TIME TO DEGREE POLICY

1. At the end of year one of graduate work, the ACCESS core curriculum must have been completed by all students, regardless of their route of admission into the program. Entry into the program by ACCESS students is dependent upon their acceptance into the laboratory of a Pathology and Laboratory Medicine faculty member.
   
   
2. Toward the end of the second year in CMP program or no later than September 30 of the third year, the student must have chosen a doctoral committee. The student must complete a Nomination of Doctoral Committee form that can be obtained from the Cellular and Molecular Pathology graduate office.
   
   
3. Once the doctoral committee has been approved, the student will meet with the
   committee to discuss the potential thesis project, and set a timeline for the
   Oral\Qualifying Exam.
   
   
4. It is recommended that students complete all of the Cellular and Molecular Pathology course requirements by the end of Spring quarter of year two of graduate study. However, a student may delay completion of the core requirements to subsequent years.
   
   
5. The Qualifying Exam in Cellular and Molecular Pathology consists of the oral defense of a written proposal. The written proposal and oral defense must be completed by the end of a student's second year in the CMP program (third year of graduate school). If successful, the student will then advance to candidacy. If a student does not pass the exam,it may be retaken six months later. The student can not advance to candidacy and thus can not receive his/her Ph.D. degree without first passing the Oral Qualifying Exam.
   
   
6. Each year following the Oral Qualifying Exam, students must meet with their doctoral Committee to discuss progress and plans. At each meeting, the student should take 25-30 minutes to present the status of his/her dissertation work. One week prior to each meeting, the student must submit a one-two page progress report to the Committee (Student Progress Report for Annual Committee Meeting). The graduate program student affairs coordinator, in consultation with the student, will set the date and schedule the required annual thesis committee meeting. At the end of the annual meeting., each committee member will complete a form commenting on the student’s progress and specifying recommendations.
   
   
7. Once advanced to candidacy, the student should have completed his/her research and defense of the dissertation by the end of an additional three years in the mentor's laboratory. A final oral exam must be presented to the public at the end of this period. The student affairs coordinator (Sue Ellen) should be notified at least three weeks in advance as to the date, time, and location of this exam so that it can be announced to all members of the department.
   
   
8. The expected time for completion of the Ph.D. program in Cellular and Molecular Pathology is five (5) years. The purpose of the dissertation is to demonstrate ability for independent investigation and proficiency in the field. As evidence of this, it is expected that by the time of their graduation, every CMP student should have significant work for the publication of two first author papers in high quality, peer-reviewed journals.

Mentors and students are responsible for seeing that these requirements are fulfilled. Each stage of the student's progress will be recorded and kept in the student's file. Failure to complete the "Qualifying Exam" and "Progress Report/Annual Committee Meetings" in a timely fashion, or failure to demonstrate sufficient yearly progress will result in the Graduate Executive Committee convening a special meeting of the student and the doctoral committee to determine the reason for the lack of progress.

All relevant forms may be obtained from Sue Ellen in the Student Affairs Office or online. (See “Forms”)

MILESTONE TIMELINE TABLE