A comprehensive examination is one of the requirements of the HSC Graduate College of a non-thesis master's degree program. In the Department of Nutritional Sciences, the exam is oral and covers material related to the student’s Master’s Project. The purpose of the exam is to provide a means by which the graduate student demonstrates evidence of having achieved an advanced level of knowledge in nutrition.
The following Departmental guidelines apply to the Master’s Project and Comprehensive Exam:
- The student begins the Master’s Project by enrolling in NS 5103 Master’s Project.
- Each student must decide on a topic for the Master’s Project. The student must meet with a faculty willing to supervise the Master’s Project to discuss the topic and to receive approval to proceed with the project.
- A Committee of three faculty members from the Department of Nutritional Sciences serves as the student’s Graduate Advisory Committee. The student selects three faculty members who are willing to serve on the committee. One of the members of the committee will serve as the project director. The names of these three individuals are ultimately forwarded to the Graduate College via the "Admission to Candidacy" form submitted prior to the Comprehensive Exam. The committee may be composed of two NS faculty and one additional person from outside of NS as long as the individual has a graduate faculty appointment and has a special interest in the student’s project. More typically, all three members of the committee are NS faculty. The topic will be approved by the faculty mentor (Major Professor) and the Committee.
- The Master’s Project shall include writing a paper, typically a literature review of the topic of interest.The review is expected to be focused on a topic and one option is that it be prepared for submission as a manuscript to a peer-reviewed journal.The specific guidelines for the manuscript will depend on the journal selected.This manuscript will be submitted electronically to the Major Professor in a Word document.It will be up to the Major Professor to submit the manuscript for publication, although it is encouraged that the student assists in this process of submission as a learning experience.It is up to the advisory committee if the paper should be prepared in journal manuscript form or a more traditional paper format.It is expected that the literature review will be at least 20 double-spaced pages in length and to include at least 50 references from the scientific literature.
- The Master’s Project shall include a component that allows the student to demonstrate an application of the knowledge. The exact nature of this component of the project can vary and the student’s faculty advisory committee must approve the project. Examples of possible projects include case studies (either real or simulated), development of nutrition education materials, application of technology, dietary assessment, developing clinical guidelines for a facility, among other projects. The grade for the Master’s Project is based on the quality of the literature review and associated project, and is determined by the Major Professor. If a student earns an Unsatisfactory grade in the course, they will be allowed to repeat the course one time. If they earn an Unsatisfactory grade in the course on their second attempt, they will be dismissed from the program.
- Upon satisfactory completion of the Master’s Project, the Comprehensive Exam shall include an oral presentation that is professionally presented to the Examination Committee and is open to the public. The Committee shall have been given a copy of the literature review and associated project from the Master’s Project in advance of the presentation. In the presentation the student will summarize the literature review and their project and entertain questions from the general audience. Following the presentation, the student will meet in closed session with the Committee for an oral defense of their presentation. Collectively, the oral presentation and defense of the presentation represent the Comprehensive Exam.
- Each member of the committee will score the Comprehensive Exam as either satisfactory (S) or unsatisfactory (U).If the Comprehensive Examination is failed, a report must be submitted to the Graduate College indicating whether the student may repeat the examination. This report must also outline the student's deficiencies. A student who fails a second time will no longer be eligible for a master's degree in the academic program in which the examination was failed.
