the degree have been met, the student must provide the University with an electronic copy of their approved thesis as a final University degree requirement. Theses must be prepared and submitted as outlined in the Graduate Thesis Regulations.

Degree requirements for bound paper copies of the approved thesis for the department and/or supervisor(s) are regulated by each Faculty. Students must check with their department regrading paper copy requirements and deadlines. Students may choose to have the department and supervisor copies and any personal copies of the approved thesis bound privately or through the services provided by UW Graphics. (See the Graphics website www.graphics.uwaterloo.ca A Graduate Studies Thesis Review Form, approved by the Graduate Studies Office, is required for submission to UW Graphics for binding.)