Current Graduate Students

Graduate advisors support graduate students in navigating benchmarks in their progress toward degree. The main benchmarks are outlined, semester-by-semester, in the drop-down tab for Current Students. During the first year of graduate school these benchmarks include meeting the university's Ethics requirement and its Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) requirement. The Ethics requirement is met if the student participates in Orientation and Research Days and completes a short Canvas course (linked below). The DEI requirement is met when the student completes the Diversity Course in Canvas (also linked below) and writes a diversity statement suitable for a job application--as approved by the advisor. Both of these requirements are checked when the student submits a Plan of Study.

The flowchart below comes from the Graduate School and illustrates step-by-step progress toward the doctoral degree (PhD). Steps for the Master's degree (MS) differ but follow the same general order. Semester-by-semester requirements for both degrees can be found under the Current Students tab. The key checkpoints for Academic progress toward the PhD are as follows:

A) Submit a Plan of Study (step 13)
In addition to coursework, this step includes the formation of a graduate committee, agreed upon by the student and their advisor. As mentioned above, this step also includes verification the student has met the Ethics and DEI requirements (step 17). Students should submit their Plan of Study to the Graduate Program Coordinator at the end of their third semester in the program (second semester for MS students).

B) Pass Two Preliminary Exams (step 15)
Note that the Graduate School refers to these exams as "qualifying exams." Students must take and pass two of the four offered preliminary ("qualifying") exams: Algebra, Analysis, Differential Equations, and Computational Mathematics. These exams are offered in January and August of each year, upon request. If a student fails an exam, they must retake the same exam and must pass it the second time, in order to stay in the program. 

C) Pass Oral Exam (step 16)
Note that the Graduate School refers to this exam as the "preliminary exam." This is a formal defense in which the student's committee determines whether the student is prepared to proceed with dissertation research. This "Prelim Exam" must be scheduled through the Graduate School at least 2 weeks before the defense. See Exam Scheduling flowchart further below.

D) Final Exam (step 21)
The final exam for PhD students is their disseration defense. This Final Exam must be scheduled through the Graduate School at least 2 weeks before the defense, and it must occur at least 6 months after passing the Oral Exam. See the Exam Scheduling flowchart further below. The advisor should announce the defense date to all Math faculty and graduate students so that they might attend the student's presentation.

The second flowchart, below, illustrates the timeline for exam scheduling. Students schedule Prelim (oral) and Final (dissertation or thesis) exams using the the Graduate School's exam system, linked below the flowchart. Students and their advisors can also use that system to check progress in satisying the exams (key checkpoints C and D).