Characteristics of QE policies for UNC and peer institutions (N = 23)a
| Research question | Yesb n (%) | Summary of website data collected |
|---|---|---|
| Does university have a graduate school or college? | 20 (87%) | Two of the universities without a graduate school oversee graduate programs through the provost’s office with a faculty committee providing guidance. The other university delegates oversight to individual schools and colleges without any indication of central oversight |
| Does university have a QE requirement? | 20 (87%) | Of the 20 “yes” universities, 19 state QE requirements of the graduate schools. Universities without a requirement leave it to individual programs, and all biomedical sciences programs checked required a QE |
| Question asked for universities with a graduate school/college (n = 20) | ||
| Is it called a QE? | 7 (35%) | Other descriptors include preliminary exam (n = 9), doctoral exam (n = 2), doctoral comprehensive exam (n = 1), comprehensive exam (n = 1), candidacy exam (n = 1) and general exam (n = 1) |
| Is passing the QE required to advance in the program? | 20 (100%) | Policies for retaking the QE vary from school to school (in case of failure) |
| Does student status change after passing the QE? | 19 (95%) | Eighteen call the students “candidates,” one calls them All But Dissertation (ABD). One provided a certificate, and one held a ceremony |
| Do students need to be registered for QE? | 15 (75%) | |
| Is a thesis proposal/proposal required? | 9 (45%) | The prospectus can be part of the QE. For each, a proposal or prospectus is commonly part of QE practices, even though not explicitly required |
| Is the QE format described? | 8 (40%) | Two use oral format, six use oral and written format |
| Is a time limit for QE passing described? | 7 (35%) | Graduate schools require QE completion within 3 years, 4 years or 5 years |
| Research question | Yes | Summary of website data collected |
|---|---|---|
| Does university have a graduate school or college? | 20 (87%) | Two of the universities without a graduate school oversee graduate programs through the provost’s office with a faculty committee providing guidance. The other university delegates oversight to individual schools and colleges without any indication of central oversight |
| Does university have a QE requirement? | 20 (87%) | Of the 20 “yes” universities, 19 state QE requirements of the graduate schools. Universities without a requirement leave it to individual programs, and all biomedical sciences programs checked required a QE |
| Is it called a QE? | 7 (35%) | Other descriptors include preliminary exam ( |
| Is passing the QE required to advance in the program? | 20 (100%) | Policies for retaking the QE vary from school to school (in case of failure) |
| Does student status change after passing the QE? | 19 (95%) | Eighteen call the students “candidates,” one calls them All But Dissertation (ABD). One provided a certificate, and one held a ceremony |
| Do students need to be registered for QE? | 15 (75%) | |
| Is a thesis proposal/proposal required? | 9 (45%) | The prospectus can be part of the QE. For each, a proposal or prospectus is commonly part of QE practices, even though not explicitly required |
| Is the QE format described? | 8 (40%) | Two use oral format, six use oral and written format |
| Is a time limit for QE passing described? | 7 (35%) | Graduate schools require QE completion within 3 years, 4 years or 5 years |
Notes:
aWe explored the publicly accessible websites of the universities to evaluate campus-wide polices on QEs;
Yes indicates that the graduate school or campus-wide resource site explicitly described or stated a given policy