MPA Comprehensive Examination Application and Information Sheet

(This document is for the Foundations Examination and the Capstone Examination)

1. The Exam Date for the Foundations and the Capstone Examinations is Friday, May 14 1999.
2. The Capstone Examination begins at 9:00 AM and ends at 1:00 PM. (Instructions 9:00-9:15; Fiscal Policy/Accounting and Auditing 9:15-10:15; Research Methods 10:30-11-30; Policy Analysis 11:45 to 12:45. Each part is ONE HOUR.) Capstone Exam Room is 3306, North Hall.

3. The Foundations Examination begins at 1:00 PM and ends at 5:00 PM. (Instructions 1:00-1:15; Foundations of Public Administration 1:15-2:15; Organization Theory 2:30-3:30; Human Resources Management 3:45 to 4:45. Each part is ONE HOUR.) Foundations Exam Room is 3317, North Hall.

4. Exam times are fixed. ONLY retake students may sit for parts of an exam and must do so at the scheduled hour. All other students must take all three parts of the exam(s) they sign up for. Students arriving late for any exam part have only the time remaining in the hour to complete that part. No make-up exams are given. The next administration of these exams is December 1999.

5. Results of the CAPSTONE EXAMINATION will be posted in the Public Management Department on Wednesday, May 26, 1999 at 4:00 PM, and placed on voice mail at 212-237-8086. Detailed results and counseling will be available during the Fall semester.

6. Results of the FOUNDATIONS EXAMINATION will be posted in the Public Management Department on Wednesday, May 26, 1999 at 4:00 PM. Detailed results and counseling relative to those results will be available during Fall semester.
4. DO NOT sign up for the Capstone Examination unless you will have at least thirty credits completed, with grades given, by the end of the current semester. Students who have not taken 30 credits by semester’s end, or whose unresolved "incompletes" on March 26, 1999 preclude achieving 30 graded credits by the end of the term, may not take the Capstone Examination.

8. Students MUST take the Foundations Examination upon completing PAD 700, 702 and 705. These courses must be completed within the first 15 credits of the MPA Program. Students failing to take the Foundations Exam in a timely fashion are subject to programming restrictions and may be barred from registering until they take the Foundations Exam. Regardless of how many credits the student has, the Capstone Exam may not be taken prior to the Foundations Examination. The exams are strictly closed-book, without notes--violators of this rule are subject to MPA Program dismissal.
9. Students taking the Capstone Examination must be registered (either for courses or for maintenance of matriculation) in John Jay College for the Spring 1999 semester.
10. Attached to this page is a form that MUST be submitted by May 10, 1999 in order for students to be admitted to the Comprehensive Examinations. No student will be admitted to the examination room who has not filled out and submitted the form in a timely manner. Any "maintenance of matriculation" student taking the Capstone Examination must attach a copy of the bursar's receipt or other official documentation. Only students registered or officially maintaining matriculation in the school for Spring 1999 will be admitted to the Capstone Examination.
11. The sign-up form is on the next page. Please complete and submit the form. Retain this page.

Please fill out this form fully. We are gathering information designed to help us evaluate the exam and a number of related aspects. Your cooperation in filling out this form will help us make the MPA program work better for you. Thanks.

Your Name __________________________ Your Daytime (9:00 - 6:00) Telephone ______________

1. Semester in which you took PAD 700 ______ Instructor ______________ Grade _____
2. Semester in which you took PAD 702 ______ Instructor ______________ Grade _____
3. Semester in which you took PAD 705 ______ Instructor ______________ Grade _____

D. Graduate credits completed through the end of last semester (do not count incompletes) _________

E. Graduate credits you are taking this semester _________

F. Credits and (number of courses) for which you have incomplete grades _________ (____)

G. Incomplete credits which you expect to resolve by 3/26/99 ________

If D+E+F+G = 30 or more, & your incompletes are resolved as stated, you may take the Capstone Exam.

Now, check the appropriate boxes to sign up for the Spring 1999 Exams. (Read starred--*-- note first.)

*Students should not be checking the first "Foundations Exam" box and a Capstone Exam box. Students seeking to take the Foundations and Capstone exams together, each for the first time, must see Professor O’Hara before submitting this form. No student may take both parts of the Comprehensive Examination together for the first time without a written waiver from Professor O'Hara.

The two parts of the comprehensive examination are meant to be taken separately. Any student applying to take both examinations for the first time has failed to take the Foundations Examination when required. Professor O'Hara will entertain waiver requests only from students who provide an acceptable explanation for not taking the Foundations Examination in a timely manner. Unacceptable explanations include "but I must in order to graduate now," "scheduling delayed me from taking the Foundations exam," etc. Students who put off the Foundations Examination until they were eligible for the Capstone Examination should plan to take the Foundations Exam this semester and the Capstone Exam next semester, since waivers will only be granted for extraordinary circumstances beyond a student's control.

You can hand-deliver this form to: Professor Mabel Gomes, Room 3526, Department of Public Management, OR

Mail this form to: Professor Mabel Gomes, Room 3526, Department of Public Management,

John Jay College of Criminal Justice, 445 W. 59 St., NY, NY 10019, OR

Fax this form to: Professor Mabel Gomes, Department of Public Management, 212-237-8919