FINAL COMPREHENSIVE WRITTEN EXAM

Students will complete a comprehensive exam testing the student’s mastery of the four core areas of museum practice: history and philosophy, museum education, museum collections management, and museum administration. The comprehensive exam is based on the following courses: MST 5301, MST 5304, 5309, and 5311. The exam is scheduled for the second Friday in February. Faculty will offer review sessions on the three Fridays prior to the exam.

For each section of the exam (i.e. history and philosophy, museum education, museum collections management, and museum administration), students will select two questions to answer. Students will have 30 minutes to complete each section of the exam.

Student responses are graded as: Discussion Required, Good, Very Good, or Outstanding. Any response that merits a ranking of Discussion Required must with that faculty member, who will conduct a modified oral examination to determine whether the student should pass that area of the comprehensive exam.

After the grading process is complete, the Graduate Program Director will report the results to the Graduate School.

If a student fails the comprehensive exam, the student will meet with the Department Chair, the Graduate Program Director, and any relevant faculty members to discuss the basis for the decision. The student may be granted an opportunity to retake the exam within 6 months. A second failure results in dismissal of the student from the program.