The University of Texas at Austin

Written Examination

The focus and purpose of the prospectus written examination is to obtain evidence that the student has gained a thorough knowledge of the topic, along with powers of critical analysis in interpretation of that knowledge, and skills of investigation or experimentation.

  1. Examiners. As noted earlier, the Graduate Adviser appoints a three-member faculty committee to serve as the prospectus evaluation committee for each student, with the student’s prospectus adviser serving as chair. The Graduate Adviser will select, when feasible, one member of the committee from faculty in the student’s area of specialization, one member with knowledge of the student’s prospectus topic from the faculty outside the student’s area of specialization, and one member considered expert in research design.
  2. Format. The prospectus written examination will consist of six essay questions, two submitted by each committee member. The student is to answer three questions, one from each examiner, to be weighted equally. Each question is labeled with the name of the submitting faculty person; the entire exam is evaluated by all three members of the committee.
  3. Administration. A group administration of each student’s written prospectus examination is scheduled in a CoE computer lab on the Friday of the second week following submission of the prospectus. Students are not allowed to have any materials with them during the written examination.
  4. Evaluation. The student’s written prospectus examination is evaluated independently by each member of the student’s prospectus evaluation committee.

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