ServiceNow-CSA exam contents - ServiceNow Certified System Administrator 2023 Updated: 2024

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Final exam Management

• No final exams shall be held on Fridays during Spring terms due to conflicts with Commencement.
• Consult the course syllabus for the final exam date and time or one day courses not listed above, all summer courses, courses with special session dates, and courses without room assignments.
• Final exams for one day courses, not listed above, will follow the final exam schedule unless the course syllabus states otherwise.
• Classes that start within the day(s) and start hours listed above, but before the next class start time group will hold their final exam on the relevant exam date and time.
  • For example, a class start time on MWF or MW, 7:00 a.m. through 7:59 a.m. will hold their final exam on the relevant Monday exam date, 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.; the MWF class start time from 9:00 a.m. through 9:59 a.m. will hold their final exam on the relevant Wednesday, 8:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., and so on.
• All Saturday only afternoon classes will follow the 12:00 p.m. final exam schedule.
• Classes meeting four or five days a week will follow the MWF schedule.
• Examination hours for classes involving lecture and laboratories or quiz sections are determined by the hours scheduled for the lecture.
• Final exams, including major section exams offered in lieu of a final exam, may not be scheduled during the last week of classes.
  • However, quizzes, lab exams, and other academic assignments may be scheduled for the last week of classes, provided they are specified on the course syllabus.
• No unscheduled (i.e. not included in the course syllabus) or additional requirements may be imposed on students during the last week of classes.
  • Any exceptions that necessitate giving a final prior to final exam week must be stated on the course syllabus and shall require prior approval of the dean.

Contact the Office of Space Management at (916) 278-6507 or spacemgt@csus.edu concerning final exam schedules and requests for room reservations for final exams. If a faculty conflict with a regular exam date and time occurs, the department office shall contact Space Management to schedule a room according to the conflict exam date and time listed in the Exceptions section above.

Questions have emerged over the administration of this year’s national examinations as reports reveal more candidates are accessing the questions before time.

More arrests, including of teachers, are being made as the number of mobile phones confiscated during the administration of the tests continue to rise.

The latest is the arrest and detention of 42 students of Dibuoro Secondary School in Usonga ward in Alego, Siaya County, for engaging in exam malpractices.

The students were found with four cell phones, which had the contents of Friday’s chemistry practical paper and Thursday’s Swahili paper.

Siaya County police commander, Michael Muchiri, said the phones had a WhatsApp group where each of the students were members. Upon scrutiny of the phones, contents of the Swahili paper done on Thursday were discovered.

Mr Muchiri said the school principal, one supervisor, five invigilators, a chemistry teacher and two laboratory assistants were among those summoned for questioning alongside the students.

“The matter is being handled by the County Investigation Officer. We are tracing the originators of the content. The key suspect is at large and is being sought,” said Mr Muchiri.

Cases of impersonation have also been reported even as sector players quietly question whether the Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) and the Ministry of Education have dropped their guard.

The glaring absence of senior government officials such as cabinet secretaries, chief administrative secretaries, and principal secretaries from the daily monitoring rolls has also raised eyebrows.

In previous years, more senior government officials were deeply involved in the administration of the tests, a move many said reduced early exposure of the examination questions.

Meanwhile, the Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) has placed the blame on the leadership at the Ministry.

Kuppet Secretary General Akello Misori claimed that Education Cabinet Secretary, George Magoha, is being sabotaged from within because he is not a team player.

“We strongly believe that examination reforms are being watered down because Magoha wants to do everything. He wants to design policy and implement it himself and he is being sabotaged,” said Mr Misori.

Kenya National Union of Teachers (KNUT) secretary general Collins Oyuu termed as worrying the trend where candidates are increasingly accessing examination papers before time.

“It is a bit worrying that we are seeing some level of laxity from officials and examination officers.

“The support we extended to Magoha and Fred Matiang’i when reforms were instituted have borne fruits and we cannot afford to drop guard,” said Mr Oyuu.

He wondered why more exposures are reported, especially during KCSE examinations.

“As a union we call upon all teachers to safeguard national examinations because a leaked examination is harmful to the learners and the country at large. We also want to see effort being made by all stakeholders to contain the bad habit,” he said.

Mr Oyuu spoke as secondary school heads said the merger of centres with less than 30 candidates may have given way to cheating.

At the close of the registration exercise for the 2021 examinations, KNEC had registered 608 and 91 new KCPE and KCSE examination centres respectively, with less than 30 candidates. It had also registered 27 new centres with less than 15 candidates.

Kenya Secondary School Heads Association national chairman Kahi Indimuli said some of the bad habits may have been transferred from merged centers.

“Most schools have also improved on internet access with WiFi connections and this may also contribute to the attempts to cheat,” said Mr Indimuli.

Speaking in confidence, some of the examination officials reported creeping laxity from some government officials.

“It seems like the administration of the whole examinations has been left to Magoha and a few of his team. What happened to the multi-agency approach that was witnessed after the 2016 reforms,” said a government officer familiar with administration logistics.

“Previously we saw Cabinet Secretaries of other ministries, CASs, PSs, and top officials and at one time even the head of state visited a school. Today we only see Magoha and a few PSs, where are the others?” the official posed.

The multi-agency team included staff from the Ministry of Interior, ICT, Teachers Service Commission (TSC), Kenya National Examination Council (KNEC) and the Ministry of Education.

[Additional reporting by Olivia Odhiambo]

All students participating in a Master of Science or Doctor of Philosophy degree program must complete a thesis or dissertation proposal for approval by the members of the student's steering committee. The major professor and each of the graduate steering committee members must approve the proposal using the Graduate School's proposal approval form. MS thesis proposals should generally be completed two semesters prior to defense of the thesis; PhD dissertation proposals must be completed to achieve candidacy (in concert or in parallel with the candidacy examination process). Each Department/Program may have requirements that exceed those specified broadly in this policy; however, they must be consistent with the Graduate School's requirements. Departmental requirements beyond the minimum stated here must be specified in writing and submitted to the Graduate School as well as listed in departmental web pages. It is the responsibility of the student to be aware of, and comply with, all Graduate School and Departmental dissertation proposal requirements.

The objectives of this examination are to confirm the student's breadth and depth of knowledge in their chosen field of study as well as the student's understanding of the scientific process. The doctoral candidacy examination should be administered upon completion of the majority of coursework, and successful completion of the exam signifies readiness to undertake the research and dissertation component of the doctoral program. This examination must be taken within three years from the first date of matriculation, and at least one year prior to the dissertation defense.

Upon the recommendation of the appropriate Department Chairperson, the Associate Provost for Instruction and Office of the Graduate School appoints the doctoral candidacy examination committee consisting of the student's major professor, the student's steering committee and an additional faculty member from an appropriate area. Additionally, the Associate Provost for Instruction and Office of the Graduate School appoints a committee chair who is not from the department of the student's degree program. The role of the examination committee chair is to manage the examination, ensure its integrity and represent the interests of the faculty and student.

The examination must have both written and oral components, described below.

Written Examination

The purpose of the written exam is to assess the readiness of the student to move beyond the coursework stage of the doctoral program, into the development of a substantial research project and dissertation. Traditionally, questioning should verify sufficient breadth and depth of knowledge to successfully undertake such research, and then communicate the results in a scholarly manner appropriate to the discipline.

To initiate the examination process, the examining committee shall convene at a planning meeting with the student. During the first part of the planning meeting, the committee determines the form and schedule for the process and establishes the date for the oral component (reported on form 6E). The student is then excused from the meeting and the committee develops and discusses the exam content. There are three alternative forms for the written component, as follows:

• Form 1: Each member of the committee (excluding the chair) submits one distinct question, set of questions, or problem related to the objectives of the exam. The questions are discussed and agreed upon at the planning meeting. The major professor administers the written examination. Typically, each question or set of questions must be completed within a prescribed period of time, not to exceed approximately 8 hours each, with additional time permitted for reasonable breaks, meals, etc.. No more than one question or set of questions should be administered per 24 hours. Upon completion by the student, the examination questions are reviewed and graded by the committee members who prepared them. The committee then collectively reviews the entire examination.

• Form 2: The student prepares a written report on a subject or problem assigned collectively by the examining committee as a whole. The subject or problem must meet the objectives of the examination and its content cannot be directly related to the student's dissertation research topic. The student has approximately one month to develop a thorough understanding of the assigned subject and prepare a written report. The report is reviewed by the committee members and committee chair.

• Form 3: The student prepares and defends a written proposal of future research likely to be carried out during their Ph.D. project. This research prospectus must be presented to the examining committee two weeks prior to the oral candidacy exam and should include preliminary studies supporting the feasibility of the proposed research. The exam will test the candidate's understanding of concepts directly related to his or her immediate area of research, knowledge of prior related research that has been conducted by others, their ability to design and interpret experiments in this area, and capacity to think and write independently and to present work plans orally in a clear and rational manner. The report is reviewed by the committee members and committee chair. Form 3 is available only to doctoral students in the Department of Chemistry and Environmental Resources Engineering.

At least 3 business days prior to the oral exam, the major professor shall confirm with the chair of the examining committee that the oral examination should proceed as scheduled. The written exam is thus considered to be "provisionally successful." If the written examination component does not meet the standards established for the candidacy exam, the committee has two options.

1. If the deficiencies are relatively minor, or in the case of Form 1, limited to a minority of the written questions, the oral exam may be postponed by the Office of the Graduate School at the recommendation of the chair of the exam committee. The student may then be provided with an additional time period, the length of which should be determined by the full examination committee in consultation with the chair, to address deficiencies identified in the written examination. This time period should be no less than 8 hours (typically for Form 1), and may extend up to 5 business days for Forms 2 and 3. This action is treated as a suspension and extension of the written exam "in progress," and, if ultimately successful, does not constitute a failure of the entire exam, nor count toward the limited number of attempts prescribed by Graduate School policy below.

2. If the deficiencies are severe, the major professor, in consultation with the examination committee may decide to fail the candidate without performing the oral component. This latter action does constitute a failure of the candidacy exam in its entirety, and does count toward the limited number of attempts prescribed by Graduate School policy below.

Oral Examination

The purpose of the oral examination is to further confirm the fitness of the student to apply the skills and knowledge acquired to date toward a successful and significant research project. The oral examination provides the opportunity for the student to demonstrate their ability to think synthetically and critically in a manner conveying their readiness to commence the dissertation project.

The oral component of the candidacy examination is typically scheduled for a period of approximately two hours, and is broken in to two distinct rounds of questioning. The first round, lasting approximately 60 minutes, consists of questions from each of the members of the examination committee, including the chair should they choose to contribute questions. Time should be shared equitably among the questioners, with interjections or interruptions by other questioners prohibited during the first round. The second round of questions may be more flexibly structured, with broader discussion and interchange among questioners is encouraged.

Any member of the faculty may be a silent observer for the oral component. The candidate may also invite a silent student observer to attend the oral examination. At the completion of the oral examination, the candidate and observers are excused from the room and the examination committee determines whether the student has successfully completed the oral component of the exam and achieved the status of "doctoral candidate." The committee chair has the option to vote. Unanimous agreement is required to pass the student on the first attempt. If less than unanimous agreement is reached, the student is considered to have failed the first candidacy examination. A student who fails the first candidacy exam may request a second exam, which must take place no more than one year from the date of the first examination. The second candidacy examination may, or may not include a new written component, at the discretion of the student's major professor and examination committee, in consultation with the examination chair. At the second exam, the student has passed if there is not more than one negative vote. A student who is determined to have failed the second candidacy examination is terminated from the doctoral program.

Scheduling the Candidacy Exam

To schedule a doctoral candidacy examination, the student should complete the following steps:

1. In consultation with your major professor, complete Form 6B for your Department Chairperson to review, sign, and forward to the Office of Instruction and Graduate Studies. Form 6B should be submitted according to the academic year deadlines for defense exams.

2. The Associate Provost for Instruction and Office of the Graduate School will assign a faculty member outside of your degree program to serve as chair of your examination committee. When you receive a copy of Form 6C which officially appoints your examination committee, you must consult with all members of your committee (major professor, steering committee, additional examiner, and defense chair) to arrange a mutually convenient date, time, and location for a planning meeting.

3. You must inform the Office of Instruction and Graduate Studies of the agreed upon date, time, and location for your planning meeting at least two weeks in advance of the date. This Office will confirm in Form 6D these arrangements with all concerned individuals.

4. At the planning meeting, your exam chair and the committee complete Form 6E, the committee chair will sign it and return it to the Office of Instruction and Graduate Studies, which will distribute copies to you and the committee.

5. If you are using Form 1 of the examination, you and your major professor should arrange for a time and location to administer the questions.

6. The last step is to meet with your committee and complete the oral examination at the designated date. At the end of the oral examination, your committee will ask you and any observers to leave the room while it determines if you have satisfactorily completed the doctoral candidacy examination. You will be invited back to receive the decision of the committee which will also be reported on Form 6F and returned by the exam chair to the Office of Instruction and Graduate Studies.

In our ERE Department we prepare students to obtain professional engineering licensure and enter professional practice. Our curriculum provides the core engineering and applied science courses needed to obtain licensure, including a course on the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam, the first of two exams needed for licensure. This website provides guidance on how to register for the FE exam, which became computer based in 2014. Other resources are available to help students study to pass the FE exam, including the NCEES approved FE Supplied Reference Handbook.

To sit for the computer based FE exam, you must register and pay for the FE exam directly with NCEES. Computer based testing for the FE exam and the specifications for FE exam content are posted by NCEES online.

NYS professional engineering licensure details are provided by the New York State Education Department (NYSED).

An overview of the process:

• Exam Eligibility. Students who are within twenty (20) semester hours of graduation, or have graduated, automatically qualify for direct admission to the NCEES FE examination (FE). This is in accordance with NYS law, as ERE students are in a baccalaureate program registered by the Engineering Accreditation Commission (EAC) of the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) and the New York State Education Department (NYSED)
• Exam Registration. Students register, schedule and pay for their FE exam directly with NCEES. This may be accomplished through the NCEES website at www.ncees.org The NCEES registration for the computer based FE exam is open year round, starting November 4, 2013. Registration includes a fee to NCEES.
• NYS Licensure Registration. Students submit a notarized Form 1, with the $70 fee, to NYSED in Albany, NY. Students submit Form 2, with Section I completed, to ERE's secretary Teri Frese, 402 Baker Labs. We append Form 2 information to single institutional Form 20 F, and this form is certified and sent to NYSED when the students have graduated. Students interested in licensure in states other than NY need to contact those states for guidance on required forms.
• Exam Dates. The computer based FE exam is offered in four testing windows throughout the year. The four windows will be two months in duration with one month off between each window, starting January 2014.
• Exam Locations. The computer based FE exam administration locations are at NCEES approved Pearson VUE Testing Centers. For more detailed information on the new computer based FE exam, including exam length, specifications, reference material, approved calculators, and location of test centers, please visit the NCEES website.
• Exam Completion. Students and NYSED will receive notification of their FE exam result directly through the NCEES website.
• Intern Engineer Certificates. ERE students who pass the FE exam and graduate from our EAC/ABET licensure qualifying program, Environmental Resources Engineering, are eligible to apply to NYSED for the release of their Intern Engineer Certificate.

Notes: If you have passed the FE exam but not graduated, NYSED may send you correspondence indicating your application is incomplete. In such cases, when the certified Form 20 F is sent to NYSED by ESF the application is complete. Form 20 F is submitted as a single, certified, institutional document to NYSED to streamline the education verification process. Form 20 F is the Certification of Completion of a Professionally Registered (Licensure Qualifying) Program in Engineering. Students who do not coordinate to be included in Form 20 F can, upon graduation, work with the ESF Registrar to certify and submit a student-specific Form 2 to NYSED.