Comprehensive Examinations: Both a written and an oral examination will be taken after completion of the greater portion of the course work phase of the Ph.D. program. The written examination will be conducted to test the student's understanding and ability to apply the subject matter related to the chosen research area(s). The format and sequence of the written and oral examinations are dependent on the academic adviser and the examining committee. The examination will be graded pass, fail or marginal pass. If the student does not pass the written component of the comprehensive examination, the student will be provided another opportunity to pass the examination. If the student does not pass the written examination second time, the student must wait one semester before taking the examination for the third time. Failure of the third attempt will prevent the student from proceeding further in the Ph.D. program.

The oral examination will also be coordinated by the academic adviser. In this examination, the student will be required to provide a short presentation of the research progress to the date of the oral examination. The format of the examination is dependent on the academic adviser and the examining committee. This examination is to assess the student's ability to communicate his/her research problem, and how he/she is applying scientific and engineering principles to solve the research problem. This examination may be used by the committee to further ascertain the student's level of understanding of subject matter as observed from the written examination. This examination is graded pass or fail. If a student fails the oral examination, the student will be advised of the deficiencies and will be given a second opportunity to pass the examination. Should both attempts to pass an examination result in failure, the candidate may request to take the examination a third time. A request for a third examination requires the support of the supervisory committee, the Department Chair, and the Dean of the Graduate School after consultation with the Graduate Council. Failure of the third attempt will prevent the student from proceeding further in the Ph.D. program.

Successful completion of both written and oral examinations will formally admit the student into candidacy for the Ph.D. in Agricultural and Biosystems Engineering. At least one semester must elapse between admission to candidacy and final PhD. oral examination of the dissertation.

Final Examination: After the research work is completed, the student will write a Ph.D. dissertation following the guidelines of the Graduate School. The final oral PhD. examination will be arranged after the approval of his/her academic adviser. The complete Ph.D. dissertation will be distributed to the examining committee members a minimum of one week before the final examination. The student will present the complete research work during this final examination. After passing the final examination, the student will complete all the appropriate suggested changes of the committee. The student will follow the procedures as defined by the Graduate School to complete the submission of the Ph.D. dissertation.