The University of New Mexico

Student Committee Composition

Link to Approval for Committee Service form

There are three types of student committees – examination, thesis and dissertation; the composition for each is given below:

a) Master’s Exam and/or Thesis Committees: The role of the examination committee is to approve the exam questions, conduct the exam/defense, evaluate the student response and report the results.  Each committee must consist of a minimum of three members approved by the Office of Graduate Studies.

  1. Two members must be Category 1 OR one member can be Category 1 and one member may be Category 3 if his/her appointment is within the student’s major.
  2. The chair of the exam committee must be Category 1, 5 or 3, if his/her appointment is within the student’s major.
  3. The third member can be any Category (1-6).
  4. A co-chair can be from any Category (1-6) as long as the other co-chair is a Category 1 or 3 if his/her appointment is within the student’s major.

No more than one voting member can be in Category 4. Departments can impose a more restrictive structure for exam committees.

b) Doctoral and MFA Comprehensive Exam Committees: The role of the examination committee is to approve the exam questions, conduct the exam, evaluate the student response and report the results.  Each committee must consist of a minimum of three members approved by the Office of Graduate Studies.

  1. Two members must be Category 1 OR one member can be Category 1 and one member may be Category 3 if his/her appointment is within the student’s major.
  2. The chair of the exam committee must be Category 1, 5 or 3, if his/her appointment is within the student’s major.
  3. The third member can be any Category (1-6).
  4. A co-chair can be from any Category (1-6) as long as the other co-chair is a Category 1 or 3 if his/her appointment is within the student’s major.

No more than one voting member can be in Category 4.  Departments can impose a more restrictive structure for exam committees.

c) Doctoral and MFA Dissertation Committees: The role of the dissertation committee is to supervise a doctoral candidate dissertation activity. (See appropriate sections of the Catalog for additional information.  Each committee must consist of a minimum of four members approved by the Office of Graduate Studies; 2 of the 4 members must have Category 1 approval.

  1. Chair must have approval as a Category 1, 5 or 3 if his/her appointment is within the student’s major.
  2. The second member must have approval as Category 1 or 3 if his/her appointment is within the student’s major.
  3. The third member (external/outside) must have approval as Category 2 if selected from the faculty of an institution other than UNM, or Category 1 if a UNM faculty member outside the student’s discipline.
  4. The fourth member can have approval as Category 1-6.
  5. Co-Chair (optional) must have approval as a Category 1-6.
No more than one voting member may be in Category 4.  Departments can impose a more restrictive structure for exam committees