Milestone 3: Preliminary Written Examination (PWE)

The University of Minnesota requires PhD students to pass a written examination in the major field as the first step to becoming a doctoral candidate. This examination encompasses work that is fundamental to the field and reflects competencies expected of PhD students. In the School of Nursing, there is one Preliminary Written Examination. After successful completion of the written examination (paper), the DGS reports to the Graduate School that the Written Preliminary Examination requirement for the major has been successfully completed. This is then recorded in the student’s UMN graduate record. The Preliminary Written Examination is graded only by SoN faculty as it is a program level requirement. In accordance with University of Minnesota policy, students who are reported to have failed to meet the written examination requirement will be terminated from the doctoral program.  

School of Nursing Preliminary Written Examination Policy

PhD students are eligible to complete the Preliminary Written Exam after completing NURS 8190 and at least 18 additional required Nursing PhD program credits. The goal at this point in your education is to have completed the necessary nursing coursework to be ready for the written examination. Completing NURS 8190 will prepare you for conducting a literature review, and other required nursing courses will help you prepare the content. Students must officially assign faculty members to their Preliminary Oral Exam Committee before initiating the Preliminary Written Exam. All members of the Preliminary Oral Exam Committee will assist with delineation of the scope of the Preliminary Written Exam even though only SoN faculty members of this committee will actually grade the exam.

PWE Content Overview

The PWE paper involves a comprehensive critical review of the state of the science in which the student provides evidence of the breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding in a particular content area of nursing that is of special interest. The goal is to demonstrate the student’s ability to clearly formulate a problem, conduct a literature search, synthesize the literature, analyze and interpret the findings, identify gaps in knowledge related to the proposed topic and make recommendations for the next steps needed to advance the science. Students are encouraged to submit their paper for publication after they have received a passing grade for the written examination, although it may need to be revised per journal requirements and co-author input.

Step-By-Step Preliminary Written Examination Process

1. The student must discuss with their advisor the feasibility and plans for a potential topic, scope and timing of the written exam. (NOTE: The topic can be related to, but must be different than, the paper written for Nursing 8190: Critical Review of Health Research. Moreover, the purpose of the course NURS 8190 is to build a foundation on how to write a critical literature review and the course assignment requirements may be similar but not exactly the same as the written exam.) 

2. In consultation with their advisor, the student then writes a preliminary written exam outline describing the topic, content, and  proposed scope of the exam paper in sufficient detail. The outline will be approximately 4-6 pages, although there is no set page limit. The student emails the preliminary written exam outline that was discussed with their advisor to all Preliminary Oral Exam Committee members and sets  a date for a meeting to discuss the outline (approximately two weeks from receipt of the outline).

3. The student schedules a meeting date/time and a meeting location (schedule through advisor’s cooperative office). At the meeting, Preliminary Oral Exam Committee members provide input on the outline of the paper’s topic, content, and scope. The advisor summarizes any revisions to the outline agreed upon by the Committee and student and  emails the summary to the student and committee members within 5 business days after the meeting. There will be only one meeting and discussion of the Preliminary Oral Exam Committee about the outline, so members must reach an agreement about any changes. Due dates for the written exam are then determined (please avoid due dates for grades on holidays and weekends). If changes were decided upon at the scoping meeting, the student should send a final outline for the exam after review by the advisor to all committee members within 5 business days.

4. The student submits the Preliminary Written Exam Planning Form (electronic) and follows the instructions provided in the submission confirmation. Students are strongly encouraged to send calendar invites to their committee members regarding due dates. 

5. The student submits a draft of the Preliminary Written Exam to their advisor via email by the agreed upon date. 

6. The primary advisor only provides the student with no more than one page (single-spaced) of written feedback (no track changes or editing of the PWE itself) regarding the draft Preliminary Written Exam via email by the agreed upon date.

7. The student revises the Preliminary Written Exam as needed and submits the final Preliminary Written Exam to the committee via email.

8. Due date changes from the Preliminary Written Exam Planning Form are only allowed one time and must be prior to submitting the exam to the advisor for approval and must be agreed upon by email by all SoN reviewers. If changes to dates are needed after the signed Preliminary Written Exam Planning Form has been submitted, the student will email the DGS with an explanation and request for change, copying their advisor(s). Any due date changes are only permitted in special and exceptional circumstances, and the student must contact and get approval for a due date change from the DGS as soon as possible. Date changes after the Preliminary Written Exam has been sent to the advisor for review and feedback are not permitted except in the rarest of circumstances. 

9. The student will upload a copy of the Preliminary Written Exam using the online exam submission form. 

10. SoN reviewers individually evaluate the Preliminary Written Exam according to the Procedure for Grading Preliminary Written Exam.

11. The DGS emails the student’s advisor and reports the outcome of the Preliminary Written Exam to the Graduate School within 5 business days of receiving all grades.

12. The student’s advisor notifies the student via email of the Preliminary Written Exam outcome within 3 business days. If there are reservations to be addressed, the advisor should meet with the student (in person or virtually) to review them.

Getting Input on the Preliminary Written Exam During Development

Faculty, students and other resources may be consulted in the Preliminary Written Exam development prior to submitting a formal first draft to the advisor for formal feedback (date determined by student and advisor with input from the committee). After the brief written advisor feedback is received, if the student still has general questions, they can reach out to the advisor and following the policy will determine if additional feedback can be given. Remember, the Preliminary Written Exam is an exam so it is meant to be independent work with minimal input from others. 

Criteria for Preliminary Written Exam Evaluation

Note: The student must schedule the preliminary oral examination with Graduate Student Services and Progress (GSSP), but no later than one week prior to the examination. When planning dates for the preliminary oral exam, the student is highly recommended to schedule this exam 4 weeks after the PWE in the event that the student may need to address reservations of the PWE.

General Guidelines & Format 

• APA 7th edition (or style that aligns with potential journal for publication) style for a professional paper should be utilized

• Maximum page limit = 25 pages of text excluding title page, references, tables, and figures

• Up to 5 tables and figures total that will not be included in the page limits. Tables and figures should be placed at the end of the document prior to references. Content of the tables and figures should be addressed in the text. 

Specific grading criteria that can be used to guide the evaluation are as follows:

1. The purpose of the Preliminary Written Exam is clearly stated; the exam topic goes beyond or is different in topic from the paper developed for Nursing 8190: Critical Review of Health Research (student will describe differences in scope between the Preliminary Written Exam and course paper on Preliminary Written Exam Planning Form).

2.  The content and scope of the literature review is clearly circumscribed and is consistent with the outline agreed upon by the Preliminary Oral Exam Committee. 

3. The search strategy (including inclusion criteria and strategies for identifying literature related to the topic) is clearly specified;

4. Appropriate literature is identified for the review;

5. The synthesis of the literature is coherent and appropriate;

6. The analysis of the literature and critique of results is appropriate;

7. Findings are presented in a clear and organized manner;

8. The state of science in the area is clearly expressed;

9. Gaps in the state of the science are identified and described;

10. At least two potential areas of research (next steps) to advance the science are proposed with descriptions of potential methodologies;

11. The significance of the next steps is clearly described (summarization of the NIH definition of significance: Do the next steps describe an important problem or a critical barrier to progress the field? How will scientific knowledge, technical capability, and/or clinical practice be improved? How will successful completion change the concepts, methods, technologies, treatments, services, or preventative interventions that drive this field?)

12. The paper is clearly articulated and logically constructed;

13. A standard style format is consistently and accurately used (APA or a style required by a journal being considered for submission).

Preliminary Written Exam Grading

Grading options will align with the options outlined by University of Minnesota policy. The options are:

• Pass

• Pass with Reservations

• Fail

The grades of 2 of the 3 faculty  reviewers will determine what the grade will be. (2 Pass = Pass; 2 Fail  = Fail ; 2 Pass with reservations = Pass with reservations)  If there is no majority in the grading (e.g., 1 Pass, 1 Pass with reservations, 1 Fail ), the grade will be Pass with reservations.

Pass with Reservations

For grades of Pass with reservations or Fail, the advisor/chair notifies the student of the grade and explains the reservations in writing to the student. The faculty advisor will be responsible for assuring the student addresses reservations and satisfactorily revises the Preliminary Written Exam. 

• Reservations should describe the revisions that a student needs to make in order to merit a passing grade. 

• The reservations should be feasible, attainable and of a reasonable scope to merit a passing grade. 

The student will have 4 weeks after receiving their Preliminary Written Exam grade to revise the Preliminary Written Exam and address the reservations. The faculty advisor is responsible for notifying the Director of Graduate Studies when the reservations are resolved. The student will submit a copy of the revised Preliminary Written Exam approved by their advisor to the committee at least one week before the scheduled preliminary oral exam.

Fail

In accordance with University of Minnesota policy, students who are reported to have failed to meet the written examination requirement will be terminated from the doctoral program. Retakes are not permitted.