Written Preliminary Exam Guidelines
Department of Plant Pathology

1. A written preliminary examination coordinator from the Graduate Studies Committee will be selected by the Graduate Studies Committee members. The coordinator will agree to supervise the preliminary exam for a 3-year period, or for three successive iterations of the exam. The coordinator will work with the Graduate Studies Committee in the preparation and review of the written prelim.

2. The written preliminary exam will be held once annually. In September of each year, the prelim exam coordinator will meet with that group of students planning to take the exam during the next year. The dates for the exam will be selected in September by mutual agreement of the students and the prelim exam coordinator. The 3 days of the exam must fall within a single week between January 1 and June 15 of the next year. If any student(s) choose not to take the exam on the predetermined dates, they must wait to take the exam with the next year's group of students.

3. The structure of the written prelim exam will be as follows.

a. The prelim will consist of 3 half-day sessions during which students will be expected to answer a total of 9 questions, 3 per day.

Day 1: Cellular, Molecular, and Physiological Plant Pathology. On day 1, there will be two categories of questions. Approximately one-half of the questions on the exam will address cellular, molecular, and physiological plant pathology; the other half of the questions will cover the broad range of general plant pathology. Students will be required to answer at least one question among those offered in the area of cellular, molecular, and physiological plant pathology. Students will answer two additional questions from either category.

Day 2: Whole Plant and Population-based Plant Pathology. On day 2, questions will be approximately equally divided between whole plant and population-based plant pathology, and general plant pathology. Students will be required to answer at least one question among those offered in the area of whole plant and population-based plant pathology. Students will answer two additional questions from either category.

Day 3: Individualized exam. The advisor will be responsible for providing the committee with questions to be answered by the student on the final day of the exam. Students will be required to answer three questions on the final day of the exam; the advisor will determine whether or not the student will have a choice of questions. The advisor may at his or her discretion choose to include questions from members of the student's committee.

b. It is expected that the 3 questions on each day will require approximately 4 hours for the students to complete.

c. Authors of exam questions will not be identified at the time of the exam. However, authors will be identified when students receive their graded exam questions.

d. All students will be required to prepare their prelim exam responses on a computer. Laptop computers will be provided by the department faculty for this purpose.

4. ALL FACULTY will be expected to submit questions for inclusion on the written prelim exam. Using some or all of the submitted questions, the Graduate Studies Committee will work to prepare a rigorous, balanced, and fair written prelim exam each year. It is especially important for instructors in required courses to submit questions. In some cases, the Graduate Studies Committee may wish to save questions for use in another year. However, use of a submitted question in a subsequent year will be done only following agreement of the faculty member submitting that question.

5. Faculty members submitting questions will have sole responsibility for grading their question(s). Exam papers will be provided to faculty within 24 h of the exam. Faculty will be expected to return graded questions to the Graduate Studies Committee within 10 days of receiving the exam papers. Students will be informed of their scores within 14 days of the exam.

6. To successfully pass the written prelim exam, students must achieve an average score of 70% averaged over all 9 questions, i.e. it is permitted for students to receive scores lower than 70% as long as the average is above 70%. Students pass or fail the entire exam; the possibility of passing or failing only a portion of the exam is not allowed.

7. In the event that a student fails the exam, the Graduate Studies Committee will review the student exam responses to ensure fairness and to provide the failing student with specific guidance to help in preparing for a possible retake of the exam the following year.

8. Student exam papers will remain a part of the student's permanent file. Students and advisors may review the student's exam papers in the main office.