Comprehensive exam
Policy and procedure
Through the comprehensive examination, the student demonstrates the ability to address the theoretical, methodological and substantive issues of their fields of study. Questions are directly related to the student's Plan of Study and dissertation proposal. The examination tests the breadth and depth of knowledge and the ability to integrate ideas across substantive areas. Students have five years from enrollment to complete the comprehensive exam.
- The exam, which is prepared by the student’s doctoral program committee, has a written component and an oral defense.
- The written component of the examination is completed at home or another site of the student’s selection within a five-day period (8:30 a.m. Monday morning until 4:30 p.m. Friday afternoon). It is also possible change the five-day period to other days to accommodate student’s work needs (for example, some students will do the examination so that it will extend over a weekend). However, it must be written during give consecutive days.
- The oral defense is a two-hour examination by the program committee that must be undertaken within a four-week period following completion of the written component.
- According to MU Policy, comprehensives must be completed at least seven months before graduation.
- Comprehensive examinations, including the oral defense may only take place during MU regular sessions, including summer semester.
- The student is responsible for preparing and printing hard copies of the written examination responses and must provide the adviser and each committee member a copy in a timely manner.
- Faculty shall have at least two weeks to read the examination prior to the scheduled oral defense.
Scheduling the comprehensive examination
During the last semester of course work or when course work is substantially completed and all incomplete grades are satisfied, students meet with their faculty advisers to discuss the examination.
- The adviser ensures that the student’s class work is substantially completed, that the competency document submitted with the plan of study is substantially completed and no incomplete courses from prior semesters remain.
- At the discretion of the committee the student may be asked to produce an integrative review of the literature, a dissertation proposal, or other scholarly work prior to allowing the student to sit for the comprehensive examination.
- Working with the adviser, committee members, and the PhD program administrative assistant, the student schedules the dates for the examination week and a two hour block of time for the oral defense.
- Prior to sitting for the examination, the student must meet individually with the adviser and each program committee member to discuss the examination and to obtain faculty signatures on the SONComps form.
- The SON-Comps form (see below) must be signed at least two weeks prior to the written examination.
Preparing and taking the written component of the examination
All program committee members prepare questions at the request of the chair. The Chair ensures that the following areas are addressed in the questions: (a) modes of inquiry including nursing research and inquiry; (b) nursing theory analysis and development; (c) nursing applied sciences; (d) substantive content area (health systems, health restoration and support, health promotion and protection); and (e) the student’s collateral area.
- Questions are collated by the Committee Chair, who submits them to the PhD administrative assistant or her representative at least one week prior to the exam. The PhD administrative assistant prepares the examination.
- At 8:30 a.m. on the first day of the examination, the student collects the examination, hard copy or computer disk, from the administrative assistant. Or, with prior arrangements, the student may also receive the examination electronically as a Word attachment from the administrative assistant or her representative at 8:30 a.m.
- Proper attribution and citation of sources, according to the current edition of the American Psychological Association Manual, is required. Word-processing software must be used and at least twelve-point font and double spacing is required. The examination must be saved to disk. Printed pages should be numbered consecutively and a reference list must be included. Two-sided copies are encouraged.
- The completed examination, a hand-carried computer disk or an electronic submission with a Word attachment, must be returned to the administrative assistant or her representative no later than 4:30 p.m. on the last day of the examination week. The Committee chair receives the completed examination from the administrative assistant.
- As noted above, the student is responsible for preparing and printing hard copies of the examination responses and must provide the adviser and each committee member a copy in a timely manner.
The oral defense of the comprehensive examination
Following completion of the written exam and prior to orals, there are opportunities for (a) the student to request ideas from the adviser to prepare for the oral exam and (b) committee members to raise questions and issues for students to consider as they prepare for the oral exam. On the day of the examination, the students and committee meet in a private, quiet, pre-designated location. The questions for the oral examination are usually related to the plan of study and the student's responses to the written exam. The student has access to a copy of the written examination during the oral exam. The committee’s questions require the student to clarify and to amplify statements made in the written exam. Each member of the committee has an opportunity to ask questions. After the examination, the student is asked to leave the room. The committee chair leads the committee’s discussion concerning the student’s performance, and the student subsequently is invited back into the room and is notified of the committee’s decision.
The examination of the student’s intellectual property
After the oral exam, the student retains a copy of the written exam for personal use only. A copy is also retained in the student’s file in the PhD Program office.
Evaluation and progression
Successful progression and candidacy
The comprehensive examination is successfully completed when the doctoral program committee votes to pass the student on both components of the examination with no more than one dissenting or abstaining vote. In evaluating the examination, the doctoral program committee:
- Examines answers for evidence that the student has good command of the relevant literature, has mastered current theoretical issues related to the area, and understands issues related to modes of inquiry in the chosen field of study.
- Evaluates the student’s ability to communicate effectively in writing and orally, to think critically, and to form cogent responses to questions.
- Determines the student’s readiness to commence dissertation work. The student’s success is documented on the MU D-3 Form, which is submitted to the Graduate School within one month of the successful oral defense. Successful completion of the comprehensive examination establishes candidacy. Status as a continuous enrollment doctoral student begins in the academic term after the term in which the comprehensive exam was defended successfully. Students are required to enroll continuously for at least two hours except during the summer sessions where only one hour registration is required until completion of the dissertation. Students must be enrolled the semester that the dissertation is defended, including summer session.
Failure of the comprehensive examination
If the committee determines that the student has not demonstrated proficiency in the field through the written examination and oral defense and that the exam does not reflect readiness to conduct the dissertation research, the student fails the examination. Failing either the written or the oral exam constitutes a failure of the entire exam. The committee reports its decision to the student immediately and later in writing and to the Graduate School by submitting the completed MU D-3 Form within one month after the oral examination. The committee must include in the report an outline of the general weaknesses or deficiencies of the work. The student and the committee members identify steps the student might take to become fully prepared for the repeat examination. If the student believes that the committee’s advice is inadequate, the student should write to request clarification and send a copy of the letter to the Graduate School. Within two weeks of receiving such a letter, the committee must respond in writing and submit a copy of the response to the Graduate School. The student who fails the initial exam must wait at least 12 weeks to take a second exam. Failure to pass two comprehensive examinations results in dismissal from the program.