EWU graduate students must complete a comprehensive examination.
Each department or interdepartmental program is expected to organize comprehensive examination experiences that best reflect the discipline. Each department or interdepartmental program must have written policies and procedures describing the comprehensive examination requirements, approved in advance by the Graduate Affairs Council and the Director of Graduate Studies and published in the catalog. Approved plans may become effective in the term after approval, pending catalog publication.
Further details are described within the Policy 303-22 Graduate Students. Below is the process as it synchronizes with the Office of Graduate Studies.
Although the program director may not be involved in the examination, students and graduate committee members will need your assistance during this process. Each program will have their own form of examination. The following are the different types of exams and their processes.
The Oral Exam:
Within the first few weeks of a student’s final term, they will have a third committee member assigned to their orals committee by the Graduate Studies Office. If a student has not received a third member, please contact the Post-Admissions Coordinator. It is also very likely that you will be asked to be a Graduate Chair/Advisor or a Second Committee Member. If you are not familiar with final examinations, please review our process.
Please ensure that the Graduate Studies Office receives completed TRA (Terminal Research Approval) form from the student at least two weeks prior to the examination.
Written Exams/Experiences:
If your program uses written examinations or experiences, you will need to notify the Graduate Studies Office when your students have completed these. This can be in the form of a spreadsheet with student scores or individual comprehensive examination forms. Please send results to the Post-Admission Coordinator.
Thesis Manuscripts:
Different departments may require different styles of theses, however, the University has formatting requirements for theses that all students must follow. Please review the Master’s Thesis Guidelines for a detailed explanation of these requirements.
The Graduate Studies Office realizes that this document is rather extensive. As a program director, we ask that you pay particular attention to the page numbering to ensure accuracy and that the student’s title page replicates the sample title page found in the thesis guidelines. Artistic license is not allowed, and it is your responsibility as program director to ensure that the thesis complies with all manuscript formatting guidelines. The Graduate Studies Office cannot accept theses that do not comply with EWU standards.
Other information, such as templates, samples, guidelines, and more, may be found on the Graduate Studies Office website under Thesis Overview.
Thesis Printing:
The Graduate Studies Office and JFK Library no longer require that students submit final hard copies for binding, and paper copies will not be stored at the JFK Library.
Requiring students to provide a bound copy of their thesis to the department is a departmental decision. It is a good practice to evaluate on an annual basis whether your department will continue requiring students to print their theses or if digital copies will suffice. For more information on printing, please read our webpage on Printing & Binding Your Thesis.
