Candidacy Examination Committee

  1. The committee is composed of at least four authorized Graduate Faculty members including the dissertation advisor, who acts as chair or advisor of the candidacy committee.
  2. The Candidacy Examination chairperson must be appointed in tenure track and hold membership at the Category P level in the College of Nursing
  3. The label “advisory” committee is used during the written portion of the examination, until the committee is confirmed by the Graduate School in preparation for the oral portion.

If you have questions regarding eligible faculty, please contact the Graduate Program Manager.

Candidacy examination committee approval procedures

  1. At least 3 months prior to the exam, the student and their advisor propose potential faculty members to the PhD program director for approval to serve on the candidacy examination committee using the Proposed Candidacy Committee form. The College of Nursing Proposed Candidacy Committee Approval Form can be found online, via Beacon. The program director will review the expertise of the proposed faculty to support the composition and evaluation of an examination that has sufficient content breadth and depth. The Composition of the Candidacy Exam Committee complies with the rules set forth by the Graduate School which state that a minimum of four authorized Graduate Faculty members are required. In the PhD in Nursing program, one member of the Candidacy committee who has Category P level status with the College of Nursing will be the student’s primary advisor. At least one additional candidacy exam committee member will be appointed who is in tenure track and has Graduate Faculty Category P level status in the College of Nursing. The remaining members may be comprised of faculty with Graduate School Category M or P level status and hold faculty appointments in the College of Nursing and/or other schools and colleges at Ohio State.
  2. Once the Candidacy Examination Committee is approved, the student must submit the Candidacy Examination committee information to the Graduate School for approval in Grad Forms, using the Application for Candidacy Examination form (more details about this form can be found here). Any changes to the composition of the approved Candidacy Examination Committee will need to be reapproved by the director of the PhD program. The College of Nursing Proposed Candidacy Committee Approval Form can be found online, via Beacon.