If there are more than four voting members on the committee, at least half of the voting members should be members of the Graduate Faculty. Committee members should be chosen for their expertise in the student s research area, but may also be chosen to give diversity in viewpoint, methodology, or academic discipline. Such diversity may be achieved by including members from more than one sub-discipline within the unit, from other units, or from other campuses. The faculty of a unit may establish procedures or requirements for introducing diversity in the membership of the dissertation committee. Under the previous policy, the committee must be composed of at least three members of the Graduate Faculty, with at least one member being tenured.
Final examinations are oral and public.
The committee chair is responsible for convening the committee, conducting the examination, and submitting the Certificate of Result to the unit in which the student is enrolled and to the Graduate College. All voting members of the committee must be present in person or via appropriate electronic communication media at the preliminary and final examinations. Non-voting members need not be present at the final examination. Only the voting members of the dissertation committee sign the Certificate of Result. Decisions of the committees for both preliminary and final examinations must be unanimous.