Doctoral Comprehensive Examination

The student must be enrolled to take this examination. It is to be administered only when MU is officially in session.

The comprehensive examination is the most advanced posed by MU. It consists of written and oral sections. It must be completed at least seven months before the final defense of the dissertation. The two sections of the examination must be completed within one month.

Written Section

The written section or sections of the examination may be conducted in one or both of the following two ways:

1. The written sections may be arranged and supervised by the major adviser, in which case questions are prepared and graded by the doctoral program committee.
2. The major adviser may delegate responsibility for arranging, preparing, supervising and grading the written sections of the examination to one or more departmental/program committees appointed for this purpose.

Successful Completion

For the comprehensive examination to be successfully completed, the doctoral program committee must vote to pass the student on the entire examination, both written and oral sections, with no more than one dissenting or abstaining vote.

A report of this decision (pdf), carrying the signatures of all members of the committee, must be sent to the Graduate School and the student no later than two weeks after the comprehensive examination is completed.

Continuous Enrollment After the Exam

Students must maintain continuous enrollment during their candidacy (the period after successful completion of the comprehensive examination).

Failure

A failure of either the written or oral section of the exam constitutes failure of the comprehensive exam. If a failure is reported, the committee also must include in the report an outline of the general weaknesses or deficiencies of the student's work. The student and the committee members are encouraged to work together to identify steps the student might take to become fully prepared for the next examination.

Request for Clarification

If at any time the student believes that the advice given by the committee is inadequate, the student may send a written request for clarification to the committee. A copy of this request should be sent to the Graduate School as well. The committee must respond to this request in writing within two weeks and a copy must be filed with the Graduate School.

Retaking the Exam

The student who fails may not take a second comprehensive examination for at least 12 weeks. Failure to pass two comprehensive examinations automatically prevents candidacy.