EXAMINATION REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DOCTORAL DEGREE Preliminary Examination The preliminary examination must be taken within one year of the completion of all course work, although it may be taken while the last semester of course work is in progress. The actual time for the preliminary examination will be determined by the student in consultation with the director of the Supervisory Committee. The preliminary examination must be completed at least one academic year prior to the conferring of the degree and six months prior to the final examination in defense of the dissertation. The student's Supervisory Committee is responsible for administering and interpreting the results of the preliminary examination. The director of the dissertation, who will serve as chairperson of the committee, has the specific responsibility for arranging and administering the written examination. The preliminary examination will be constituted of three, 3-hour parts, and will cover three areas chosen by the student with the advice and consent of his/her director. The areas are the following: A. One area from those listed under "Specific Course Requirements," as the student's major area (e.g., Old English, Middle English, Renaissance, Seventeenth Century, Restoration and Eighteenth Century, Romantic, Victorian, Modern British, Contemporary British, Colonial American Literature to 1800, Nineteenth Century American, Modern American, Contemporary American); B. The historical area consisting of the following: 1. One historical area contiguous with the major area (90 minutes); 2. Another historical area (90 minutes); C. One open area: e.g., an interdisciplinary topic, a genre, a major author, critical theory, a special topic, rhetoric, or linguistics. The student and the director will select approximately fifteen major works of significant length over whihc the student will be examined in the major area. For the other two areas, the candidate will select twelve to fifteen works for each (24-30 total), again with the approval of his/her examiner. The examiner will have the final say in approving the list of works for his/her particular area. The examination will be taken over a period of eight working days (two consecutive work weeks). The exam is nine hours, three hours for each part. The order of procedure for the preliminary examination is as follows: A. The student should consult with the director to arrange times for the written examination. B. The director, after consulting with the Director of Graduate Studies, should notify in writing the appropriate professors, asking them to submit a question(s) that requires an answer(s) of about three hours' length. Copies of the request letter should be sent to the Chairperson of the Department of English as well as to the Director of Graduate Studies. The Supervisory Committee is responsible, in an advisory capacity, for reviewing the appropriateness of the entire examination. C. The director is responsible for administering the exams. The student is not to see any questions until the time of administration for each area, nor is he/she to receive any advance information regarding the questions. D. The director should return the examination answers to the appropriate professors for grading. Each in turn should assign a grade of either "Pass" or "Fail" and return the examination to the director. E. The director, in consultation with the other members of the Supervisory Committee, should then evaluate the final results of the written examinations. After a final decision has been reached, the report should be addressed to the Director of Graduate Studies with copies sent to the departmental Chair and Graduate Dean. Examinations should be returned to the Director of Graduate Studies for permanent filing. F. If the student fails any area of his/her written examination, he/she must make up that deficiency no sooner than four months after his/her first attempt. The privilege of taking a second examination will be given at the discretion of the Supervisory Committee. This committee may decide (a) that the initial failure is terminal, (b) that the student must take the entire written examination again, or (c) that the student must repeat only those area examinations failed at the first attempt. Under no condition, however, will the student be allowed to take any area examination more than two times. The director is responsible for arranging any makeup parts of the examination. Prospectus Review Within six months after successful completion of the preliminary examination, the Supervisory Committee is replaced by the candidate's dissertation committee. This committee includes the director of the dissertation (a full Graduate Faculty member), a second member of the department usually from the area of specialization (either a full or Associate Graduate Faculty member), and an appropriate graduate faculty member from outside the department (a full Graduate Faculty member). The student now should see that the members of the Dissertation Committee are listed and placed on file in the Department of English Office. With the counsel of her/his dissertation committee, the candidate will prepare a formal prospectus (10-15 pages plus an accompanying bibliography). This prospectus, and the literary, methodological, generic, or other critical questions surrounding the candidate's topic, will provide the subject for a formal prospectus review. Attending the review will be the student, his/her dissertation committee, and up to three others (either full or Assocaite Graduate Faculty members) from within and without the department, invited by the candidate with the approval of the director of the dissertation committee. These meetings will normally last about an hour (see Appendix A). The student will pass or fail the prospectus review by a majority vote of the graduate faculty present. In order to qualify for candidacy, the student must pass both the written examination and his/her prospectus review. Admission to Candidacy Upon completion of residence requirements, language requirements, the preliminary examination, and the prospectus review, the student should make application for admission to candidacy for the doctoral degree. A form for making this application is secured from the Graduate School, and approval of this application is necessary before the student is recognized as a candidate for a doctoral degree. Application must be made no later than five months prior to the date on which the degree is to be conferred. Admission to candidacy presupposes a minimum of 3.0 (B) average for formal coursework initiated in the Graduate School. Teaching Opportunity Prior to the conferral of the degree, the candidate generally will have had teaching experience in both composition and literature. This teaching may be done either at Baylor or at another college or university. Professional Experience The Graduate Faculty expects all graduate students pursuing the Doctor of Philosophy degree to take part in the entire spectrum of professional activities: teaching, service to the department and/or to the University, attending conferences, presenting papers at conferences, and submitting essays for publication. Dissertation The student will present an acceptable dissertation in the field of the major study area. The dissertation must give evidence that the student has pursued a program of research, the results of which reveal both superior stylistic and research competence, and offer a significant contribution to knowledge. Work on the dissertation should begin in the preliminary state as early in the academic career as possible, but formally it should begin when the student has completed the preliminary examination. At this time the Dissertation Committee will work closely with the student in approving the topic and directing the research to its conclusion. A prospectus must be approved by the Dissertation Committee, with copies sent to the Director of Graduate Studies and the Chair of the department. For the formal requirements regarding the dissertation, including the deadlines for the submission of the manuscript, the technical requirements of the manuscript (see the most recent edition of the MLA Handbook; Macintosh Palatino 12 point font or IBM Palisade 12 point font is required), the abstract, binding and microfilming costs, and research course requirements, see the Graduate School Guidelines available in the English Office. Students are reminded that the MLA Handbook was not designed to guide the construction of a dissertation; therefore the Graduate School specifications regarding preliminary pages, chapter format, and other dissertation-specific characteristics must be used in conjunction with the MLA guidelines. Final Examination A final oral examination in defense of the dissertation is required. The candidate, with the approval of the Dissertation Committee is responsible for arranging the final examination, coordinating its time with the Graduate School, and bringing all required materials to the examination. The "Oral Examination Form" and "Record of Oral Examination" form may be secured in the English Office. At this defense there must be a minimum of five examiners: the Dissertation Committee and two full or Associate Graduate Faculty members from inside the department. A sixth full or Associate Graduate Faculty member from inside the department is permitted, but not required. Application for Degree The student files for graduation at the beginning of the semester in which the student anticipates degree completion. Filing is completed at the Graduate School, Office of the Associate Dean. The student must have a minimum overall grade point average of 3.0 to be eligible to file. Time Limitation The maximum time limit allowed is eight years from the date that the student is admitted and begins the doctoral program. The student may petition for an extension of time provided there are extraordinary circumstances. The maximum time permissible may not exceed nine years. Writing Expectations Of particular concern to the English faculty is the writing of its graduate students. Toward that end every graduate class will not only require writing, but will expect a high level of performance from its students. Appendix A Graduate Faculty Guidelines: Ph.D. Prospectus and Oral Presentation The departmental guidelines for Ph.D. candidates provide the following general statement about the dissertation prospectus: Within six months after successful completion of the preliminary examination, and with the counsel of her/his Dissertation Committee, the candidate will prepare a formal prospectus (10-15 pages plus an accompanying bibliography.) This prospectus, and the literary, methodological, generic, or other critical questions surrounding the candidate's topic, will provide the subject for a formal prospectus review. Graduate faculty offer the following guidelines to help Ph.D. candidates prepare a prospectus. The successful prospectus will include many, if not all, of the following: *a cover page, including your name, projected dissertation title, and date; *a formal table of contents; *a cogent opening statement indicating what your thesis is and why it is significant (i.e., whether it will expand on or revise existing scholarship); *a brief overview of the research you have conducted in relation to your thesis;*an analysis of the specific issues you seek to address; *an explanation of your methodology (i.e., both the theoretical works you will use and how they affect your critical orientation); *provisional conclusions; *a bibliography. You may divide your prospectus into sections or construct a holistic prospectus--that is, one that appears as a continuous essay without any sections. (See the Graduate assistant for examples of previously approved prospectuses.) You may wish to consider the advice offered by Robert L. Peters in Getting What You Came For (New York: Farrar, 1992) and by David Madsen in Successful Dissertations and Theses (San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1983). These two reference works expertly expand upon the guidelines presented here. A standard prospectus review consists of a fifteen-minute presentation concisely articulating the thesis. Then, the Dissertation Committee and up to three full or Associate Graduate Faculty members from within and without the department will, in the remaining 45 minutes, question the Ph.D. candidate on her/his dissertation prospectus. See also General Requirements.