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Master of Arts in Communication

Comprehensive Examination Guidelines

The comprehensive examination allows the student to demonstrate the knowledge acquired from the courses taken during the degree program. The comprehensive examination must be taken as soon as possible after the completion of 24 graduate hours in the program and must be taken prior to the completion of 30 graduate hours in the program. The written and oral components of the comprehensive examination must be completed over a period of time not to exceed three weeks, or a new examination must be scheduled.

The Graduate Program Director will appoint a two-member faculty examination committee for each student taking the examination. Ordinarily, the committee will include the student’s graduate advisor and a second graduate faculty member in the program, to be selected in consultation with the graduate advisor and the Program Director.

The comprehensive examination has a written component and an oral component. A Satisfactory rating (or Highly Satisfactory rating) must be earned on both the written and oral components of the examination in order to earn an overall Satisfactory rating (or Highly Satisfactory rating) for the comprehensive examination.

Comprehensive examinations must be completed by the twelfth week of the academic semester. Comprehensive examinations ordinarily are not scheduled during the Maymester or summer terms.

Written Component

The written component of the comprehensive examination consists of three questions. The first question will address the student’s specific research and program interests and will be prepared by the graduate advisor. The second question will require the integration of material from multiple graduate courses taken by the student and will be supplied by the Program Director or the Director’s designee. The third question will address some theme or themes from a specific course taken by the student and will be jointly selected by the Graduate Advisor and the second examination committee member. Students will not be given any advance warning or notice about the contents of these questions.

Each examination question will be individually released to the student for completion during a specific 24-hour period. Each question will be “take home” in format. Answers to all questions must be prepared with a 12-point, Times-Roman font in a double-spaced, typed manuscript using one-inch margins. Each answer must be returned to the examination committee by the end of the 24-hour period in a fashion to be specified by the examination committee. Each individual answer shall be at least five typewritten pages in length and shall not exceed eight typewritten pages, for a total of 15-24 manuscript pages for the written portion of the comprehensive examination. Cover pages and bibliographies are not included in the 15-24 page limit. Lengthy bibliographies usually are not required in answering questions for the comprehensive examination.

Oral Component

The oral component of the comprehensive examination requires an oral defense of the answers provided for the written portion of the examination, as well as answers to other questions asked by the comprehensive examination committee. The oral defense will be cancelled if a Satisfactory rating (or a Highly Satisfactory rating) is not earned on the written portion of the comprehensive examination.

The time and location of the oral defense are determined by the Graduate Advisor in consultation with the student and the second examination committee member. The student will be asked questions regarding the written answers to examination questions and may be asked any question germane to her or his graduate program.

The oral defense will not exceed 60 minutes in length. Refreshments of any sort should not be provided by the student to the examination committee. The student and the examination committee members must be physically present for the entire oral defense. Guests are permitted at the oral defense with the permission of the examination committee. Guests are not permitted to speak or to participate in any way in the oral defense.

The student (and guests, if applicable) will be asked to leave the examination room at the conclusion of the oral defense to allow for faculty discussion of the oral defense. The student will be notified of the results of the oral defense within 24 hours of the completion of that defense.

Oral Examination Waiver

Students who indicate their intent to complete a master’s thesis on their Program of Study may petition the Graduate Director for a waiver of the oral defense of the comprehensive examination. For these students, the comprehensive examination rating is based solely on the written portion of the comprehensive examination. Students who complete the comprehensive examination under the terms of this waiver and who later move from the thesis option to the non-thesis option are required to repeat both the written and oral portions of the comprehensive examination and to earn an overall Satisfactory rating (or Highly Satisfactory rating) in order to meet degree requirements.

Examination Outcomes and Policies

The Graduate Advisor will notify the Graduate Director in writing concerning the results of the comprehensive examination within one week of the conclusion of the examination. The members of the comprehensive examination committee must agree on the examination result, or an overall rating of “Unsatisfactory” will be assigned.

Students earn ratings of “Highly Satisfactory,” “Satisfactory,” or “Unsatisfactory” for both the written and oral components of the comprehensive examination. Students must earn ratings of Highly Satisfactory for both the written and oral components in order to earn an overall rating of Highly Satisfactory. The overall rating must be Unsatisfactory if a student earns an Unsatisfactory rating for either the written or oral component of the examination. In no case should an oral defense be held if an Unsatisfactory rating is earned for the written portion of the examination.

Students who earn an overall Unsatisfactory rating for the comprehensive examination may take the comprehensive examination for a second and final time. A student who receives two overall Unsatisfactory ratings on the comprehensive examination shall be dismissed from the program.

Exceptions to these guidelines are possible only with the approval of the Graduate Committee, the Graduate Program Director, and the Department Chair.

Appeals

Disputes about the comprehensive examination process shall be resolved by the Graduate Director. The decision of the Graduate Director may be appealed to the Department Chair. The decision of the Department Chair is final.

App. Fall 2006