Comprehensive exams and portfolio are offered every Spring semester. Each student works on-site for 150 hours under joint supervision by the public sector or related agency and an MPA faculty member. Students use a memorandum of agreement to spec ify the work involved and then write a 20 page paper detailing their work assignments and relation to public administration learning objectives. In this course, each student develops a portfolio of oral and written material that demonstrates their mastery of specified program skills as defined in the mission statement. Typically, students assemble material from their previous course experiences.
Students make a public presentation of the portfolio project.
The course is designed to help students prepare for the examination by using a seminar format and questions that synthesize learning objectives. The examination is at the semester's end. Typically, the examination lasts for three hours and includes four questions, with students answering any two questions. Borderline students take oral examinations as a final determinant of their graduation status.