Exit Exams

The Preliminary Written Examinations

Only students who complete the required courses in the Foundations, Specialization, Cognate, and Methods Sequence with a GPA of 3.0 or better may proceed to the preliminary written examination. The Doctoral Committee (see Doctoral Program Governance) certifies the successful completion of course work and will administer a written preliminary examination. While no examination is required in the cognate field, the students advisor must provide a written notice that the student has fulfilled the cognate requirement. Credits taken for the Cognate may not be applied to an examination field.

Students should consult their adviser to plan a schedule of course work and seminar preparation in anticipation of the written preliminary examination in public administration foundations and specializations. The student must complete the course credit requirements and the PhD residency requirements before registering for the preliminary examination. All incompletes in courses counting toward the PhD must be completed or the doctoral coordinator must grant a waiver before the student may take the preliminary examination. If an aspirant receives a grade of unsatisfactory the preliminary written examination may be repeated but under no circumstances may a student take it more than twice.

The Comprehensive Oral Examination and Advancement to PhD Candidacy

Following the successful completion of the written preliminary examination, the student must satisfactorily complete a comprehensive oral examination and present a dissertation proposal to become a PhD candidate. No student may attempt the Comprehensive Oral Examination until passing the written preliminary examination.

After passing the Comprehensive Oral Examination, the doctoral candidate must write a dissertation approved by a departmental dissertation committee and pass a final oral defense of the dissertation to qualify for the PhD degree.

After passing the Comprehensive Oral Examination, the candidate will be continuously enrolled until completing all requirements for the degree. When the dissertation committee accepts the completed dissertation but before it has been bound, and all degree requirements have been met, the department will request the Graduate School to schedule the Final Oral Examination, allowing a minimum of two weeks to verify requirements and publicize the examination. At least five months will elapse between the successful completion of the Comprehensive Oral Examination and the Final Oral Examination.

The committee for the Final Oral Examination will consist of at least five members (the three members of the dissertation committee plus other members of the Graduate Faculty). At least one member will not be a member of the Public Administration faculty; this member will represent the Graduate school and must be a regular member of the Graduate Faculty. The representative of the Graduate school will be a voting member of the committee and will have the right to full participation; this individual will be charged with reporting any unsatisfactory or irregular aspects of the examination to the Graduate School. Interested members of the university community will be encouraged to attend the Final Oral Examination and will be permitted to question the candidate.

If the aspirant receives a grade of unsatisfactory, the examination may be repeated but under no circumstances will the student take it more than twice.