Teri Holbrook (now at Georgia State), Janie Cowan (media specialist in gwinnett), Jill Hermann-Wilmarth (Western Michigan), Karla Moller (U of Illinois) and Amy Alexander (Utah State University). All gave permission to use as examples, but not to quote.
Comprehensive Examination
A student must pass comprehensive written and oral exams administered by the advisory committee and have an approved prospectus/proposal before being admitted to candidacy for the degree.
To pass each examination, written and oral, each member of the advisory committee will cast a written vote of pass or fail on the examination. To pass each examination, the agreement of the advisory committee is achieved with no more than one dissenting vote and no abstentions.
Written Exams
The format, content, and scope of the written comprehensive exams will be determined by the advisory committee .
The student may choose sit-down or take-home written exams or a combination of each.
Students will have up to 20 weeks to complete take-home written exams. The 20-week period begins the day the advisory committee approves the student’s questions.
For sit-down exams, the student will have 3 hours for each of 3 questions that synthesize coursework and readings, usually in the areas of concentration selected early in the program in consultation with the advisory committee. The student may bring to the exam only a list of references; the student may not bring computer files.
For take-home written exams, the student will write 1-3 papers that synthesize coursework and readings, usually in the areas of concentration selected early in the program in consultation with the advisory committee. The total number of pages for written take-home exams, regardless of the number of questions, should be about 60 pages.
The student may discuss written exams with fellow students at any time except during the sit-down session. If writing take-home exams, the student may ask fellow students, but not faculty, for feedback on drafts of papers.
Faculty may not provide feedback to students about their written exams until all exams have been completed and submitted.
If, after reading a student’s written exams and before the oral defense, the advisory committee determines that one or more papers requires revision, the student will be required to revise based on direction from the advisory committee. Students will have 1, and only 1, opportunity to revise. Under extenuating circumstances, a student may apply to the advisory committee for an extension of the revision period. Students who do not revise successfully may not proceed to comprehensive oral exams and will be withdrawn from the PhD program.
Oral Exams
Once the written comprehensive exams have been approved by the advisory committee, the student is ready to proceed to the oral comprehensive examination.
All members of the student’s advisory committee must be present simultaneously for the oral exam.
To pass the oral examination, the agreement of the advisory committee is achieved with no more than one dissenting vote and no abstentions. If there is more than one dissenting vote, the student will have 1 more opportunity to pass the oral exam with 1 month to prepare except under extenuating circumstances approved by the advisory committee.
The oral exam is open to all members of the faculty and is announced by the Graduate School.