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Qualifying Exam

I. Rationale and Criteria

The Qualifying Examination determines whether a DCD student is ready to begin the Doctoral Project, the final phase of degree work. Students demonstrate their readiness through written and oral responses to questions they develop in consultation with an examining committee. Success is judged by three criteria:

• Intellectual fitness: Is the student prepared to undertake research and/or development at an advanced professional level?

• Conceptual framework: Is the student conversant with research, theory, and commentary in professional or scholarly areas related to the proposed project? Does the project's design reflect an adequate grasp of knowledge in the field?

• Project design: Is the proposed doctoral project well conceived? Is it practical? Will it make a demonstrable contribution to the student's profession, community, or discipline?

II. Details

A. Procedure

The Qualifying Examination entails four tasks:

1. Putting together an examining committee (which will also serve as the doctoral project committee)
2. Proposing and refining examination questions
3. Writing responses to the approved questions (Written Examination)
4. Meeting with the examining committee to discuss the written responses (Oral Examination)

B. Scheduling

Students may take the Qualifying Examination after completing 24 credits of coursework. These courses should include all required core courses and must include the Proseminar. If possible, students should schedule their examinations for the academic term following Proseminar.

• Fall Semester: Your questions must be approved by your committee by September 20, and a copy submitted to the graduate program director. Your exam must be submitted to your committee eight calendar weeks later.
• Spring Semester: Your questions must be approved by your committee by February 20, and a copy submitted to the graduate program director. Your exam must be submitted to your committee eight calendar weeks later.
• Summer: Your questions must be approved by your committee by June 1, and a copy submitted to the program director. Your exam must be submitted to your committee eight calendar weeks later.

Students should allow at least twelve weeks for completing the four steps of the examination process. Oral examinations will typically be scheduled about two weeks after the written exam is turned in to the examining committee.

Students may not register for doctoral project credits until they have passed the qualifying exam.

C. Examining committee

The committee consists of three to five members, at least two of whom must be full-time faculty at the University of Baltimore, one of these the student's DCD faculty adviser.

Students should choose professionals and researchers who are able and willing to advise their doctoral projects. It is generally assumed that the examining committee will become the project committee should the student successfully complete the Qualifying Examination. Students may seek advice from their faculty advisers and ask their assistance in assembling a committee.

The Director of the DCD Program must approve membership of the committee.

D. Examination questions

At the beginning of the process the student should draft between five and eight substantial questions relating to the proposed doctoral project and its social, professional, and conceptual background.

Questions should be informed by the focus and larger social context of the intended doctoral project, as well as by the student's continuing reading and research, both in and out of courses. A question should be neither too broad ("What has been the impact of information technology on the publishing industry over the last ten years?") nor too narrowly concerned with details of the project ("Describe six aspects of the navigation system that will make the Expectant Fathers Web site a success"). Previous written examinations are on file with Kathryn Summers. Consult them for examples.

The student will send the initial draft questions to the examining committee for comment. This comment period will normally take two to three weeks, after which the student will prepare a revised set of questions for approval by the faculty advisers. Questions may be altered, eliminated, or consolidated during revision.

At the end of the drafting process the student should have no fewer than three and no more than five working questions.

For a good example of a question proposal, see Sean Carton's from 2003. You'll see that Sean begins by describing the project he intends to complete, providing a useful framework for understanding the questions. Notice also, though, that Sean's questions concern issues considerably larger than his proposed project--an important feature.

E. Written examination

The student will prepare thorough responses to the approved questions. Answers take the form of substantial scholarly essays each between 2,500 and 4,000 words. The overall scope of the written examination will thus fall between 10,000 and 20,000 words.

In their written answers students should draw productively on reading and research they have done during coursework and project development. The annotated bibliography produced during Proseminar should be especially useful here. Source citations in the written examination should be given in American Psychological Association (APA) style. Students should include a list of works cited with the written examination.

F. Oral examination

The oral part of the Qualifying Examination will be scheduled for two and a half hours, but will normally take between 90 minutes and two hours. Having read and reflected on the student's written answers, the committee will engage the student in critical discussion of the document. The student is expected to show good grounding in relevant knowledge domains, acute understanding of the proposed project and its foundations, and adequate intellectual preparation for carrying out the project.

G. Results

Ordinarily students will be notified of results directly after the Oral Examination; however, the examination committee may deliberate for up to one week if necessary. Three results are possible: Pass, Resubmit, and Fail.

Students who pass should immediately prepare for adviser and committee a plan and timetable for completing remaining course requirements and the doctoral project. In some cases these plans may be discussed on the occasion of the Oral Examination.

If some aspects of a student's performance in the Written or Oral Examinations are not satisfactory, the examining committee may ask the student to submit revised answers to one or more of the written questions. Timetable for these revisions will be set by the committee, but the time limit is generally one month. If the resubmission is not found acceptable, then the student will receive a mark of Fail and may not continue in the DCD program. However, the student may apply for the Graduate Certificate in Information Design.

If the committee finds the student's performance insufficient for a passing mark and unlikely to be improved by resubmission, the student will receive a mark of Fail. Students receiving a failing mark on the Qualifying Examination may not continue in the DCD program but may apply for the Graduate Certificate in Information Design.