Qualifying Assessment

Presentation and Defense of the Residency Portfolio

The Qualifying Assessment is the point in the student’s matriculation at which the doctoral faculty determine whether the student is sufficiently prepared to undertake the planning and implementation of dissertation research.

In preparation for the Qualifying Assessment, the student will prepare the brief paper to be used in the oral defense. The student’s doctoral committee will evaluate this paper, using an established rubric, prior to scheduling the oral defense.

The oral defense of the student’s portfolio and experience will be conducted in a public forum. To schedule the oral defense, the student must submit the appropriate form, signed by the student and all members of the committee at least 2 weeks prior to the requested date. The student’s committee members must be in attendance with the same exceptions allowed for Dissertation Defense. The remainder of the doctoral program faculty should be in attendance to the greatest extent possible.

The oral defense will include the following elements:
• A brief presentation (10 minutes) of the student’s experiences, including courses,
seminars, and other activities in the program. The student should discuss these
experiences as they relate to the initial portfolio plan and to the final portfolio.
• A brief presentation based on the paper developed by the student discussing the
connections between the experiences in the program.
• A dialogue between the student and the faculty during which questions will be posed to the student to further investigate the student’s depth of understanding of the coursework and portfolio activities.

In preparation for this, the doctoral faculty should be provided with a copy of the student’s portfolio plan, program of study, and the written paper. At the completion of this presentation, the committee members will meet privately to evaluate the student’s portfolio and defense. An “exceptional” or “acceptable” evaluation will result in the recommendation of the student for admission to candidacy. In the case of an “unacceptable” rating, the committee and the student will confer to discuss the deficiencies and to specify what the student must do to proceed. If the student’s second attempt to qualify for candidacy is unacceptable, the student will be dismissed from the doctoral program.

This page last updated on: 07/15/2004