PTS Catalogue - Princeton Theological Seminary

3. First-Year review: In the first term of the second year, the student’s work
is reviewed and evaluated by the residence committee. The student completes
the first-year review self-evaluation form and distributes it to members
of the residence committee and to the Office of Academic Affairs,
Ph.D. Studies. After reviewing the student’s self-evaluation form and
meeting with the student to discuss progress, the residence committee
provides a copy of the residence committee evaluation form to the student
and to the Office of Academic Affairs, Ph.D. Studies. If the student’s
committee feels there is cause for concern at the end of the first year, this
review may take place in May of the first year.
4. Comprehensive examinations: The period of resident study culminates in
the comprehensive examinations, a series of written examinations, and/or
papers, as specified by each department, followed within ten days to two
weeks by an oral examination, usually two hours in length. (Permission
to substitute papers for examinations generally is not granted in the
Department of Biblical Studies.) Other variations in testing procedure
must be approved by the Ph.D. Studies Committee. In the oral examination,
which is conducted by the faculty in each area, the student’s competence
across the breadth of the field is assessed, and a determination is
made as to whether the comprehensive examination as a whole has been
passed, provisionally passed (with required revisions), or failed.
Examinations may be taken in April and May of the second year of residence
or in September and October or January of the following year. The
examinations may be taken in one of these periods or split between two
consecutive periods, as determined by the residence committee in consultation
with the student. All seminars must be completed and grades
recorded before comprehensive examinations begin. An exception to the
requirement for a recorded grade will be made for any seminars in which
a student is enrolled during the term in which comprehensive examinations
are being taken.
5. Dissertation proposal: The student is urged to give thought to possible
dissertation areas and topics from the very beginning of residence.
Seminar and course paper topics may be selected in part to explore such
possibilities. Upon the student’s satisfactory completion of the comprehensive
examinations, the student’s department appoints a dissertation
committee, taking into account the student’s area of research interests
and suggestions. The committee is subject to the approval of the Ph.D.
Studies Committee. The chair of the dissertation committee must be a
full-time member of the Seminary faculty. Under the guidance of the
dissertation committee, the student develops the research topic into a
formal dissertation proposal to be submitted to the appropriate department
for approval. The comprehensive examinations must be passed and
the dissertation proposal approved no later than the last meeting of the
Ph.D. Studies Committee in the third year. Failure to meet this deadline
may result in dismissal.
During the summer recess or during official leaves from the Seminary,
faculty members have no contractual obligation to advise students, to
read drafts of dissertations, or to engage in any other instructional activ-
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