Before students begin the dissertation, they will take the preliminary examination. Although this examination may be taken during the last semester of course work, most students spend considerable time following their course work reading and otherwise preparing for the prelims. The student and POS committee should discuss what procedures will be in place should a failure occur for all or any parts of the written or the oral preliminary examinations.

Purpose and nature

The preliminary examination serves two important functions. First, it certifies that students have the general knowledge necessary to engage in the conversation of the discipline. Second, it helps students prepare to begin work on the dissertation.

To fulfill these two functions, the preliminary examination consists of two parts: a comprehensive examination and a specialized examination. These two parts are discussed in more detail below.

Examination requirements

Students must meet the requirements outlined in the Preliminary Examination Requirements section in order to take their prelims.

1) The comprehensive examination

The comprehensive examination is the first part of the preliminary examination and consists of a written exam. There are two purposes of the comprehensive examination. The first is to demonstrate the student's ability to make scholarly arguments involving the range of knowledge sufficient to engage the conversation of the discipline. The second is to prepare the student to write a dissertation proposal and pursue dissertation research.

Reading list

The comprehensive examination is based on a reading list constructed by the student and his or her POS committee. Reading lists are considered public documents, and as such, are kept on file in the Graduate English Office where they may be viewed by faculty and students. Each reading list should contain a comprehensive range of articles and books representing not only a cross section of the discipline but also a concentration of texts reflecting the student's research interest. Ideally, materials on the reading list that are not in the student's research area will be selected in ways that allow the student to integrate his or her interest with the discipline as a whole. The intellectual task of integrating a specialized research interest with a list representing the discipline as a whole is not only a practical necessity for the exam, but also an aid to the student in understanding the relation of his or her specialty to the field at large. The grid presented below is a general heuristic for constructing reading lists that are comprehensive. The set of categories constituted by the grid suggests one way to map the discipline and to conceive of comprehensiveness. Because individual reading lists will include books as well as articles and book chapters, it is impossible to specify a precise number of items required on any single comprehensive reading list. Individual students and their POS committees will negotiate the length of individual lists within the spirit of reasonable equity and comprehensiveness. As reading lists are constructed, both POS committee members and doctoral students are encouraged to consult faculty members who have specific expertise in the dissertation subject area but who are not on the POS committee.

The reading list should be divided into approximately three to six categories (perhaps using categories from the grid). Each category should be prefaced by a brief focus statement (approximately 200-300 words) that explains the parameters or framework of each category.

These steps are then followed:

• The student's POS committee gives preliminary approval to the reading list
• The POS chair submits the reading list to the RPC Examinations Committee for their review and comments
• The RPC Examinations Committee chair submits their review and comments to the POS chair
• The POS committee approves and signs a finalized reading list
• The student files the signed list in the Graduate English Office

Heuristic grid for the comprehensive examination reading list

The following "grid" is a heuristic to guide students and committees in designing and gauging the comprehensiveness of the reading list.

Most or all of the slots in the grid should have one or more texts in them. Individual texts might fit into more than one slot; in practice, these aren't mutually exclusive categories. This heuristic makes it relatively easy to see where a reading list has substantial gaps, i.e. where comprehensive coverage fails. This grid is intended not as a schema with rigid percentages assigned to each category, but as a general guideline from which committees and students can work. In practice, reading lists will not be organized according to this grid, but they should reflect attention to this vision of comprehensiveness.

Exam questions and structure

Each comprehensive examination is constructed by the student's POS committee and is based on the individual student's reading list. Students are expected to talk with POS committee members about their reading list and about issues that might be the topics for exam questions. The POS chair will solicit questions from POS committee members and construct a draft of the exam. Although students and committee members may collaborate in the question writing process because it can be a useful learning tool, the POS committee alone will draft, revise, and select the six questions for the exam.

These steps are then followed:

• The POS chair submits preliminary comprehensive examination questions to the RPC Examinations Committee for its review and comments
• The RPC Examinations Committee chair submits comments to the POS chair
• The POS chair makes any changes that the POS committee deems appropriate and submits the questions to the Graduate English Office (at least 7 days in advance of the date scheduled for the exam to ensure the graduate secretary has sufficient time to prepare the exam document)
• The graduate secretary adds exam dates and the following directions to the exam:

Directions: Answer three questions. In selecting and answering questions, remember that displaying the range of your knowledge across the entire exam is a good test-taking strategy. For example, if one of your answers focuses on a single figure or figures, select other theorists to answer subsequent questions. Also remember that in your answers you should not merely focus on knowledge-telling but instead should argue for a position. Finally, all answers should cite sources where appropriate.

Each of your answers should be no longer than 3000 words or about 10 double-spaced typewritten pages (including the reference list). Use 12 point type. You may use any acceptable bibliographic form for your in-text cites and your reference lists.

Evaluation committee

The POS chair and the RPC Examinations Committee chair will determine who will evaluate the exam and comprise the evaluation committee. The POS chair will notify the student and the Graduate English Office who those evaluation committee members will be.

The five members of the evaluation committee will be made up of the following:

• two members of the student’s POS committee who are faculty in the RPC area. The two RPC faculty members will be selected by the student’s POS committee
• the English Department faculty member on the student’s POS committee but who is not a faculty member in the RPC area
• two members of the RPC Examinations Committee who are faculty in the RPC area but not on the student’s POS committee. The two RPC Examinations Committee members will be selected on a rotational basis by the RPC Examinations Committee in order to spread the work evenly. In the circumstance that RPC faculty members of the RPC Examinations Committee are also on an individual student’s POS committee, the RPC Examinations Committee will select an RPC faculty member from the RPC faculty at large to represent them on the evaluation committee.

Scheduling the exam

The dates on which the exam will be administered will be set by the student and the evaluation committee. After discussing possible dates with their POS chair and members of the evaluation committee, the student must contact the Graduate English Office to schedule the exam, giving at least 7 days advance notice of the date of the exam. Students should be aware when scheduling the comprehensive examination that the Graduate English Office will be closed over University Holidays. Students should also keep in mind that most faculty members are B-base and will not be available during either University Holidays or the summer to read and evaluate exams.

Taking the exam

Students will obtain the exam from the Graduate English Office and return the completed exam to the same office. Students will have 17 days to answer the exam questions; this allows for the inclusion of three weekends in the exam period depending on the date of the exam and the day of the week the exam is distributed to the student.

Academic honesty

When taking the comprehensive examination, students may not receive any help from anyone. In order to avoid even the appearance of impropriety, students taking the exam should not discuss the content of exam questions while the exam is in progress.

Evaluation criteria

The comprehensive examination will be evaluated on the following criteria:

• command of the material (e.g., depth and subtlety of understanding of concepts discussed)
• quality of writing (e.g., coherence; clear line of argument, where points or claims are advanced and supported; professional style and format, given time constraints)
• coverage (e.g., demonstration across the three essays of a range of knowledge of historical periods, figures, concepts and works; avoidance of duplication-for example, prominently featuring the same figure or concept in more than one answer)
• accuracy (e.g., accurate representation of research studies, historical and contemporary figures, theories, concepts, and terms; care in answering the questions asked-that is, responding to the question asked within the committee's reasonable interpretation of the question)

Evaluation

As soon as possible after the student has submitted the completed exam, the evaluation committee will convene to discuss the written exam and vote on whether it passes. Ideally, this will occur within two weeks of the student's completing the exam. The POS chair is responsible for scheduling the evaluation committee meeting and ensuring that all members of the evaluation committee as well as the POS chair are present, either in person or via distance participation.

The written comprehensive examination will be evaluated and voted on by the five faculty members of the evaluation committee. Because the student's dissertation director/POS chair serves as a mentor to the student, the director will attend the evaluation committee discussion of the comprehensive examination and offer commentary but will not have a vote in the evaluation process.

Passing the comprehensive examination requires that a minimum of four out of the five evaluation committee members vote to pass the exam.

Following the evaluation committee discussion and vote, the POS chair will write a letter to the student indicating a pass or fail of the examination. The POS chair will file a copy of this letter with the Graduate English Office. The POS chair will also pass along the evaluation committee’s commentary to the student. If an exam does not pass, the student will be required to take a second, different exam on the same reading list at a later date determined by the student and the POS committee. In the case of a failing exam, the POS chair will write commentary that identifies problems with the student’s exam and offers the student advice in preparing to take the second exam. The evaluation committee will approve and sign this letter, and the POS chair will file a copy of the letter with the Graduate English Office.

Students must pass the written comprehensive examination before taking the specialized examination. If a student fails to pass the comprehensive examination a second time, he or she will be dropped from the RPC Ph.D. program.

Grievances regarding the comprehensive examination

Students who believe that they have legitimate reasons to appeal the decision of the evaluation committee may follow the grievance procedure outlined in the Graduate College Handbook under “Grievances Related to Scholarly and Professional Competence.”

Relation of comprehensive examination to the specialized examination

Once the student has passed the written comprehensive examination, he or she will take the specialized examination. Because the specialized examination is precisely that, "specialized," and typically includes a dissertation proposal, the specialized examination will be evaluated by the student's POS committee.

2) The specialized examination: Preliminary Oral Examination

The specialized examination, as the second part of the preliminary examination, is the Preliminary Oral Examination. This exam helps students prepare for dissertation work in a specific research area of their choosing. Although the specialized examination will contain both written and oral components, its format could vary rather widely. Because the specialized examination’s questions as well as its administration and evaluation are the responsibility of the POS committee, each student will work closely with their committee to develop a reading list and a format that will reflect the student’s particular research interests. Upon successfully completing the specialized examination, the student will be "ABD" and ready to pursue work on the dissertation.

Request for Preliminary Oral Examination form

Obtain a Request for Preliminary Oral Examination form from the Graduate English Office, 403 Ross Hall (this form is not downloadable). Because this form will specify the date and time of the Preliminary Oral Examination, it should be filed only after the student has removed all incompletes (except 699 research credits), completed all required course work (excluding 699 research credits), and taken and passed the comprehensive examination. It must be submitted to the Graduate College at least two weeks before the exam is scheduled. Reserving a meeting room is the student’s responsibility and can be done through the department’s online reservation system.

It is essential that the Request for Preliminary Oral Examination form be filed in a timely manner. The student and POS committee may not hold the specialized examination unless the Request for Preliminary Oral Examination form has been filed and approved by the Graduate College.

Report of Preliminary Oral Examination form

The Graduate College will send the Report of Preliminary Oral Examination form to the Graduate English Office (this form is not downloadable). The graduate secretary will prepare this form and forward it to the chair of your POS committee (major professor).

The Graduate College copy (white) of the Report of Preliminary Oral Examination form must be submitted to the Graduate College immediately after the exam. Doing so is the student's responsibility. The department copy (pink) should be turned into the Graduate English Office, 403 Ross Hall.

Final oral examination

The final oral examination will be the defense of the dissertation. Go to http://resources/gradstudies/posmanual/general/graduation for more information on graduation and the final oral examination.