The DNE Professional Examination is a single examination consisting of two portions, written and oral, administered under the auspices of the Graduate Studies Committee in conjunction with the student’s Professional Examination committee and the Graduate School. The Professional Examination is the qualifying examination used to evaluate the student’s readiness for progression to the DNE clinical immersion coursework and DNE Final Project coursework. A student is eligible to take the DNE Professional Examination upon completion of a majority of the DNE coursework and when the DNE Professional Examination committee (faculty advisor and two additional faculty committee members) determine the student is ready to complete the examination. The student’s written DNE Final Project proposal and oral examination with the DNE Professional Examination committee are the basis of the Professional Examination.
The DNE Professional Examination is summative and designed to evaluate the student’s:
- comprehension of the approved program of study;
- capacity to undertake the scholarly Final Project;
- ability to think and express ideas clearly.
Components of student evaluation include extent of logical progression of thought, extent of appropriate development of DNE Final Project details at a level that is requisite to successful implementation, completeness and appropriateness of a scholarly review of the evidence-based literature, dissemination strategies, and extent of adherence to overall practices of scholarly writing.