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Ph.D.: Qualifying Examination

Curriculum
Timetable
Credit/No Credit Courses
Qualifying Exam
Admission for Candidacy

All students must pass a qualifying examination on research methodology. The objective of the qualifying examination is to provide an opportunity for each student to demonstrate that she or he has mastered the research content covered by the first year of the program. To pass the qualifying exam, students must perform at a level that, in the judgment of the Doctoral Committee, indicates the capacity to continue in the program and to conduct independent research with the conceptual and methodological rigor expected in designing an acceptable dissertation. In order to assess that capacity, the qualifying exam will require that students demonstrate their mastery of research content in a manner that reflects comprehension, critical analysis of complex issues in research and data analysis, and the appropriate application of the material to illustrative research and data analysis scenarios.

The qualifying exam will be administered on the last three consecutive weekdays before the first day of classes for the first term of the summer session. It is expected that a student will take the examination on the first occasion that it is offered following the time that she or he has completed Research 1, 2 and 3, Data Analysis and Computers 1 and 2.

The qualifying examination is a closed book, supervised examination. A typewriter or word processor may be used by the student in answering exam questions.

Grading the Examination. Students are expected to pass the examination at a performance level considered to be consistent with doctoral level education. Two readers will grade each examination independently and anonymously. If there is disagreement between the first two readers, the exam will be graded by a third reader. The pool of readers generally consists of members of the Doctoral Committee but may include other graduate faculty members as may be needed. The Chairperson of the Doctoral Committee will designate the pool of readers for each examination, and when necessary will select the third reader.

The outcome on the examination includes the following alternatives.

• Pass: The student passes all sections of the exam and is allowed to continue in the program.
• Pass with conditions: The student passes the exam but must fulfill some specific conditions before the exam is considered complete.
• Fail: The student fails one or more sections of the exam. When a student fails all or part of the exam, they will be given one opportunity to retake the exam. Students who fail the qualifying exam twice will lose their eligibility to remain in the program.

Each section of the exam will be graded separately, and students will either pass or fail each section. Students will be required to retake only those sections of the exam that they fail. They must take the entire exam the first time. If a student fails one or more sections of the exam, they must retake all failed sections during the same testing period. Students are not allowed to retake failed sections one at a time over an extended period of time.

If on the retake a student does not pass all the previously failed sections, they will not be permitted to continue in the program. That is, they will have only two opportunities to pass the exam, and by the end of the second examination they must pass all sections of the exam to remain in the program. This means that failing just one section of the exam twice will result in removal from the program.