Exams and Committees

  1. Graduate Admission Committee
  2. Higher Degrees Committees
  3. Doctoral Committees for Ph.D. students

1. Graduate Admission Committee (Terms of reference)

The Graduate Admissions Committee: 

  • Seeks from the Faculties or Departments for programmes and application requirements
  • Establish, maintain, and publicize appropriate admission and selection criteria and ensure that all stated admission criteria are used in admission decisions. 
  • Appropriately carry out any tasks related to admission decisions, including timely communication with the DGSRI about recommendations for admission and funding opportunities.
  •  Ensure that recruitment and admission policies are consistent with stated University goals of maintaining and improving equity for all applicants and quality of Graduate Programmes and increasing student diversity.
  • Utilize available and appropriate websites to communicate Graduate Programme information to prospective students and to publicize admission processes and selection criteria. 
  • As much as possible, match the knowledge, interests, and skills of applicants with the requirements, characteristics, and capacity of graduate programs and the research and training interests of their Faculty. 
  • Periodically assess the effectiveness of admission procedures and appropriateness of admission criteria. 
  • Receive information about applicants in confidence and respect the private nature of these data, consistent with national and local statutes. 
  • Ensure professionalism and ethical conduct when handling matters of Graduate admission and financial support deliberation. 
  • Process applications and respond to inquiries in a timely manner, with attention to stated and relevant deadlines. 

2. Higher Degrees Committee

The Higher Degrees Committee (HDC) will be found at two levels: Departments and Faculties. The HDCs together with the Graduate Admission Committees will:

  • Establish, maintain, and publicize appropriate admission and selection criteria and ensure that all stated admission criteria are used in admission decisions. 
  • Appropriately carry out any tasks related to admission decisions, including timely communication with the DGSRI about recommendations for admission and funding opportunities. 
  • Ensure that recruitment and admission policies are consistent with stated University goals of maintaining and improving equity for all applicants and quality of Graduate Programmes and increasing student diversity. 
  • Utilize available and appropriate websites to communicate Graduate Programme information to prospective students and to publicize admission processes and selection criteria. 
  • As much as possible, match the knowledge, interests, and skills of applicants with the requirements, characteristics, and capacity of graduate programs and the research and training interests of their faculty. 
  • Periodically assess the effectiveness of admission procedures and appropriateness of admission criteria. 
  • Receive information about applicants in confidence and respect the private nature of these data, consistent with national and local statutes.
  • Ensure professionalism and ethical conduct when handling matters of Graduate admission and financial support deliberation. 
  • Process applications and respond to inquiries in a timely manner, with attention to stated and relevant deadlines. 

Chairs of Higher Degrees Committees

3. Doctoral Committees for phD students

Doctoral students are required to have a Doctoral Committee which will be charged with monitoring the student’s performance and progress and advising the student throughout the study period. Although the doctoral student may propose some names to be considered for his/her Doctoral Committee, the final decision lies with the Higher Degrees Committee based on competence. The supervisors of the student are members of the Doctoral Committee.

Roles of the Doctoral Committee

The doctoral Committee shall be mandated to execute the following roles:

  • Monitor, review and endorse the reports from the student and supervisors and the 6 monthly progress reports 
  • Identify the external examiner and recommend it to the DGSRI for approval and appointment.
  • Identify other academic and research opportunities, both inside and outside the university (e.g. conferences, workshops, collaborative opportunities, training, research canters/labs, etc).
  • Mediate in case of disagreements between the supervisor and student and report to the Higher Degrees Committees.

Composition of the Doctoral Committee

The composition of the doctoral shall be as follows:

  • The Committee shall be established at the Departmental level and shall constitute at least two members from the student’s major field of study (one or both of them could be the doctoral student’s supervisors), the Head of the Department and two other experts deemed helpful in the pursuit of the study in question. 
  • Membership of the Doctoral Committee shall be composed of 5 persons. Membership on doctoral committees will be based on expertise in the major or related fields of study and from the industry where necessary. 
  • The composition should as much as possible be interdisciplinary and include at least one individual/expert from outside the candidate’s major field of study to provide a broader range of interdisciplinary perspectives and expertise.