The committee will complete all work involved in writing examination questions and updating the reading list by the end of the spring semester prior to the offering date of the exam for which they are responsible. The same committee will be responsible for grading completed exams the following fall. They will be given the final draft of the exam at least one month prior to the actual examination dates. The comprehensive exam will be administered as a closed book exam. All questions should be answerable based on the reading list and background that can reasonably be assumed to be a prerequisite to understanding what is included in the reading list.
Adequate time is available for completing all of the questions on the exam.
Examination books should be identified by a code not known to any member of the faculty. Separate codes should be used for each area exam. Graders should write all comments separately from the examination books. Candidates should remain identified only by code until a pass or fail determination is made by the Comprehensive Exam Committee for a given area exam. All questions should be graded independently by two graders.