Thesis Moderator Guidelines
1. In the case of Master's oral examinations, the Moderator is designated by the Dean of Faculty of Computer Science at the time the notice is posted prior to the oral presentation and examination. The thesis supervisor or members of the examining committee cannot be appointed as Moderators.
In the case of Ph.D. oral examinations, the Moderator will be the Dean of Faculty of Graduate Studies (FGS) or his designate. The designate will normally be a member of the FGS Council.
2. The Moderator presides over the oral presentation and examination. The Moderator also chairs the proceedings of the in camera deliberation of the examining committee as a non-voting member.
3. The Moderator verifies that the student and all the members of the examining committee are present.
4. Moderators are requested to ensure that the defenses proceed with minimal interruptions to the presenters. Interruptions occur especially when people walk in after the presentations have started. In one particular case, because of limited seating capacity the late comers proceeded to bump their way to the speaker's side causing disruption to the presentation. Moderators can use their discretion to see the available seats are not near the presenter and also possibly put a note outside the room that the presentation has started.
5. The moderator calls the meeting to order and explains clearly the procedure:
a) introduction of the student;
b) introduction of the examining committee;
c) Presentation of research summary by the student for 30 minutes with no interruptions;
d) questioning by the external member(s) of the examining committee;
e) questioning by the other member(s) of the examining committee;
f) questioning by the supervisor;
g) further questions from the examining committee;
h) questions from faculty members in the audience and then the general audience. This part is conducted at the discretion of the Moderator, if time permits.
6. At the conclusion of the oral presentation and examination, the Moderator asks the student and the audience to leave the examination room.
7. The Moderator as a non-voting member presides over the deliberation by the examining committee, but does not take part in the proceedings. The decision is taken by majority vote only by the members of the examining committee. The committee will come to one of five conclusions: "pass"; "pass with minor corrections"; "Pass with major corrections"; "re-examination"; or "fail" (detailed explanations of these outcomes are appended).
8. If corrections to the thesis are required, the examining committee will designate certain members as referee(s) to assure that all the concerns of the committee have been addressed in the corrected thesis. Normally the supervisor will be the referee or one of the referees.
9. Signatures:
a. The Moderator ensures that all members of the examining committee have signed the "Thesis Completion Form".
b. If no corrections are required, the Moderator ensures that all members of the examining committee have signed the title page, and delivers the signed Thesis completion Form to the graduate administrator.
c. If corrections are required, the Moderator ensures the title pages are signed by all members except the referee(s). In this instance, the referee(s) retains the title pages and the Thesis Completion Form until the thesis is acceptable. At that time the title pages will be signed and the Thesis Completion Form will be delivered to the graduate administrator with the date of submission of the final thesis completed.
10. It is the responsibility of the student to submit the final corrected and signed copies of the thesis to the FGS by the date specified in the Calendar. Otherwise, students will have to register as "thesis continuing" for one more term.
11. The Moderator invites the student into the room, announces the recommendation of the committee to the student and invites him/her to address relevant questions or comments to the committee.
Instructions On The Possible Results Of A Thesis Defense.
1. PASS - Totally acceptable, the thesis is acceptable as it stands.
2. PASS WITH MINOR CHANGES - Acceptable after minor changes but the thesis requires some minor modifications. Minor modification implies corrections of typographical errors and errors in nomenclature, improvement in phrasing, or the rewriting of small sections of the thesis.
3. PASS WITH MAJOR CHANGES - Acceptable after major changes but will not require re-examination. Such changes are usually of a technical nature but may also encompass major typographical and grammatical errors.
4. RE-EXAMINATION - Unacceptable as submitted. The thesis requires major modification or correction and requires re-examination. Major modifications will be required when there is mis-interpretation and/or misuse of the matter covered, omission of relevant materials, unfounded conclusions, illogicality of argument, etc. A student may or may not be required to carry out more experimental work.
5. FAIL - Totally unacceptable, the thesis is failed.