DEPARTMENT POLICY ON COMP EXAM

Revised 5/22/01

COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATIONS

Department of Physics, Oregon State University

This document describes the system of examinations that is a part of the graduate curriculum in the Physics Department at Oregon State University.

Goal of the comprehensive examination.

Passing the comprehensive examination at the Ph.D. level is a prerequisite for candidacy for the Ph.D degree. Passing performance on the comprehensive exam can be achieved by exceeding the Ph.D. passing level on one exam or by scoring sufficiently close to the Ph.D. passing level (a "near-pass") on two exams.

Passing the exam at the Master's level may be used in lieu of a thesis to advance a student to candidacy for the M.S. degree. Thesis-option M.S. students are not required to satisfy the comprehensive examination requirement.

The comprehensive examination process.

The comprehensive examination will be given at the beginning of the Fall and Spring quarters of each year, usually the Monday and Tuesday of the first week of classes. The exam will usually be given in four sessions over two days. Graduate and upper-division undergraduate materials will be represented about equally on each examination. Each examination will consist of 8 questions, distributed roughly equally among the 4 areas: (1) electromagnetism and optics; (2) mechanics, non-linear dynamics, and relativity; (3) statistical mechanics and thermodynamics; (4) quantum mechanics.

The comprehensive examination is administered by a committee, which consists of four faculty members. If a committee member has been teaching a graduate course in a particular area the year before the exam, it is preferred that this committee member shall not write the questions in this area.

The Chair of the Department shall inform all graduate students in the Physics Department of the time of the next exam and ask the students to sign up for the exam. This request shall be distributed to the students in May for the Fall exam and in early March for the Spring exam. Students who have not signed up for the exam and still want to take it, must request permission from the Chair of the Department.

When to take the comprehensive examination.

The sequence of compulsory comprehensive examinations will normally begin in the Fall term of the second year of graduate study. Exceptions are made for transfer students holding a M.S. degree in Physics, who must begin the sequence in their first Spring quarter.

For students entering the program without an M.S. degree, but with a year or more of graduate course work completed at another accredited institution, the following rules apply:
1. Entrants having had no graduate quantum mechanics must begin the compulsory exam sequence in their second year of graduate study at OSU;
2. Entrants having had a year of graduate quantum mechanics will ordinarily begin the compulsory sequence in the Spring quarter of the first year.

Students who enter the graduate program and are not able to start the graduate quantum course sequence in their first year may petition the Department Chair for a delay of their first required examination.

Students are allowed to take the comprehensive exam for practice when they are not required to take the exam. Practice exams will be graded along with those of other students. Students passing a practice exam at either the M.S. or Ph.D. level may choose to use that exam to fulfill their degree requirements.

A student may attempt at most three examinations, excluding exams taken for practice.

Students for whom the sequence of compulsory comprehensive examinations has started are required to take all exams that are offered. A student who does not take a required examination will receive a score of zero for that examination and the examination will be counted as an attempt. Normally, the third attempt will be taken no later than the third year.

If there is any question about when a student should take the exam, the Department Chair should be consulted.

Setting passing scores.

For each examination, separate levels will be established for the M.S., Ph.D., and near-Ph.D. pass. The required levels are set by the entire faculty, after reviewing the scores on each exam.

To preserve the intended objectivity of the examinations, the identity of the student writing the examination is not known to the faculty members who grade the exams or to the faculty at large. Only after the passing scores have been decided, in a meeting of the entire faculty of the department, are the names of the students revealed. The names and scores of students who are taking the exam for practice will only be revealed if the score is higher than the MS passing level.

Reporting of the scores.

Immediately after the faculty meeting in which the scores have been discussed, the Chair of the Comprehensive Exam Committee shall inform in writing all students who were required to take the exam of their scores. The attached form letter, which includes the details of the appeal process, shall be used. A copy of this letter shall be put in the student's file. The Chair of the Comprehensive Exam Committee shall contact all students who took the exam for practice and achieved a passing score, and ask if the students want to use their score. If these students choose to count the score, they will receive the official form letter and a copy of the letter will be put in their files.

The Chair of the Comprehensive Exam Committee shall give the exam answer books to the departmental secretary. These exam answer books shall be kept in the vault until the student officially graduates, and for no longer than ten years. Exam answer books of students who took the exam for practice and do not have their score officially counted, shall be returned to these students; these students shall also be informed of the passing levels.

The Chair of the Comprehensive Exam Committee shall give a copy of all scores to the Department Chair. The chair shall record the names and scores of those students for whom the exam was compulsory, and for students who took the exam for practice and received a score earning an MS pass or better.

Petitions.

In exceptional cases, individual petitions for alterations of these requirements may be submitted in writing to the Department Chair, who may consult with the Comprehensive Exam Committee.

Appeals.

Each student is entitled to receive a copy of his/her exam including grading. Copies of the problems and their solutions will be made available in the Yunker Library and may be copied at student expense. Any student, who has good reason to believe that a mistake has been made in the grading of his/her exam, may petition in writing to the chair of the Department within 2 weeks after the results are announced. The written complaint will be considered promptly by the committee, and the committee will recommend action or no action. A copy of the complaint and any resulting action will be given to the student and incorporated into the student's file.

DATE

To: XXX

From: YYY, Chair, Comprehensive Examination Committee

Subject: Comprehensive Examination results for the (Fall/Spring) 20xx term

It is my pleasure to inform you that you have passed the Comprehensive Examination at the (MS/PhD near-pass/PhD) level. Your score was ZZ of 160. The faculty deemed the Ph.D. passing level to be ZZ1 and the MS passing level to be ZZ2. The near-pass level was ZZ3. I encourage you to request a copy of your exam from the graduate secretary and look at the answers. If you have any questions or concerns about the grading of the exam, please feel to talk to me and the other committee members. The official rules for appeals are included at the end.

Congratulations on the (MS pass/PhD near-pass/PhD pass).

DEPARTMENT POLICY ON APPEALS OF GRADING FOR
WRITTEN COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION

Posted January 19, 2001