Overview:
The second examination, taken as a whole, is the most important examination
in the student's career in the program. In this examination, the student
essentially says:
I have mastered the literature in the area from which I
have derived my dissertation idea. I have identified an important question
regarding criminal justice that I propose to answer. I can show you
why this is an important question, and I can show you how I can answer
it in a way that will contribute to the field's base of knowledge.
To that end, the second examination has two parts.
PART ONE: “THE ORAL” - MASTERY
OF THE LITERATURE
Part one of the exam involves an assessment of the student’s
mastery of the general literature from which she intends to draw a
dissertation topic and propose a study. This part "replaces" what
we used to call the "oral examination" in the old program
and is supposed to be a rigorous test of the student’s knowledge
of the scholarship that led to the area of proposed study.
The student may be posed any question designed to assess her mastery
of the literature
that underlies the study being proposed in part two of
the examination.
The first part of the examination necessarily draws upon
a broader base of literature than the dissertation
may ultimately include (and the works included on the reading list
should not simply overlap
the bibliography for the dissertation proposal). In
preparation for this part of the exam, and with the input of her
committee, the student
should identify the most important works in the broader
area from which their own study is derived. The reading list for
the first part of
the examination must be submitted to the program office
prior to the examination.
At the end of the first part of the examination, the
student takes a ten-minute break to prepare for the
second part of the examination.
During this break, the examining committee confers
on the student’s
mastery of the literature.
There are three potential outcomes for Part One
of the Second Examination:
PASS: A student who demonstrates a mastery of the
literature Passes unconditionally.
PASS WITH ADVICE: A student who demonstrates
sufficient mastery of the literature but for whom further
reading is suggested passes with advice.
FAIL: If the student fails to demonstrate a satisfactory
mastery of the literature, the committee notifies
the student, identifies the deficiencies, and
the second part of the
examination does not go
forward.
PART TWO: “PROPOSAL DEFENSE”
The second part of this examination considers
the specific study the student wishes to
pursue. To
prepare for
the ‘proposal
defense’ part of the exam, the student
should be ready to concisely present the
purpose of, and proposed
methodology for, their study for the audience.
Students should prepare a 10 minute presentation
to be given at
the start of the second half of the exam
(the program office will arrange for projection
equipment for all
second examinations).
During the remainder of the exam, the student ‘defends’ the
proposal addressing any critique or concern
that a member of the examining committee
may raise.
There are four potential outcomes for the
second part of the exam. After deliberation,
the five
person committee
can vote to:
PASS: if the student passes unconditionally,
she will be 'advanced
to candidacy,' can proceed
with her dissertation, and begin
collecting data.
PASS WITH MINOR REVISIONS: if
the committee decides that the proposal
needs minor
revisions, the
student works
with the Chair of the committee to
complete those revisions prior to
proceeding. The Chair of the
committee must
certify
that the revisions are complete before
any data collection can begin. Furthermore,
the
student
is not 'advanced
to candidacy' until the final
approved proposal is submitted to
the program office.
PASS WITH MAJOR REVISIONS: if
the committee decides that the revisions
needed are
significant, the
student must
complete the revisions and the entire
committee will be reconvened to vote
on the revised
proposal. The
entire committee must certify that
the revisions are complete
before any data collection can begin. Furthermore, the student is not 'advanced
to candidacy' until the final approved
proposal is submitted
to the program office.
FAIL: the committee can vote to fail
the proposal when the revisions needed
are
so substantial
that the student
will need to rethink the proposal.
At the conclusion of the second examination,
the student is asked to leave the
room while the examination
committee
discusses the student’s performance
and votes as to the outcome of the examination.
Once a consensus has
been reached, the student is invited back
into
the room to hear her results.
A student is "Advanced to Candidacy" (moved
to Level III) once all coursework
is complete and she has passed the first and second examinations.
A student
is considered to have passed the
second examination
upon completion of any required
proposal revisions, and therefore,
the student will not be advanced
to candidacy until the final approved proposal has been
submitted to the doctoral
program office.
Once a student has been advanced
to candidacy, she will receive
a packet
from the Graduate
Center that
contains
specific instructions for the
preparation of the dissertation. The package
also contains the "Dissertation
Proposal Clearance: Human Subjects" form (which
you will have already filed).
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