Eight weeks prior to the final oral defence a request for approval of the external examiner must be submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research. Four weeks prior to the final oral defence the notice of oral must be issued and the final thesis sent to the external examiner. Prior to issuing the notice of oral and sending the thesis to the external examiner the supervisory committee must submit a written statement to the Graduate Coordinator of the Department that the thesis is of sufficient merit to proceed to the final oral examination. The above times apply to the case of the external examiner being a reader. In the event that the external examiner will attend the final oral examination then the notice of oral must be issued and thesis must be sent to all examiners three weeks prior to the final examination.
All oral examinations have a similar format.
They begin with introductions. Then the chair of the examination outlines the procedures to insure that everyone is clear as to the procedures. Then the candidate is asked to leave the room and his academic file and background are reviewed in the candidate's absence. Following this, the candidate is asked to return to the room and make a 20 to 25 minute oral presentation on his thesis work. Upon completion of the oral presentation the candidate is asked questions by the examining committee.