The comprehensive exam asks you to demonstrate your knowledge across the entire curriculum of the OL program. Unlike an assignment you complete in a single course, the comprehensive exam requires you to integrate the knowledge acquired throughout your course of study in the organizational leadership program. The exam will present you with four broad questions from the following general areas:Â
The college will provide you with two or more exam dates once you become eligible for the comprehensive exam. You may choose one of the dates provided to start your exam.
You will have two weeks after the date you select to return your exam responses. We do not accept exams after the due date and missing the deadline results in automatic failure.
Yes. OU’s Graduate College requires you to enroll in at least two credit hours during the semester that you take your comprehensive exam. If you do not pass your exam the first time and need to retake it, this policy also applies at that time. In other words, you would need to enroll in at least two hours in the semester that you retake the exam.
When students receive their exam questions, they also receive a copy of the comprehensive exam grading rubric. We strongly recommend that you invest time to study the comprehensive grading rubric thoroughly. If you do, you will discover
Your committee will evaluate your responses for each of the four areas on a 10-point scale. To pass, you must receive a minimum of a 7.0 score (averaged across your three committee members for each of your four exam areas). In other words, you must achieve an average minimum score of 7.0 on each of your four responses to pass your comprehensive exam. For more information, see the Comprehensive Exam Tutorial Video described below.
Your Comprehensive Exam Committee consists of a committee chair and two additional faculty members.
Your committee will evaluate your responses to each of the four areas on a 10-point scale. To pass, you must receive a minimum of a 7.0 score (averaged across your three committee members for each of your four areas). In other words, you must achieve an average minimum score of 7.0 on each of your four responses to pass your comprehensive exam. For more information, see the Comprehensive Exam Tutorial Video described below.
OL students have two opportunities to take the exam. If you attend to the grading criteria provided in the rubric, and you invest time in studying the Comprehensive Exam Tutorial Video (see below), you will likely do well. However, if you do not pass the exam on your first attempt, you may receive a second opportunity to take the comprehensive at the discretion of your exam committee. If you do not achieve a minimum 7.0 score on one or two questions, you only need to retake the exam in those areas in a subsequent semester. However, if you do not achieve a 7.0 in three or four content areas, you will need to retake the entire exam. You will receive new questions for any necessary retakes. As with the initial exam, you will have two weeks to respond. Your Comp Exam Coordinator (pacscompexams@ou.edu) will assist you with this process. Please note that you cannot retake your exam in the same semester.
You should submit one (1) Microsoft Word document that contains all four of your responses. The Comprehensive Exam Canvas course (see the Writing and APA tab of the Home page) provides you with an APA-formatted template to help you organize your response. For more information about how to use the template, watch the Comprehensive Exam Tutorial Video.Â
Important – You should prepare four separate reference lists corresponding to each question. Place each of these four reference lists immediately following your response to each of the four questions. Said another way, your response to each question should present a separate set of references. Do NOT compile one reference list for all of your responses. Also, make sure that you adhere strictly to the APA guidelines outlined in the PACS APA Guide, based on the 7th edition of the APA manual.
Plagiarism is a matter that OU takes very seriously and will quickly disqualify your exam from grading consideration. Put simply, if you plagiarize, you will not pass your exam, and you risk being expelled from the university. Because a number of different types of plagiarism exist, some students unintentionally engage in this practice, and as a result, they suffer the unfortunate consequences. We do not want these consequences to happen to you. To avoid these severe problems, we strongly urge you to:
Whether or not you take the time to review and understand the plagiarism policies, it is your responsibility to adhere to the requirements, and we will hold you accountable for them.
After completing your exam: