At least four scholars eligible to serve are required to participate on every doctoral Advisory Committee, and at least three are required for every master's Advisory Committee. All members of a student's Advisory Committee are required to participate in that student's doctoral (preliminary and final) or master's (final) examinations. If one of the Advisory Committee members cannot participate, the committee member should recommend to the Chair of the Advisory Committee, when possible, the name of a scholar eligible for advisory committee membership to serve as a proxy on the Examining Committee. After consultation with the student, the Chair of the Advisory Committee makes such a proxy appointment in writing. Regardless of the size of the size of the Committee, only one official proxy will be approved.

Those conducting the examination must log in to the Electronic Signature System and enter their decision on the exam result within 2 days after the exam. The proxy must communicate with the committee member for whom he or she is serving as a proxy regarding the exam result decision and the original committee member must log in to the Electronic Signature System and enter the decision.

All committee members must also signify approval or disapproval of the thesis/dissertation in the Electronic Signature System. This signifies that the thesis or dissertation is in final form and ready for ETD submission to the Graduate School.