School of Rehabilitation Therapy Policy on Arranging Thesis Examinations Rehabilitation Science Program Approved December 2, 2010

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1 School of Rehabilitation Therapy Policy on Arranging Thesis Examinations Rehabilitation Science Program Approved December 2, 2010 Master of Science Regulations concerning deadlines and all procedures for the convening of Thesis Examining Committees for all Master s degree candidates are established by the Faculty of Health Sciences Graduate Council (FHSGC) and can be found in the FHSCG Handbook Section 2.5. The co ordination of the thesis examination for students enrolled in the MSc Program in Rehabilitation Science is the responsibility of the department and should be scheduled according to the following procedures: 1. Determination of the members of the thesis examination committee As per the School of Graduate Studies (SGS) policy, the thesis examining committee shall comprise Queen s University faculty who are members of the School of Graduate Studies. The online calendar of the School of Graduate Studies contains the most up to date listing of faculty members. The appointment of thesis examining committee members who are NOT members of the SGS must be approved in advance by the Associate Dean of the School of Graduate Studies. Such an approval must be sought by the student s thesis supervisor. Normally the SGS requires a letter addressed to the Associate Dean requesting approval of the examiner as well as a current curriculum vitae provided by the potential examiner in order to determine whether or not this individual will be approved as an examiner. Normally the members of the thesis examination committee should not be members of the student s thesis advisory committee. The examining committee must consist of at least four members and a chair, but may follow one of two formats, where, in either case, at least one member does not hold an appointment in the School of Rehabilitation Therapy. Format 1: External examiner an examiner with expertise in the student s research area who does not hold an appointment in the School of Rehabilitation Therapy Internal examiner an examiner with expertise in some aspect of the student s research area who holds an appointment within the School of Rehabilitation Therapy Department Head or delegate normally the Chair of the Graduate Program in Rehabilitation Science, but this duty may be delegated to another faculty member who holds an appointment within the School of Rehabilitation Therapy Thesis supervisor in the event that the student is co supervised, together the supervisors have one vote in determining the outcome of the examination. In this format, the Chair will be sought by the Graduate Program Assistant (RHBS) and may be any member of the School of Graduate Studies who is internal or external to the School of Rehabilitation Therapy. Whenever possible, a chair who is external to the department will be sought. The chair is not a voting member of the examination committee. Format 2: Two (2) Internal examiners both examiners hold appointments within the School of Rehabilitation Therapy and both should have expertise in some aspect of the student s research area. 1

2 Department Head or delegate normally the Chair of the Graduate Program in Rehabilitation Science, but this duty may be delegated to another faculty member who holds an appointment within the School of Rehabilitation Therapy Thesis supervisor in the event that the student is co supervised, together the supervisors have one vote in determining the outcome of the examination. In this format, the Chair will be sought by the Graduate Program Assistant (RHBS) and must be a member of the School of Graduate Studies who is not a member of the faculty of the School of Rehabilitation Therapy. The chair is not a voting member of the examination committee. In both scenarios, cross appointees to the School of Rehabilitation Therapy should normally serve as internal examiners. 2. Submission of thesis examination committee names and scheduling of the examination The supervisor must submit the names of tentative members of the examining committee (except the Chair) and the planned date and time of the examination to the Graduate Program Assistant (RHBS) at least 4 weeks prior to the tentative examination date. It is the supervisor s responsibility to confirm that all members of the examining committee are members of the School of Graduate Studies, have agreed to be on this committee and are available on the proposed day and at the proposed time of the examination. The completed signed Program form to schedule a Master s Oral Thesis Examination shall be delivered to the Graduate Program Assistant (RHBS) no later than 10 working days prior to the scheduled date of the examination. The Graduate Program Assistant (RHBS) shall indicate on the Program form whether the student has met the course requirements for graduation. As noted above, the Graduate Program Assistant (RHBS) will find an appropriate chair for the examination. The graduate program assistant (RHBS) will book a room for the examination, and will ensure that a laptop computer and data projector are available for use. The Graduate Program Assistant (RHBS) shall confirm the date, time and place of the examination to all committee members and the candidate no later than 10 working days prior to the scheduled date of the examination, and shall send a copy of the Program form to the SGS Thesis Coordinator. 3. Thesis examiners from other institutions There is no funding available to support the travel of thesis examiners to attend a MSc thesis examination at Queen s University. If an external examiner from another institution is desired, it is the responsibility of the student s thesis supervisor to ensure that this examiner receives prior approval from the Dean of Graduate Studies and to secure funding to cover the cost of travel, accommodation and subsistence for this examiner. Thesis examiners from other institutions may attend the examination through videoconference (see below). 4. Thesis submission deadline As per the guidelines set out by the School of Graduate Studies, all members of the examining committee must receive a copy of the thesis for examination at least 10 working days prior to the scheduled thesis defense. Normally the student should provide each member of the examining committee with a hard copy (spiral bound or in a binder) of the thesis unless the examiner explicitly requests that the thesis be sent to them in electronic format. The costs associated with providing copies of the thesis to his or her examining committee are the responsibility of the student. 2

3 5. Reports from the thesis examiners The examiners are not required to submit reports on the thesis prior to the oral thesis examination, unless they submit a negative report ; that is, if it is their opinion that the oral thesis examination should NOT proceed (see below). If no negative reports are received by the Program Assistant, Graduate Program in Rehabilitation Science, it is presumed that the examiner agrees that the oral thesis examination should be held as scheduled and that they will attend the oral thesis examination. Negative Reports: If, on the basis of the thesis submitted for oral examination, any committee member feels the examination should NOT proceed, he or she must submit a report which lists the substantive reasons why the thesis should not proceed to examination no later than 3 working days prior to the scheduled date of the examination. The negative report shall be submitted to the Rehabilitation Science Graduate Program Assistant, who will forward the report to Chair of the Graduate Program in Rehabilitation Science and to the Chair of the examination committee. If only one such negative report is submitted, the oral thesis examination shall proceed as scheduled. If two or more negative reports are submitted, the candidate and the supervisor shall be consulted by the Chair of the Examining Committee to see if they wish to proceed with the oral thesis examination. The SGS shall be notified whenever two or more examiners recommend that the oral thesis examination not proceed. The onus is on the candidate to make the decision to proceed or not. If the candidate agrees that the oral thesis examination be postponed, the Chair of the Examining Committee must convey to the candidate, through the supervisor, the nature of the revisions to the thesis that are advised, and the candidate has the right to present the revised thesis at a later date. At the subsequent submission of the thesis, the oral thesis examination must be held, regardless of whether or not negative reports are received. The SGS shall be informed when an oral thesis examination has been postponed due to negative reports. 6. Visitors at the oral thesis examination As per the School of Graduate Studies policy, at the oral thesis examination, other members of the academic faculty or staff may attend but may question the candidate only at the discretion of the Chair. Only the members of the committee may be present during the preliminary and post examination sessions. Other visitors outside of the Examining Committee may attend the thesis examination with the permission of the candidate, Chair of the Graduate Program in Rehabilitation Science, and the Chair of the Examining Committee. It is the student s responsibility to seek the appropriate permissions for visitors to attend the thesis examination at least 5 working days prior to the scheduled examination date. 7. Videoconferencing Guidelines Where every effort has been made to schedule a MSc thesis examination in person but proves difficult, it is acceptable for one of the thesis examining committee members (other than the chair) to attend the thesis examination through videoconference. If videoconferencing is to be used at the examination, it is the responsibility of the thesis supervisor to ensure that the facilities are available and functioning. The videoconferencing system should be tested at least 48 hours prior to the scheduled examination in order to ensure that there are no problems with the system. If there is a problem with the system, it is the supervisor s responsibility to ensure that all problems are resolved by the time of the scheduled examination. It is advisable to have teleconferencing capabilities available at the examination in order to use it as a back up in the event of videoconferencing failure. All costs associated with videoconferencing or 3

4 teleconferencing for the purposes of the MSc thesis examination are the responsibility of the thesis supervisor. Thesis supervisors may arrange to use the videoconferencing services offered elsewhere on campus (ie. Bracken Library) or within the School of Rehabilitation Therapy and may solicit assistance from the appropriate individuals, but should not expect that the videoconferencing arrangements will be made by the Program Assistant. Doctor of Philosophy The co ordination of the thesis defense for doctoral students in the responsibility of the School of Graduate Studies (SGS) and the appropriate procedures can be found in the School of Graduate Studies calendar at Key points are as follows: 1. Scheduling of the oral thesis examination In preparation for the thesis examination, the Ph.D. candidate must submit one copy of the thesis to the School of Graduate Studies and one hard copy of the thesis (spiral bound or in a binder) to each member of the Thesis Examining Committee, including the Chair of the Committee (normally six for a doctoral program), not later than five weeks (twenty five working days) before the tentative examination date. It is the candidate s responsibility to pay for the copying and distribution of the thesis to the members of the examining committee. The copy submitted to the SGS must be submitted electronically in PDF format. The copy of the thesis submitted to the SGS must be accompanied by the form Ph.D. Oral Thesis Examination, duly completed with all details given, and signed by the supervisor(s) and Head of the Department (or delegate). The submission of this form follows the same deadlines as the distribution of the thesis copies, which is not later than five weeks (twenty five working days) before the tentative examination date. 2. Membership and Convening of Thesis Examining Committees: As per the School of Graduate Studies (SGS) policy, with the exception of the external examiner, the thesis examining committee shall normally comprise Queen s University faculty who are members of the School of Graduate Studies. The online calendar of the SGS contains the most up to date listing of faculty members (see link to academic staff). The appointment of thesis examining committee members who are NOT members of the School, including examiners internal or external to Queen s University, must be approved in advance by the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies. Such an approval must be sought by the student s thesis supervisor. Normally the School of Graduate Studies requires a letter addressed to the Dean requesting approval of the examiner as well as a current curriculum vitae provided by the potential examiner in order to determine whether or not this individual will be approved as an examiner. Normally the members of the thesis examination committee should not be members of the student s thesis advisory committee. Thesis Examining Committees for all doctoral degree candidates include: Dean of the Graduate School (or delegate) Chair. Head of the Department (or delegate) Supervisor At least one other member of the Department At least one faculty member from Queen s University from another Department An examiner from outside Queen's University 4

5 Ph.D. candidates Thesis Examining Committee members are nominated by the Chair of the Graduate Program in Rehabilitation Science and the student's supervisor. It is the responsibility of the thesis supervisor to, in consultation with the Chair of the Graduate Program in Rehabilitation Science, determine the membership of the thesis examining committee. The thesis supervisor is responsible for ensuring that all members of the proposed examining committee are available to attend the examination on the tentatively scheduled date before this information is forwarded by the Program Assistant to the SGS. The authority for confirming membership of the committee and for confirming the date of the examination lies with the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies. Confirmation of these arrangements must be made, in writing, by the SGS to the members of the Thesis Examining Committee and to the student. 3. Examiner s reports: The thesis electronic report forms are forwarded from the School of Graduate Studies to the members of the Thesis Examining Committee. The thesis reports must be submitted, in confidence, to the Chair of the Examining Committee at the School of Graduate Studies no later than one week or five working days before the tentative examination date. Each member of the Thesis Examining Committee, in filling out the report, should indicate whether the candidate should be permitted to defend the thesis, and should substantiate any criticism with specific references. Negative reports: If any two of the examiners' reports recommend that the thesis oral not proceed, the candidate, the supervisor and the Chair of the Graduate Program in Rehabilitation Science will be consulted by the Chair of the Examining Committee to see if they wish to proceed with the oral defense. The onus is on the candidate to make the decision to proceed or not. If the candidate agrees that the oral examination be postponed, the Chair of the Examining Committee must convey to the candidate, through the supervisor, the nature of the revisions to the thesis that are advised, and the candidate has the right to present the revised thesis at a later date. At the subsequent submission of the thesis, the oral defense must be held regardless of whether or not negative reports are received. 4. Visitors at the oral thesis examination As per the School of Graduate Studies policy, at the oral thesis examination, other members of the academic staff of the School of Graduate Studies may attend the thesis examination but may question the candidate only at the discretion of the Chair. Only the members of the examining committee may be present during the preliminary and post examination sessions. Visitors outside of the Examining Committee may attend the thesis examination with the permission of the candidate, the Chair of the Graduate Program in Rehabilitation Science and the Chair of the Examining Committee. Permission for visitors to attend the examination should be sought by the candidate at least 10 working days prior to the scheduled thesis examination. 5. Expenses related to the thesis examination The School of Graduate Studies will subsidize up to a maximum of $500 in travel, accommodation or subsistence expenses related to the external examiner s attendance of the thesis examination. While the School of Rehabilitation Therapy encourages thesis supervisors to seek out external examiners of international caliber, the School of Rehabilitation Therapy has no funding to provide for this purpose. The thesis supervisor is encouraged to save on travel expenses through scheduling the examination when the examiner is already in the vicinity of 5

6 Queen s University, to seek out alternate sources of funding to cover the remainder of the travel expenses incurred (eg research grants), or to use videoconferencing facilities to support the attendance of the external examiner at the scheduled thesis examination. Normally the members of the thesis examination committee should be physically present at the thesis examination. In the event that the external examiner is physically present for the examination, and if scheduling difficulties arise, it is acceptable for one member of the thesis examining committee to attend the thesis examination via videoconference. 7. Videoconferencing Guidelines Where efforts have been made to schedule a PhD thesis examination with all examiners present in person but this proves difficult, it is acceptable for the external thesis examiner OR one of the thesis examining committee members (other than the chair) to attend the thesis examination through videoconference. No more than one committee member may attend the thesis examination by videoconference. If videoconferencing is to be used at the examination, it is the responsibility of the thesis supervisor to ensure that the facilities are available and functioning. The videoconferencing system should be tested at least 48 hours prior to the scheduled examination in order to ensure that there are no problems with the system. If there is a problem with the system, it is the supervisor s responsibility to ensure that all problems are resolved by the time of the scheduled examination. It is advisable to have teleconferencing available at the examination in order to use it as a back up in the event of videoconferencing failure. Costs associated with videoconferencing or teleconferencing of the external examiner for the purposes of the PhD thesis examination can be charged to the SGS as long as the amount remains within the $500 normally provided to support travel and accommodation for external examiners. Costs associated with videoconferencing and/or teleconferencing of any other member of the thesis examining committee are the responsibility of the thesis supervisor. Thesis supervisors may arrange to use the videoconferencing services offered elsewhere on campus (ie. Bracken Library) or within the School of Rehabilitation Therapy and may consult technical support personnel as appropriate. It not the responsibility of the Rehabilitation Science Program assistant to arrange videoconferencing. 6

7 Mini Master s (Further details can be found in the Faculty of Health Sciences Graduate Council Handbook, Section 2.6) Students registered in a Master's program at Queen's University, with first class standing, and who show exceptional promise in their research may be considered for promotion to a doctoral program in the same Program, without completion of the Master's degree. Promotion to a doctoral program requires the recommendation of the Program, the approval of the Faculty of Health Sciences Graduate Council and the approval of the SGS. Students admitted to a doctoral program by the mini master s route may not revert to the master's program within the same Program. In exceptional circumstances, the student may, after withdrawal from the doctoral program, seek readmission to the master's program in the same Program, or make application for admission to a master's program in another Program, through the normal application procedures. Promotion into a doctoral program without completing the Master's thesis is reserved for students who meet the following criteria: 1. Must have completed at least one term, full time, and have completed at least two graduate courses, or equivalent. 2. Must complete all course requirements for both the Master s and Doctoral degree prior to graduation. 3. Should have an undergraduate honours degree with a minimum upper second class standing or equivalent. 4. Must have an overall first class average in graduate courses completed. 5. Must meet Program criteria for demonstrating promise and ability at research. This may take the form of oral or written presentations as well as letters of support from faculty familiar with the student s progress. 6. Must apply to Faculty of Sciences Graduate Council following one term of enrolment (4 months) and prior to the end of the fifth term of study (20 months). All requirements for completion of the mini master s must be satisfied by the end of the sixth term. 1. Procedure for Application and Approval: The student will meet with the supervisor, the supervisory committee and the Chair of the Graduate Program in Rehabilitation Science or delegate to agree upon whether he or she should apply to the Ph.D. program without completing the Master's thesis. During this meeting the ramifications of the transfer to the doctoral program are to be clearly defined for the student. The following documents are required for submission to the SGS: Updated transcript (internal transcript acceptable) A brief justification outlining the student's qualifications for admission (to be completed by the Graduate Coordinator or delegate) Letter of support from the supervisor Outline of student s current and proposed research. Completed application package for admittance to the doctoral program, including a decision sheet for acceptance into the Ph.D. program, pending successful completion of the minimaster s. 7

8 The application will be forwarded to the Chair of the Faculty of Health Sciences Graduate Council. The Chair will either sign the decision sheet, thereby accepting the student into the Ph.D. program pending successful completion of the mini master s examination, or, in the case where he/she queries the qualifications of the student, have the application forwarded to Faculty of Health Sciences Graduate Council for discussion. Both the Chair of the Graduate Program in Rehabilitation Science (or delegate) and the supervisor must attend the Council meeting when the application is discussed. No later than 40 working days after the approval to proceed via the mini master s route has been confirmed in writing by the SGS, the mini master s candidate will defend a written research report and proposal in an oral examination to an examining committee. 2. Procedure for Examination of the Research Proposal of the candidate for the Mini Masters: The candidate must prepare a written report that normally should not exceed 10 pages in length, single spaced (excluding Figures, Tables and References), clearly delineating the background of the research project, the work done to date, and the proposal for development of the research into a doctoral thesis. This report will be submitted to an examining committee composed of the following members: Chair, Graduate Program of Rehabilitation Science or Delegate as Chairperson Supervisor Two faculty members (cross appointees or the supervisory committee may be used) The examining committee membership should be determined by the student s supervisor in consultation with the Chair, Graduate Program in Rehabilitation Science. It is the supervisor s responsibility to confirm that all members of the proposed examining committee are willing to serve in this capacity and are available (in person) to attend the examination on the scheduled tentative date. The Mini Masters Oral Examination Form will contain a signature line for the candidate indicating that the candidate has been informed of the make up of the Committee and that there are no conflicts. An oral examination will be held normally no later than 2 weeks (10 working days) after submission of the written report to the members of the examining committee. At the examination, the candidate will present a minute talk on his/her research report and proposal. This talk will be followed by an oral examination. Questioning or comments of the examining committee will primarily relate to the background of the project, what the student has accomplished, and the basis for expanding the project. This should normally last no longer than 1.5 hours. At the end of the examination, the candidate will be asked to leave the room while the examining committee members discuss the performance of the candidate. The examining committee will decide if the student will be recommended for promotion to the Ph.D. program or not. Two or more negative votes by the examining committee will result in failure of the minimasters examination. The decision of the examining committee shall be forwarded to the SGS. 8

9 Students who pass their mini master s examination will be allowed to transfer to the doctoral program in the following September, January or May. Council members will be informed at the next Council meeting of the promotion. Students who do not pass the mini masters examination will be allowed to complete the M.Sc. thesis, according to SGS regulations. 9