Guidelines for Preparation for the Ph.D. Comprehensive Examination

1. The student will schedule the exam with the Advisory Committee at a time and date to be agreed upon at least four weeks in advance of the exam. The student must also inform the Graduate School of the date, time, and place of the oral exam at least two weeks in advance. It will be best to schedule the oral exam at the same time as the writtens are scheduled, on the assumption that the student will pass the writtens.

2. The student and major professor will identify two special fields from within the area of the student's chosen curricular track. These fields should not attempt to encompass the entire track, but instead should be thought of as areas of specialization within the track. The student and major professor in cooperation with the members of the Advisory Committee will then prepare a reading list for each special field. Reading lists should not be exhaustive, but instead should be limited to the most important books and articles in the special field. Reading lists will normally contain at least 20, but not more than 50, entries.

3. The major professor will solicit questions from members of the Advisory Committee, and will prepare a written examination on each special field from the questions submitted plus any additional questions framed by the major professor. Each special field exam may include objective, short answer questions, but will consist primarily of one or more essay questions. Since each of the two special field examinations should be executed within a 3-hour period, no more than three essay questions should be set, or no more than two essay questions if a quantity of short answer questions is also included.

4. The student will write the special field examinations at a location agreed upon with the major professor. The two written examinations will normally be taken on consecutive days. No study materials may be used while writing, but students may use a computer to prepare the exams.

5. The major professor will distribute copies of the questions and both special field exams to all members of the Advisory Committee. Members should evaluate the exam within one week; they should vote that each special field exam be graded High Pass/Pass/Fail. To pass each of the specific field examinations, the student must receive no more than one failing vote on each.

6. If a student should fail one or both of the special field exams, the process of composing the exam, from item 3, should be followed for a retake of the exam no sooner than four weeks after the first attempt but within one term (not necessarily including summer term). Students who fail both special field examinations must retake both exams. Students who fail one special field exam but pass the other must retake only the failed exam. Students may not proceed to the oral before passing both special field examinations. Students who fail one or both of the special field examinations twice will be dismissed from the program.

7. The oral portion of the comprehensive exam should take 90 minutes. The oral normally begins with questions that the Advisory Committee may wish to take up based on the writtens. Members of the Advisory Committee may also ask questions based on the student's course work and reading lists, and questions relevant to the student's chosen curricular track whether or not the topic of the questions was explicitly covered in the student's course work or reading lists.

8. Members should evaluate the oral exam at the session, and vote that the oral exam as a whole be graded High Pass/Pass/Fail. To pass the oral portion of the Ph.D. Comprehensive Exam, the student must receive no more than one failing vote. If a student should fail the oral portion of the exam, the retake of the oral exam should be scheduled to occur no sooner than two weeks after the first attempt but within one term (not necessarily including summer term). Partial retakes of the oral exam are not allowed. Students who fail the oral twice will be dismissed from the program.