The Advising Process
The Ph.D. advising process assists you in creating a schedule of courses, in preparing for your Candidacy Examinations, and in completing the Dissertation. See the forms for Flowchart of Advising Process, Plan of Study, Degree Checklist, and Progress Timetable. You should keep your Plan of Study form up-to-date and refer to the Degree Checklist and Progress Timetable frequently to be sure you are on track.
Soon after admission to the program, the Director of Graduate Studies will assign you a faculty mentor who will work with you to establish your plan of study until you select an initial Dissertation Committee chair. To enable the Director of Graduate Studies to know which students are assigned to which faculty, the Director will send you a Mentor Assignment form. You are expected to work with the mentor assigned you on matters such as advising for course enrollments, professional activities, and forming your dissertation committee. You may request a change of mentor with the consent of the new mentor. You and your new mentor should contact the Director of Graduate Studies to record changes on your mentor assignment form.
If your mentor determines that you are not making satisfactory progress (e.g., continued pattern of incompletes, grades of C or F, or failure to complete required courses in a timely fashion), you and your mentor will meet with the Director of Graduate Studies to determine a plan of action.
By no later than the end of the third full-time semester of study (i.e., by the time you have completed 27 s. h. of the 42 s. h. of coursework), you should form an initial Dissertation Committee by entering into an agreement with a graduate faculty member in one of the three major emphases of the program (Discourses and Cultures, Writing Studies and Pedagogy, or Technical and Professional Communication) who will most likely chair your Dissertation Committee. The basis of the agreement will be mutual intellectual interests and the faculty member's willingness to guide you through your proposed dissertation research. You should not ask two faculty members to co-chair your Dissertation Committee unless you have a very compelling reason. See Dissertation Committee form.
You and your prospective Dissertation Committee chair will select the other members of your Dissertation Committee. Choose two members for your Dissertation Committee from Graduate Faculty in English; those two committee members can be from the three major emphases and/or other areas in the English Department as is appropriate for your intended dissertation topic. At this time, you do not need to add a committee member from an Affiliate department because that Affiliate member does not write questions for or assess your Candidacy Exams. Submit your Dissertation Committee form to the Director of Graduate Studies for approval.
Ideally, you will discover your dissertation topic (at least in a general sense) by the time you form your Dissertation Committee so those faculty will remain on your committee throughout the time you earn your degree; however, it is more likely that your choice of committee members, even possibly your chair, will be modified throughout the process. As you complete your courses, your dissertation topic may change or be fine-tuned and/or new faculty in your research area may join the English Department, resulting in your changing your committee chair and/or members. You may elect to change members of your committee as you progress through your Candidacy Examinations and your dissertation research. Such changes are subject to review and approval by the Director of Graduate Studies.
It is expected that you and your Dissertation Committee will meet when it is formed to discuss your progress through your coursework and possibly your plans for your Candidacy Exams. If your committee finds that you are not making satisfactory progress, you and your committee chair will meet with the Director of Graduate Studies to determine a plan of action. At any time during your studies, your committee may require additional courses, readings, or other activities necessary to prepare you for the demands of original scholarship. To ensure that you will have completed all necessary coursework prior to your examinations, you should review your record of courses taken with your committee before registering for your final six credit hours of courses.
In addition to ensuring your successful progress through your coursework, your Dissertation Committee will assist you with two other major tasks:
1. Conducting your Candidacy Examinations
2. Reviewing and approving your Dissertation Prospectus and the completed Dissertation.
For all three Candidacy Exams, your committee will write the examination prompts/questions and evaluate your responses. Should you select a committee that does not represent all of the major emphases in the degree, your chair will ask faculty from the appropriate area(s) to participate in both the writing and evaluation of questions for the connective exam. Likewise, should your committee not include faculty in the area you select to pursue for your special topic exam, your chair will ask faculty with expertise in that area to be a part of the examination process.
Managing the Work Load
First, managing course and work schedules, along with other professional activities, can often be difficult for both full-time and part-time doctoral students.
Full-time Students. In order to attain full-time status as a graduate student for most forms of financial aid, you must enroll in 9 s. h. during fall and spring semesters. If you have an assistantship, you will also be expected to commit at least 20 hours per week to your assistantship duties. Moreover, teaching one class, particularly the first time you teach it, often requires you to spend more than the allotted assistantship time of 10 hours per week for tasks related to teaching that class. Being a full-time student and working more than the 20 to 25 hours required with English Department financial support (or that received from other sources) is not recommended.
Part-time Students. While you are not required to enroll in a specified number of credit hours during fall and spring semesters, you must balance your course work with your work responsibilities, if you are employed. You also need to fulfill progress milestones in order for you to complete doctoral degree requirements according the amount of time allowed.
Both Full-time and Part-time Students. In addition, to prepare yourself to be competitive for the job market, you should complete professional development activities, such as presenting at conference and writing articles for publication, appropriate for your intended career. You can obtain additional information about professional activities from faculty mentors/advisors and on the doctoral portion of the English Department website.
Tips for Managing the Work Load. The department provides several options to help you manage the heavy demands of the program. For example, dissertation hours may be taken at any time during your course of study. (Such options should be used with care. Federal financial aid requires that 80% of coursework be completed each year and dissertation hours are currently not counted as completed until the dissertation itself is completed.)
To allow some scheduling flexibility, you might consider enrolling in courses such as ENGL 8100 Directed Reading (can be taken up to two times during the program) and/or ENGL 8200 Cooperative/ Research Assignment (can be taken up to two times during the program) IF the courses serve an academic purpose as part of your plan of study. For both courses, you must have the proposed course content approved by the Director of Graduate Studies. Use Forms for ENGL 8100 and ENGL 8200 to plan course content and for approval by the Graduate Director.
Talk with your mentor or chair about managing your work load, including courses and other responsibilities that you have.
Policy on Incompletes. In order for you to maintain good standing in the program, you must submit all assignments in all of your courses according to the instructions and deadlines provided by your instructor.
Incompletes should be requested only as a last resort. Typically, only medical or personal emergencies will constitute sufficient grounds for an instructor to grant you an incomplete in a course. Do not rely on incompletes as a way to manage your work schedule.
Do not assume that you will be given an incomplete if you do not submit projects at the end of the course. You must request an incomplete, and you should submit that request to your instructor as early as possible.
As part of your request for an incomplete, you must provide the following to your instructor:
1. A written document detailing your reasons for requesting the incomplete, and
2. A timeline that indicates the steps and dates by which you intend to complete the required coursework.
