The DNP 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 implantation and evaluation of the DNP Final Project.. A student is eligible to take the DNP Professional Examination upon completion of a majority of the DNP coursework and when the DNP Professional Examination committee (faculty advisor and two additional committee members) determine the student is ready to complete the examination. The student’s written DNP Final Project proposal and oral examination with the DNP Professional Examination committee are the basis of the Professional Examination.
The DNP 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 but are not limited to extent of logical progression of thought, extent of appropriate development of DNP Final Project details at a level that is requisite to successful implementation and evaluation, completeness, appropriateness of a scholarly review of the evidence-based literature, sustainability, and dissemination strategies, and extent of adherence to overall practices of scholarly writing.