Non-Thesis Track: Written Comprehensive Exam Guidelines

Setting Up the Committee and Exam:

• The student is responsible for identifying three faculty members willing to serve on the committee no later than November 10 of the prior semester for spring graduation, no later than March 10 for summer graduation and no later than August 10 for fall graduation. Since students will be tested on courses offered as part of the PA core (PA 5300, PA 5310, PA 5320, PA 5330, PA 5340, PA 5350, PA 5370, and PA 5390) the committee should be comprised of three faculty members teaching these core courses. One of the faculty members will be the chair and will be the member responsible for coordinating with the PA director and the rest of the committee. The student will determine which faculty member will serve as chair. Faculty members are free to decline serving on a committee. 
• Once the student finalizes a committee, it is the student’s responsibility to communicate the names of the committee members to the MPA director and the MPA program assistant on or before the  November 10, March 10, or August 10 deadline, as appropriate for the semester in which the student proposes to take the comprehensive exams.  Then, the student must obtain a copy of the scheduling form from the program assistant and ensure that it is duly signed by the student and all the committee members. The student must ensure that the program assistant has a final official copy of the scheduling form in the student’s official folder for the semester in which the student proposes to take the comprehensive exams no later than November 20, March 20, or August 20, as appropriate for the semester in which the student proposes to take the comprehensive exams. 
• If a student wishes to change the composition of the committee for any reason, the student must keep the following individuals informed about this decision: the MPA program director, the MPA program assistant, faculty committee members who had agreed to serve on the committee prior to this request for change and the new committee members. Changes to a committee must be made prior to the second Monday in January for the Spring semester, or the second Monday in April for Summer graduation, or the second Monday in August for the Fall semester as appropriate for the semester in which the student proposes to take the comprehensive exam. The student must obtain a new scheduling form from the program assistant and ensure that it is duly signed by the student and all the new committee members. The student must once again ensure that the program assistant has a final official copy of the new scheduling form in the student’s official folder.     
• Once the committee is formed, the chair will call a meeting and an exam comprised of three questions will be developed. Faculty members who agree to committee service will discuss with the student the general areas that the student should prepare for the exam.   Faculty must write questions informed by the universal competencies but may focus the questions in ways that assess knowledge of core courses chosen by the student. Each committee member agrees to write and grade one of the three questions.
• The committee chair will communicate with the student to discuss the process and subject areas for which the student should prepare. 

Written Exam Guidelines:

• The committee chair distributes the exam to the student on the second Monday in February for Spring semester, or the second Monday in May for Summer graduation, or the second Monday in September for Fall semester. Students planning to graduate in the summer semester are encouraged to take the comprehensive exam in the spring semester. Given that the summer semester is relatively shorter than the spring or fall semesters and given that some faculty members are likely to teach abroad, summer graduates are encouraged to take the comprehensive exams in the spring semester prior to the summer semester. 
  • The comprehensive exam serves as a capstone for the MPA program allowing students to demonstrate expertise of subject material. Exam expectations include a literature review, links to the Universal Competencies, research, and application. The comprehensive exam is comprised of a take home three question written exam followed by an oral examination. All three questions will be distributed at the same time.  The student has six weeks to complete the responses to the three exam questions. Late submissions will not be accepted under any circumstances. It is the student’s responsibility to ensure that the completed responses reach the committee no later than 5.00pm on the date specified by the committee. The completed responses to the questions will be returned to the committee chair with a copy to the MPA program director.
  • The student is expected to put the exam question in its entirety on top of each answer before submission. The student is expected to answer the questions and provide citations to appropriate scholarly literature, data, and other evidence.  Responses to each question should be 8-10 pages, not including citations.  Responses must include a brief literature review with a minimum of ten unique citations. Question responses should be double spaced with 12-point font and 1-inch margins. Figures and charts may be provided as appendices and not as part of the 8–10-page written response. Student responses will be run through plagiarism detection software provided by Turnitin. The student is held to the university honor code and plagiarism will result in an automatic failing grade on the exam question. 
    • Code of Student Conduct
    • The Honor Code
  • Students should consult with the chair of the committee for citation style and paper structure. During the week in which the student receives the exam from the committee chair, (s)he should meet with each of the three committee members to discuss each committee member’s specific expectations for the exam, including but not limited to grammar, style, and substance. 
  • All completed student responses should be distributed to the entire committee for review by the committee chair. Each committee member grades the completed response to the question they submitted. 
    • The faculty member must assign one of the following grades: high pass; pass; low pass; or fail.
    • If a committee member thinks a completed response is a fail, the committee member will return the response to the student with a written explanation of the reason(s) for the failing grade. After the student receives the graded response, (s)he has the opportunity to revise the response to address the reason(s) for the failing grade within one week and return the revised response to the committee member.  
    • If the committee member assigns the revised response a low pass or higher, the grade will be changed, and the student will be allowed to proceed to the oral examination. 
    • If the committee member assigns a fail to the revised response, the student must retake the exam a following semester. In the subsequent semester during which the student retakes the exam, the student is responsible for assembling a new committee who will formulate a new set of questions. 
    • The student has one additional chance to successfully complete the exam. 
    • Note that if a student has completed all coursework but has not yet passed the comprehensive exam, the student must still be enrolled in at least 1 credit hour. The Graduate College has developed GC 5100: Comprehensive Exam Contingency to serve as that credit hour so long as the student is not enrolled in any other courses. It is ungraded and does not contribute to the degree. 
  • The committee chair notifies the program director of the outcome of the written comprehensive exam.

Oral Exam Guidelines:

• If all questions are passed, the committee chair arranges a date for the oral exam and provides the name of the MPA Alum/Practitioner who will be serving on the student’s oral exam committee one week before the oral exam. 
  • The oral exam will be conducted by the committee members and an external reviewer chosen by the chair.
  • The date of the oral exam will be no later than 3 days before the graduate college requires transmission of the oral exam form.
  • The committee members and external reviewer will review and assess the areas addressed by the written examination prior to the oral examination.
  • In the oral examination, the committee members and external reviewer will probe areas addressed by the written examination and by course content related to the field and ascertain whether the student clearly demonstrated competency.
  • After the committee members and external reviewer have conducted the oral examination and have ascertained that the student demonstrated competency  in the areas addressed by the written examination and by course content related to the field, the committee members and external reviewer will sign the appropriate graduate college form. 
  • If the committee members and external reviewer conclude that the student has not passed the oral exam, the student mustretake the oral exam during the same semester it was first administered. If the committee determines that the student has failed the second time, the student has one additional chance to successfully complete the oral exam in a subsequent semester. In the subsequent semester during which the student retakes the exam, the student is responsible for assembling a new committee who will formulate a new set of questions. 

Post-Exam Requirements:

• The chair of the committee will ensure that oral exam form is completed and return this form no later than one day following the oral exam.
• Faculty must return assessment forms to the MPA Program Director no later than one week following the oral exam.

Updated: 09/13/2022