The charge of the program (examination) committee is to certify that the student has the breadth and depth of knowledge and skills in the core constructs to proceed to candidacy.

In addition to determining a candidate's readiness to sit for Comprehensive exams, Program Committee Chairs define appropriate timetables and logistics for the exams and the student's attainment of candidacy. Appropriate forms shall be completed by the Program Committee Chairs. Completed copies will be maintained in the EAC.

Program Committees, in conjunction with the respective Program Committee Chair, will oversee the Comprehensive exam questions. The exam questions must be aligned with the students' specialized program and designed to assess the students' skills, dispositions and content knowledge. Program Committees are to ensure the questions are consistent with the standards aligned across all programs and determined by the students' specialized programs. The committee's recommendations for Comprehensive exam components for both a 60- or 90-hour program would be as follows: total hours for Comprehensive exams should fall between 10 to 12 hours with a minimum of 6 hours in the specialization area and a minimum of 2 hours in research. 90-hour programs would also incorporate a 2-hour minimum component aligning with the student's elective experiences.

Some committees have used take-home exams to meet the breadth and depth of knowledge verification requirements. Take-home examination questions include instructions with respect to the time limitation for the question, (usually these exams are to be returned in 24, 36, or 48 hours) and resources permitted.

Combinations of these forms of on-demand and take-home examinations have been used. In some instances, oral examination formats have been used to supplement and clarify written formats. Questions about additional formats should be directed to the College Doctoral Programs Committee.

Example formats follow and “On Demand” example formats are in the table below:

Applying for the Comprehensive Examination

Students must inform Program Committee Chairs of their intent to sit for their Comprehensive exam in ample time to permit the development of the examination questions and for the preparation of the student for those questions. Typically program committees prepare the examination questions; however, other faculty may be enlisted to prepare some of the questions (See Comprehensive Exam Declaration Form [DOC]).

Usually, at this time readers for the questions are assigned—three readers for each question are common. Questions preparers are ideally given approximately two weeks to prepare the examination questions and submit them to the program chair. Students should be given at minimum 90 days to prepare for the exams after the questions have been developed. In instances where this timeline could be construed as detrimental to a students' progress in a program, the student may elect to waive the constraints of the established timeline.

Preparing for the Comprehensive Examination

Students will meet with their respective Program Committee Chairs to discuss components of the exam and resources to assist them in responding to the questions. Under no circumstances should the students be given the actual questions that are to be included on the exam. Contact with other committee members and question preparers is recommended. Committee Chairs will determine that the student understands the objectives of the questions and knows where they might find useful resources to assist them in their responses.

Comprehensive Examination Guidelines

All "On-Demand" (taken on campus at a specified location and time) exams will be monitored in the best fashion as deemed appropriate by the individual departments. The student will be notified of time, place and which, if any materials may be taken into the exam. (Question preparers should list materials permitted for their question). Take Home exams will have time limitations for completion.

Scoring guidelines for exam components that are take-home should be more stringent than those taken in a controlled on-demand setting. Use of the scoring guideline, while not mandatory is recommended to ensure college-wide standards for the assessment of a student's knowledge, skills and disposition. Students may be scored pass with honors, pass, or fail by each of the three (minimum) readers for each question. NOTE: each question must be scored by at least three faculty readers. Evaluations by the readers are collected and aggregated by the program chair and the results are shared first with the program committee. Typically, a question on the exam is judged a pass if a majority of the readers rated the student's response for that question a 'pass' or a 'pass with honors.' A student must pass all the questions on the exam to merit a pass for the Comprehensive Examination. Scorers should complete their work within three weeks of the examination date.

Retaking Comprehensive Examinations

Students may retake the Comprehensive exams and/or portions of the exams only once. Students passing less than half of the questions on the Comprehensive exam should retake the entire exam. Students who pass half or more of the exam may be examined only on those questions that were failed provided the Program Committee approves. The Program Chair is responsible for helping students take any steps necessary to manage any potential weak areas that may have been revealed by the Comprehensive examination and develop with the student a timeline for addressing the weaknesses. The retake for the Comprehensive exam may be in the same format as the original (take home or on-demand for example) or the committee may seek to question the students orally.

Reporting Results of Comprehensive Examinations

Program Committee Chairs are responsible for notifying students of the results. Other committee members should treat all exam information in the strictest confidence. Consensus among the committee members is optimal, but 2 out of 3 (or a simple majority) will suffice with the Program Committee Chair approval. Only after the committee reaches a decision on the results of the Comprehensive exam should students be notified. Typically this should occur within about three weeks of the examination date.

After a student successfully completes the Comprehensive Examination, the Program Committee Chair notifies the Associate Dean for Research and EAC who then forwards this information to the Graduate School Dean. The Graduate school will then notify the student of the new status of candidacy. All documentation of a student's status shall move to electronic storage as soon as possible. (See the Results of Ph.D. Comprehensive Exam Form [DOC]).

Department and Individual Program Requirements

Some programs may have unique requirements (for example APA requirements) in addition to the college and department requirements which will need to be managed by students enrolled in those programs.

To view PDF files, please follow the link to the free acrobat reader.