Rules for Graduate Study: pre-2007

This page contains regulations for students following the old preliminary exam system, replaced in 2007 with the foundational exam and qualifying paper system described on the rules page, section 4.

4. Preliminary Exams (pre-2007)

4.1. In order to become a candidate for the Ph.D. degree, a student must pass comprehensive examinations in four areas of linguistics, normally chosen from the following groups:

A.	Phonology Syntax Semantics Historical linguistics
B.	Phonetics Morphology Discourse / Pragmatics Sociolinguistics Linguistics of a language family
C.	Computational linguistics Mathematical linguistics Psycholinguistics Educational linguistics

4.2. At least two areas must be selected from group A and not more than one may be chosen from group C. Under special circumstances, the faculty of the graduate group in linguistics may allow an area not listed to be substituted for one listed in group B or C.

4.3. Prelim examinations are offered three times each academic year, according to the following schedule:

• First full week of October: Phonology, historical linguistics, phonetics, morphology, discourse, linguistics of a language family.
• Last week in January: Syntax, semantics, sociolinguistics, computational linguistics, educational linguistics, psycholinguistics.
• Third full week of May: All areas.

4.4. Examinations are administered anonymously. Students who wish to take examinations must register with the departmental administrator one month before the scheduled week, specifying the areas in which they wish to be examined. The graduate chair will send out timely reminders by e-mail to alert students that they should register.

4.5. Examinations are scheduled during the assigned week so that no student is required to take multiple examinations on contiguous days. Students receive their questions at nine A.M. of the scheduled dates (Monday through Thursday) and have twenty-four hours to complete each examination. Answers are to be returned to the departmental administrator before ten A.M. of the following day.

4.6. A student is required:

1. to pass at least one of his or her prelim examinations by the end of the second year of coursework.
2. to take the remaining three prelim examinations not later than the end of the semester in which coursework is completed. Students matriculating Fall 2005 and later must attempt the remaining three prelim examinations, and pass at least two of these three exams, by the end of the third year of residence.

4.7. Any student who fails to comply with the rules in section 4.6 must leave the program. Students may apply to the graduate group to be reinstated. The decision of the graduate group by majority vote shall be binding. A student who fails an examination in the same area twice is also obliged to leave the program.

The following information was previously posted on the Procedures page; but since all students under the old system have completed their exams as of Spring 2008, it is simply archived here.

Schedule for Prelim Exam system (pre-2007):

Prelim Exams (pre-2007)

The following rules apply to students in the pre-2007 prelim exam system, with take-home exams.

The University requirement called the Preliminary Examination is satisfied by students under this system by passing four sections in different theoretical areas (selected from three categories: A, B, and C). We traditionally refer to the sections as "the phonology prelim", "the prelim in syntax", etc., but try not to let this terminological overlap confuse you. It is perhaps helpful to think of the overall Preliminary Examination being satisfied by four Area Exams (equal to "sections" of the overall exam, or informally "the prelim in X"). The earlier University requirement called the Qualifications Evaluation is satisfied by passing one of these Area Exams by the end of the second year. For more details on the prelim exams, see the regulations, item 4.

The following are procedures you should follow when you take a prelim exam.

General rules. Pick up the exam in the department office between 9 AM and 10 AM on the assigned day. Once you pick up the exam and see the questions, you do not have the option of withdrawing from the exam except in the case of a documented medical emergency. If you have a question during the exam (for example, you suspect a typographical error, or the wording is unclear), email Amy rather than the professors responsible for the exam; this will preserve your anonymity, and will permit the answer to be distributed to other students taking the exam. (The question should be in writing so it can be forwarded to the relevant faculty.) You must have a completed, printed copy ready to hand over no later than 10 AM sharp on the day after you pick up the exam. Exams turned in after this deadline will be automatically failed, so plan your transportation accordingly.

Academic integrity. You are absolutely prohibited from discussing the contents of the exam with anyone. In answering essay questions, you are generally free to consult any reference works you choose (with appropriate citation in your answer), but the use of previous analyses for data questions is prohibited, unless specifically sanctioned by the instructions. No reference to answers by students who have taken previous exams is permitted once you pick up the questions. Violation of these rules is grounds for expulsion. You should feel free, however, to include reference to your own previous work in an area relevant to the exam question.

Formatting. Your exam must be typed or printed by computer, in at least 12 point type. Handwritten versions are not acceptable. Include the following information on every page of your exam: your student number (assigned to you by Amy); the topic of the exam (e.g. Syntax, Historical, etc.); and the sequential number of each page. This is easily accomplished by adding a running header to your document, such as "Student #3, Historical Exam, Page 7".

Printing. If you intend to print the exam at a computer other than the one used to compose the file, it is your responsibility to leave time for the resolution of any font or formatting problems that may arise. Your safest bet is to create a pdf file on your home computer; post this file on a server and copy it to a disk (do both, in the event of a network or disk-reading problem); and use one of those files to print from any computer. If your answer includes crucial use of color, as in a graph, plan to provide 3 copies of the color images; check with Amy for details.