| UMBC CSEE | Computer
Science & Electrical Engineering University of Maryland Baltimore County Baltimore Maryland 21250 USA voice: 410-455-3500 fax: -3969 |
Ph.D. comps are given in each graduate study field in the Department. Each fi eld comp is a closed-book examination comprised of four separate course-exams. T he four course-exams are to take place on four consecutive days (typically Monda y through Thursday in a week). Each course-exam lasts two hours. Each student mu st pass all four course-exams in a chosen field. The comps are offered twice a y ear: in late May and mid January.
The purpose of the Ph.D. comps is to assess the student's mastery of basic kn owledge and skills in the chosen field of study, and to help assess the student' s qualification for continued Graduate studies. If any faculty member is runnin g a review/study session for the comprehensive exams, the review session should be open to all students who are interested in attending.
There are four computer science fields and two electrical engineering fields of graduate studies in the Department. The courses that make up each field comp are the following:
All full-time Ph.D. students are required to pass the comps within thr ee semesters of entrance to the graduate program (five semesters for part-tim e students). No student will be waived from the comp exam. Any request of po stponement (of taking the exam) has to be petitioned in writing to the Graduate Committee for approval prior to the exam registration deadline together with the written consent of the student\222s advisor.
All students are expected to complete all of the required breadth courses in a chosen field prior to taking the comps.
Students intending to take the comps must register with the Department's Grad uate Office by the registration deadline announced by the Graduate Study Committ ee. After registering for a comp, the student may only withdraw his/her registra tion by a written request prior to the withdrawal deadline, announced by the Gra duate Study Committee. Any student who registers for an exam but does not show up or hand in an exam booklet will receive a score of zero on that exam.
At comp registration, the student will be asked to sign a letter stating that he or she fully understands the policy governing the comp exams.
Each student will be assigned a randomly generated number to label his or her exam booklets. No student name shall appear anywhere on the exam booklet.
The student, when taking the comps for the first time, must take all four com p course-exams at that time. A student is allowed one retake if he or she fails to pass all four course-exams in the first attempt. The course-exam(s) passed at the first attempt need not be retaken. A student who fails the exam twice will be dismissed from the doctoral program.
The comprehensive exam is a department-wide event in which all full-time facu lty participate. The preparation and grading of each exam problem set will be t he joint responsibility of the faculty members of corresponding research field. Each exam will receive a numerical score (from 0-100). Graders should provide s ufficient written comments to explain the grades. Each exam booklet will be gra ded for Pass Ph. D. level, Pass Master level, and Fail. Th e passing levels will be determined jointly by all faculty members of the field.
The Graduate Committee accepts and endorses the grades from the coordinator o f each field for individual course-exams, and decides the outcome for each stude nt who takes the comps. The student should be notified of the decision promptly. The three outcomes for comps are:
Any request to review the exam results should be submitted in writing to the Graduate Study Committee within the exam review period. If the student is not s atisfied with the scores/grades, he/she can submit a written petition to the Gra duate Study Committee. The Graduate Study Committee will meet to decide on most if not all petitions and only refer special cases to a general faculty meeting, if deems necessary.
The policy for M.S. comps is essentially the same as that for Ph.D. comps, ex cept for the following:
Each non-thesis Master's student must take and pass a comp exam (at the Maste r's level) consisting of any three of the breadth course-exams in a chosen field . The M.S. comps are offered in conjunction with the Ph.D. comps. The M.S. and Ph.D. comps use the same question sets. Different passing levels, however, will be set for M.S. and Ph.D. students.
The student may take the comp exam at any time the exam is offered. The stude nt must take three course-exams at the first attempt. The student is allowed one retake if he or she fails to pass all three course-exams at the first attempt. The course-exam(s) passed at the first attempt need not be retaken.
The student may change from non-thesis option to thesis option any time befor e the second attempt of comps. The student cannot do so if he or she fails the c omps twice, in which case he or she is dismissed from the M.S. program.