Qualifying Examinations

In order to be eligible to take the qualifying examinations a student must have:

1. have been admitted unconditionally to the doctoral program;
2. have an appointed doctoral advisory committee and a doctoral program of studies that has been approved by the Office of Graduate Studies;
3. have completed all or nearly all doctoral course work, with no more than 6 credit hours graded as incomplete; and
4. have completed the early inquiry requirement for that doctoral major program.

Prior to beginning a doctoral dissertation students in the School of Education must pass a qualifying examination in the major area, or areas (for a double major) of study. This examination process is intended to determine if a student is qualified to begin work on a doctoral dissertation.

A minor area qualifying examination may also be required.

Departments and programs determine the specific form of qualifying examination their students will take and establish the times at which examinations will be administered. Students need to file an application with their major and minor departments in the School of Education to take their qualifying examinations. Such application forms are available in departmental offices.

Double-Major Examinations

Students with a double-major must take qualifying examinations in both major areas.

All qualifying examinations contain written and oral components. The written component will take one of three forms:

1. A proctored examination- The major area examination is administered in the School of Education in two four-hour sessions on consecutive days. The minor area examination is administered in a four-hour session on a third day. The major and minor examinations may be taken in the same semester or in different semesters.
2. A take-home examination- Students completing a take-home examination in either their major or minor area should contact the appropriate program or department for examination requirements.
3. Portfolio- Students work with their doctoral advisory committee to determine the contents of the portfolio and a timeline for its completion. Students taking this form of examination should see their advisors regarding specific requirements for preparation of their portfolios.

Students are not required to register for the semester they are taking qualifying exams

After all portions of the written component of the qualifying examinations are taken, an oral examination must be held. The primary purpose of this examination is for the advisory committee to review the answers to the written qualifying examination questions, to request elaboration or clarification to questions that were poorly or incompletely answered, and to quiz the student in-depth over any or all of the examination material.

Seven-Year Rule

The date of passing the oral qualifying examination is a critical date. All coursework must be completed within seven years (prior and post) of the examination date. If coursework has been completed more than seven years prior to the examination date, course revalidation is required.

The dissertation must also be completed within seven years of passing the oral qualifying examination. After this time, doctoral candidacy is terminated for students who have not completed the dissertation. Such students may apply for readmission, but will be subject to the current admission criteria. If readmitted, students must retake the current qualifying examinations and fulfill other conditions imposed by the department in order to establish currency (such as taking or auditing selected courses). If the qualifying examinations are passed and the other conditions are met, these students are readmitted to candidacy. They have three years from this date to complete a dissertation.

Revalidation

Revalidation is a process whereby a student demonstrates current knowledge of course material that was not taken within seven years of passing the oral qualifying examination. For specialist programs the seven years is counted back from the date of approval of the student's program of studies.

Several methods of revalidating old courses are available:

1. Passing an examination specifically covering the material taught in the course (such as a course final examination).
2. Passing a more advanced course in the same subject area, taken more recently (within the seven years).
3. Passing a comprehensive examination (e.g., a doctoral qualifying examination) in which the student demonstrates substantial knowledge of the content of the course. (Ph.D. students may revalidate only two courses by this method.)
4. Teaching a comparable course.
5. Publishing scholarly research that demonstrates substantial knowledge of the course content and understanding of fundamental principles taught in the course.
6. Presenting evidence of extensive professional experience that requires the application of material taught in the course.

Forms for course revalidation are available in the Office of Graduate Studies on the Bloomington campus and in the Office of Student Services at IUPUI. For revalidation methods involving teaching, publications and other professional experience, a current vita for the student must be submitted together with the revalidation form.

All courses must be revalidated individually; the revalidation evidence for each must be assessed by an Indiana University faculty member who teaches the course being revalidated. The revalidating faculty member must be personally convinced, based upon present evidence, that the student has current mastery of basic course concepts and principles.

If the course instructor is not available, a faculty member in the same program specialization area may be substituted. Permission to use a part-time faculty member or a faculty member at another university for course revalidation must be secured from the associate dean of graduate studies at Bloomington or the director of student services at Indianapolis.

Departments have the right to limit the amount of old course work to be included in graduate programs.

Transfer credit must be transferred before it can be revalidated.

Retaking the Exam

Students who fail some or all portions of the qualifying examinations may be allowed to retake these portions. This decision is made by the student's advisory committee and the department chair, and is based on the student's overall program performance and the extent of the deficits on the qualifying examinations. Only ONE retake of the qualifying examinations is allowed.

Nomination to Candidacy

It is the responsibility of the advisory committee, either before or during the oral examination, to review all aspects of the student's doctoral program work, to assess the student's development as a scholar and a professional educator, and, if appropriate, to discuss topics for dissertation research and career goals. Thus, the committee is expected to assess the student's progress in the doctoral program, inventory the work remaining, plan program requirements to ensure a good fit to career goals, and offer criticism, advice, and encouragement.

Examination of all major scholarly works produced by the student during the program of studies is also the advisory committees', specifically the committee chair’s, responsibility. These works include the research manuscript that resulted from the early inquiry experience study, papers presented at conferences or published, and scholarly works produced in courses taught throughout the program of studies. These may include literature reviews, position papers, curriculum development projects, program evaluation studies, measurement instrument construction studies, needs assessments, library research studies, and data-based research.

When the advisory committee is satisfied with the student's performance in the written and oral qualifying examinations and with the student's overall progress in the doctoral program, the student is nominated to candidacy.

Admission to Candidacy

Admission to candidacy is awarded after the student has been nominated to candidacy and all required course work has been completed.

Maintaining Active Status

After passing qualifying examinations, doctoral students must register for at least 1 credit hour each semester (not including summer session) in order to maintain active student status. This is ordinarily done by enrolling in 1 or more credit hours of dissertation credit (799). After 90 credit hours of program course work have been taken and students have been admitted to candidacy (i.e., all but the dissertation hours have been completed and qualifying examinations have been passed), students may enroll in G901 Advanced Research in order to maintain active status. G901 is a 6 credit hour course and is an inexpensive way for students with graduate assistantships to maintain a full load. However, enrollment in G901 is limited to six semesters, and it is not offered in summer sessions.

In-absentia registration for 799 and G901 is available for doctoral students who reside more than 25 miles from the Bloomington campus. Registration should be requested from the Office of Graduate Studies.

Students who fail to register each semester after passing qualifying examinations must back-enroll for all semesters missed, in order to graduate.