Graduate Student Requirements
2.5 The Candidacy Examination
Purpose. The purpose of the Candidacy Examination is to assess the student's mastery of the literature included on the Bibliography approved by her or his committee and to assess, as well, the student's ability to engage with the philosophical issues that are connected with that literature. Passing the Candidacy Examination admits the student to candidacy for the Ph.D. degree in the Department of Philosophy as specified in the Graduate School Handbook (Section 9-10).Structure. The Candidacy Examination is a single examination that has two parts: a written examination in an area of philosophy and a subsequent oral examination that may include discussion of the material provided in the written examination.
The written examination has two parts.
- A literature review, of no more than 7500 words (including notes), of the literature included on the student's Bibliography. The student may consult with her or his advisor and seek feedback in preparing the literature review.
- An original paper, also of no more than 7500 words (including notes), on a subject relevant to the literature included on the student's Bibliography. It is expected that, in a successful original paper, the central ideas will be original to the student and will not be substantially based on previous work, including the literature review. The student may consult with faculty while preparing the paper, but may not receive any feedback on written drafts of the paper.
The Candidacy Examination Committee. The Candidacy Examination will be administered and evaluated by a committee of four faculty members: an Advisor, two experts, and a fourth person from outside the student's area of special interest. The Advisor selected by the student must be willing to serve as Advisor and must be approved by the Graduate Committee; the other members of the committee are selected by the student and his or her Advisor, subject to the approval of the Graduate Committee. Each proposed member of the committee must sign the Departmental Candidacy Examination Committee Form provided for this purpose, which is then submitted to the Graduate Committee for approval; a copy of this form is put into the student's record. Upon approval, the Advisor of the committee then becomes the student's Advisor of record (see Section 1.4 above). The committee administers the oral portion of the Candidacy Examination.
Scheduling. No earlier than the fourth quarter of full-time graduate study and no later than the sixth quarter of full-time graduate study (not including Summer Quarters)—typically in the student's second year—the student and the committee will draw up a Bibliography in the area to be covered by the Candidacy Examination, and the Bibliography must be approved by each member of the committee. The student is expected to take the initiative in constructing the Bibliography, and, in consultation with the committee, construct a tentative draft that is submitted to all members of the committee for final approval or amendment. Committee members indicate approval of the Bibliography by signing the Departmental Bibliography Approval Form provided for that purpose. Note that the literature review component of the written examination is to be submitted no later than the last week of the seventh quarter of full-time graduate study (not including Summer Quarters)—typically the Autumn Quarter of the student's third year—and that the original paper component of the written examination is to be submitted no later than the sixth week of the eighth quarter of full-time graduate study (not including Summer Quarters)—typically the Winter Quarter of the student's third year. After the student has completed the written examination, the committee will read the student's material and convene for an oral examination of the student no later than two weeks after the written examination has been completed.
Procedure. After the student has submitted both parts of the written examination, the committee will discuss the student's performance; the Advisor will inform the student of the evaluation, the student then being free to consult other members of the committee in preparation for the oral examination. If upon completion of the written portion the student should decide not to proceed to the oral portion, the procedures in the Graduate School Handbook are followed and the result of the Candidacy Examination is recorded as unsatisfactory.
Evaluation of the Candidacy Examination. Based on the written and oral examinations, the committee will decide whether the student (a) passes the Candidacy Examination and thereby merits an M.A. degree; (b) does not pass the Candidacy Examination but is allowed to take a second candidacy exam; or (c) does not pass the Candidacy Examination and is not allowed to a second exam, terminating progress in the program. The committee will first vote on (a). If the vote is not unanimously positive, the committee will then vote on (b). If fewer than three committee members vote in favor of (b), (c) is the result. In the case of (b) or (c), the committee may also decide whether the student's performance is of sufficient merit to award an M.A. degree. In the case of (b), the committee will determine the appropriate form for the second candidacy exam. (For instance, the committee might require the student to take a seated exam covering material in the student's bibliography, or to take a take-home exam, or to revise the original paper.) While the form of second exam is left to the discretion of the committee, that form must be communicated in writing to the student within one week after the result of the initial exam is determined. If a second exam is permitted, it must be completed no later than the eighth week of the immediately following quarter, and the committee's options are limited to (a) or (c). The vote for (a) must be unanimously positive; otherwise, (c) is the result.
If a student is scheduled to take a Candidacy Examination, or a Qualifying Examination, or a final defense of the dissertation, and the student does not successfully petition for an extension of the deadline for taking that examination but also fails to take the scheduled examination, then the student will automatically fail that examination.
Grandfather clause: Students who were admitted to the graduate program prior to the 2009-2010 academic year will be allowed to take the Candidacy examination as described in the rules that were in effect when they were admitted to the program if they prefer to do so. Otherwise they will be subject to the rules described herein. Any student who elects to take an exam under the old rules must announce this decision to his or her candidacy examination committee by the end of the term in which the bibliography is approved.
Next page: The Qualifying Examination
