First read Advancement to Ph.D. Candidacy for an overview.
Step 1 — Discuss your Senate Exam with your faculty advisor and coadvisor to know what to expect.
Step 2 — You will need to form a doctoral committee and work with the BISB Graduate Program Coordinator to submit it to GEPA for approval. See detailed information here.
Step 3 — Work with your committee members to pick a date and time for the exam. Try to do this at least 2-3 months in advance. Once you have date and time, reserve a room. See the Exam Scheduling FAQ.
Step 4 — Notify the Graduate Coordinator about the date, time, and location of your exam, as soon as you have scheduled it; ideally 2-3 months, but at least 4 weeks, before your target exam date.
Step 5 — You cannot take the Senate Exam before GEPA has approved your committee. When the committee is approved by GEPA, you will receive an email notification to review the official approval letter on the Graduate Student Portal. If you have not received your committee approval by one week before the exam, please contact the Graduate Coordinator.
Step 6 — On the day of your exam, the Graduate Coordinator will send online paperwork to your committee members, entitled Report of the Qualifying Examination and Advancement to Candidacy for the Doctoral Degree. The committee members fill in the exam result and sign it, and then it's submitted to GEPA.
Step 7 — If you pass your exam, you will receive official notice from the Graduate Dean of your successful advancement — Congratulations you are In-Candidacy!