Admission

Application for admission to both the Graduate School and the doctoral program in English is made by securing and completing the proper forms from the Graduate School. Application must be made for the doctoral program in English even if the student is already enrolled in the Graduate School.

Direct admission to the doctoral program is possible under two conditions:

1. For students with the B.A. degree, the following requirements must be met or exceeded:

• GRE: 700 verbal, 500 quantitative, 650 logic
• Undergraduate GPA: 3.0 overall, 3.5 English (4.0 system).

After successfully completing 15 semester hours, the student either becomes an official doctoral candidate or converts to the M.A. program, depending upon the recommendation of the graduate faculty.

An individual on probation after 9 hours automatically converts to the M.A. program.

2. Students presently enrolled in the M.A. program, or who shall in the future enroll in the M.A. program, may convert to the Ph. D. program after successfully completing 15 hours with a GPA of 3.5.

In all cases involving 1 or 2 above, the student shall petition the graduate faculty for permission to enter the Ph. D. program. The Director of Graduate Studies will then assign a committee of three English Department graduate faculty members--if possible, former instructors of the individual--to study the student's petition and performance and to make a recommendation to the graduate faculty.

In all other cases, admission is contingent upon meeting the following requirements:

1. a master's degree from an accredited university;

2. the necessary English course requirements (see Graduate Catalog);

3. an undergraduate grade point average (GPA) of at least 3.5 in English and 3.0 overall;

4. a Graduate Record Examination aptitude score of at least 1000 (verbal plus quantitative), the verbal score of which must be at least 600;

5. three acceptable letters of recommendation.

6. a writing sampleof 15-20 pages.

7. approval of the Graduate School.

For those individuals for whom one or more admission requirements (i.e., GRE scores, transcripts, letters of recommendation, etc.) may be lacking, the Graduate School will approve permission to register as a "Graduate Special" student, provided the following conditions are met:

1. the Graduate School has received a completed application and payment of the $25.00 application fee, (no processing is initiated without the application fee);

2. the Director of Graduate Studies of the program to which the graduate student is applying has approved up to but no more than nine (9) hours of graduate coursework toward the program of study associated with the desired degree;

3. if conditions 1 and 2 are met, the Graduate School will complete and submit the Director Slip for "graduate special" students to the Registrar's Office;

4. if admission requirements are not satisfied by the end of the semester in which the student is registered for the ninth graduate credit, the student will be rejected for admission by the Graduate School and no further graduate-level registration will be permitted.

 

Supervisory Committee

A Supervisory Committee will be assigned to the student when the student has determined his/her area of emphasis and the director of the dissertation. This committee is composed of three members: the student's director (a full Graduate Faculty member) from the major area of study, (who will serve as chair of the Supervisory Committee), the Chairperson of the Department of English or the Director of Graduate Studies, and a professor from the student's minor area. The professor representing the minor area is drawn either from inside or from outside the English department, depending on the student's choice of a minor. If the professor is in the department, he/she may be either a full Graduate Faculty member or an Associate Graduate Faculty member. If the professor is from outside the department, he/she must be a full Graduate Faculty member. The student should consult the chairperson of the Supervisory Committee in all of the doctoral work up to and including the arrangement of the preliminary examination. If the student is not sure of the precise area of specialization, then the interim chair of the Supervisory Committee will be the Director of Graduate Studies in the Department of English. The student now should see that the members of the Supervisory Committee are listed and placed on file in the Department of English Office. The Supervisory Committee or its Chair will aid the student in such matters as the selection of courses, the selection of a minor (if one is desired and if it is outside the Department of English), and the selection of languages.

Total Number of Hours

Completion of 42 semester hours of graduate credit beyond the M.A. degree constitutes the minimum requirement. Ten graduate classes are required beyond the M.A. degree. Because emphasis lies upon the adequate preparation of the student, additional work may be required at the discretion of the Supervisory Committee or the Director of Graduate Studies. Twelve hours of the 42 total must be allocated for the dissertation. No correspondence work may be counted for graduate credit.

Transfer of no more than 6 semester hours from an accredited institution may be allowed (see Graduate Catalog for conditions).

Residence requirements (see Graduate Catalog).

Specific Course Requirements

The following courses must be taken either during the undergraduate or graduate periods of study:

• One course in Old English language;
• One course concerned with introduction to graduate study, such as the bibliography and research methods course or an equivalent course at another university;
• One upper-level course in linguistics or literary theory or rhetoric and composition.

At least one course is required from each of the following categories:

• English 1 (Old English, Middle English, Renaissance, Seventeenth Century, Restoration and Eighteenth Century)
• English 2 (Romantic, Victorian, Modern British, Contemporary British)
• American 1 (Colonial American Literature to 1800, Nineteenth Century American)
• American 2 (Modern American, Contemporary American)

Normally, the student will concentrate her/his seminars in the one of the categories of English and American literature that she/he has chosen as a concentration (as outlined above). A seminar may be repeated if the content is on a different topic.

Minor

Although a minor is not required, one is possible. Both the major and minor may be and usually are taken within the department in the areas of either English or American literature. Minor courses and any other courses outside of the department may be taken up to 12 hours of graduate credit; these courses must be directly relevant to the student's area of study and must be approved by both the chairperson of the Department of English or the Director of Graduate Studies and the chairperson(s) of the department(s) in which the outside courses are to be taken.

Languages

A reading knowledge of two languages in addition to English is required. At least one of these languages should be relevant to the student's dissertation or major area of emphasis. Completion of language requirements must be met before the preliminary examination is authorized. A language requirement may be satisfied by any of the five methods designated in the Gradaute Catalog.