Two approved University Examiners must be present at the Final Oral Defence.

Role of the University Examiners

• to asses the quality and significance of the dissertation
• to evaluate the performance of the candidate at the Final Oral Defence
• to contribute to the consensus recommendation to the Dean of Graduate Studies on the conferral of the degree

Eligibility of the University Examiners

• Normally, at least one of the two University Examiners should have no affiliation with the graduate program(s) of either the Candidate or research supervisor
• Both examiners should have expertise in a field closely related to the dissertation research.
• Both examiners should hold an academic appointment as a Full, Associate, or Emeritus Professor with a graduate program that offers doctoral degrees, or should have proven experience in the supervision of doctoral students at UBC.
• Both University Examiners should be at arm's length from both the Candidate and the research supervisor(s)

Note:

An Assistant Professor may be approved if s/he has passed initial re-appointment or has previous experience with the doctoral examinations process. Please contact the Doctoral Examinations Coordinator (604-822-3989) for instructions about providing this rationale prior to submitting this form.

The approval process

• The Candidate’s graduate program is responsible for recommending well-qualified, objective examiners. A brief rationale of how the proposed examiners’ fields of expertise relate to the candidate’s area of research must be provided.
• The Candidate's graduate program is responsible for submitting the Approval of University Examiners for Doctoral Dissertation form to the Faculty of Graduate Studies a minimum of four weeks prior to the scheduled Final Oral Defence.
• The consent of the proposed University Examiners to attend the exam must be confirmed by the research supervisor or Graduate Advisor prior to the submission of the form. 
• The Faculty of Graduate Studies will confirm the approval of the University Examiners via e-mail.