The first step is to refresh yourself regarding your program’s PhD preliminary exam policies which are outlined in your program’s graduate handbook.
Program Handbooks: Crop & Soil Sciences, Horticulture, Plant Pathology, Entomology, Food Science.
ALL documents are submitted to the Graduate School through your CAHNRS Graduate Academic Coordinator.
Last dates to conduct an oral preliminary exam in the regular term are:
- Fall 2025: December 5, 2025
- Spring 2026: May 1, 2026
- Summer 2026: July 31, 2026
Scroll to the end for information on interim preliminary exams.
Preliminary examinations may be scheduled once the Program of Study is officially approved by the WSU Graduate School, and after completion of most of your coursework. Students should have no more than 6 graded credits left to complete (including that currently enrolled) on their program of study coursework. At least 4 months must lapse between the preliminary exam and the final exam/defense. Review your student handbook for preliminary exam details pertaining to your degree program, and also confer with your advisor. You must be enrolled for a minimum of 2 credits of research (800) in the semester (or summer) you take your preliminary exam. Students should aim to take prelims during the academic year to avoid summer session tuition not covered by academic year tuition waivers.
Take note that some programs require written exams in addition to the oral preliminary examination. For examinations with both a written and oral exam, where the written exam precedes and serves as the basis for the oral exam, the oral preliminary exam must happen within 30 calendar days of the completion of the written exam.
The regular session Preliminary Exam Scheduling Form is due at least 10 business days in advance of the selected exam date. Because this timeline includes Smartsheet e-routing and e-approvals, be sure to initiate the form a few days before the deadline. The interim preliminary exam requires a special scheduling form; see the interim final exam section below.
- Be sure to include Deb Marsh, marshdj@wsu.edu, as the Academic Coordinator on the scheduling form.
- Be sure to reserve the room in advance where the student will be attending, and include the location, building and room number on the scheduling form.
- Upon submission, the form routes electronically to you and your committee members for approval. Deb Marsh is notified when routing begins and will track the form through approvals, notifying you once it has been submitted to the Graduate School.
Zoom arrangements: To accommodate program faculty at our statewide locations all preliminary exams should have ZOOM availability for the event. Please send the Zoom link to Deb Marsh as soon as possible so it can be included in the final exam announcement.
- Zoom meeting security and host control:
Zoom Room devices provide a limited set of host controls, and available options vary by room. If the advisor expects to use full host controls from their own laptop or device, the person who schedules the Zoom meeting must list the advisor as the Alternative Host. By default, the Zoom account that creates the meeting is the host.
Interim Preliminary Exams
An Interim preliminary exam may be requested in extenuating circumstances. In such cases, the Interim Preliminary Exam scheduling form must be used, but otherwise follow the same general directions as noted above. The currently known interim preliminary oral exam windows are:
- Fall 2025 (December 8-12, 2025)
- Spring 2026 (May 4-15, 2026)
- Summer 2026 (August 3-14, 2026)
The interim exam is particularly helpful for students enrolled a minimum of 2 credits of 800 in Spring term that can’t make the regular Spring deadline (which would save them from re-enrolling in 2 credits of 800 in summer costing additional tuition). It is also helpful for students who are trying to make cutoff for ABD waiver eligibility for the following term (ABD waiver eligibility deadline is Aug 16 for Fall term; Jan 1 for Spring term).