A quorum of four members from the supervisory committee including the Chair, Graduate School Representative (GSR), and two additional general members must be present at a General and Final Exam (see Graduate School Policy 4.2 for details). In the event that a member of the committee should unexpectedly not attend an exam, the following procedures should be followed.
- If the Chair or a Co-Chair is not present, wait 15 minutes (or longer if appropriate) then adjourn the exam and reschedule to a later time/date.
- If the GSR is not present, wait 15 minutes then notify your department’s GPA. The student’s department may ask a member of the graduate faculty outside its department and the Chair’s department to serve as a replacement. The GPA must ensure that the proposed candidate is eligible to serve as a GSR. Once the replacement GSR is present, the exam may proceed. Before conveying the exam outcome, the GPA must update the student’s GSR in MyGrad Program.
- If a general member is not present and the quorum (as stated above) is not intact, the exam should be adjourned and rescheduled to a later time/date, OR, the exam may adjourn momentarily until another field-specific faculty member can be found as a replacement.
- If a general member is not present but the quorum (as stated above) is intact, the exam may proceed.
In all cases, an attempt must be made to contact the absent member before taking any action.