Comprehensive Examinations: Written
All examinations and the defense of the dissertation must be scheduled with the approval of all committee members. They may not be performed on weekends or when the University offices are closed for holidays. The Gradate School discourages the scheduling of written comprehensive exams prior to the start of classes each term.
Each doctoral student must pass a written comprehensive examination that is designed, administered, and evaluated by the graduate faculty of the major school/department and by other qualified individuals as specified by the research advisor. This examination may not be taken until the student has:
- been granted regular admission to the degree program;
- filed an approved plan of study;
- completed at least 36 semester hours (60 semester hours if baccalaureate only student) of work applicable toward the degree -- at least 24 semester hours must be UNC credit;
- maintained a grade point average of at least 3.00 in his/her graduate degree program;
- a doctoral committee appointed by the Graduate School;
- obtained approval from the research advisor to take the exam.
The major school/department is responsible for scheduling the date, time, and place of the written comprehensive examination(s). Each student must check the school/department requirements at the beginning of his/her program of study. Written comprehensive examinations may not be performed on weekends or when University offices are closed for the holidays.
For comprehensive examinations that are timed, once an exam session begins, it is considered a take of the examination. If the student leaves the examination session and does not return or does not complete the exam during the allotted time frame, the examination will be considered taken and the exam will be evaluated accordingly. For take-home examinations that are not strictly timed, the school/department should determine a starting time/date and ending time/date during which the student must complete the exam.
Once the examination has been evaluated, the program advisor must submit a signed report form to the Graduate School indicating a pass or failure of the examination by the deadline established for that semester by the Graduate School.
The results of the written comprehensive examinations must be reported to the Graduate School no later than the semester following the examination or the Graduate School may require a repeat of the examination.
A retake may not be scheduled during the same semester that the original examination was completed. Failure of the retake of the examination or its equivalent will result in the termination of the student's degree program.