Graduate Program Advising
Department of English
Texas Christian University
English Advising Document
Version 2.2
Advising Sessions & this Document:
Like Cliff's Notes, this document is no substitute for patient, intelligent advising. You'll find that your official advisor, the DGS, will be happy to discuss program policies, course selection, and career paths, as well as provide advice about professional paths and passions, such as writing for publication or searching for academic employment. Each semester you are required to attend a formal advising session. Your first such session will last an hour, but subsequent sessions need be only ten or fifteen minutes long.
After two or three semesters in the program, you'll discover that certain faculty will be the central sources for your intellectual and professional guidance; generally, these are the faculty who will supervise your qualifying examinations and thesis/dissertation. However, the DGS will continue to serve as your advisor for program and degree requirements and is always available for consultation.
People to Know:
Chair of the Department: Professor Daniel Williams
DGS: Professor Bonnie Blackwell
Director of Composition: Professor Carrie Leverenz
Administrative Assistants: Claudia Knott and Nancy White
Of these five people, unquestionably the most important are Ms. Knott and
Ms. White. You'll find both are marvelous resources of information, and
can solve many problems you'll initially think insurmountable.
Grad student representative: Mr. Brian Fehler
Registration:
Before you register, you will need to have an advising session with your program advisor, the DGS. After advising, registration itself happens exclusively on-line. Go to the Registrar's home page (www.reg.tcu.edu), then click on "Enrollment" to use FrogNet. Through FrogNet, you'll be able to add or withdraw from classes, check on grades, order transcripts, and several other things. (The first time you access FrogNet, the system will ask for a "PIN"-which is four digits: your month and date of birth; once you've logged in, you can change that PIN for security.) Once you are registered, you can use campus services, such as the library. Please also stay in close contact with your advisor, and provide the DGS with updates about any changes in your enrollment.
Read the Graduate Program Policies and the TCU Graduate Program Bulletin
In your first semester and before your advising session, please read carefully through the "English Graduate Program Policies" and the TCU Graduate Program Bulletin. You'll find that all department graduate policies are outlined in the "Program Policies" document; all general university policies appear in the Bulletin.
Whenever any of the department graduate policies is changed, you will be notified by email and provided with an electronic copy. Copies of the "Program Policies" are also posted on the department's website (www.eng.tcu.edu). Copies of the Bulletin are available at http://www.catalog.tcu.edu/graduate/).
General Advice about What Courses to Take When
Examine the sample schedules in the advising document, and keep a current list in the MA/PhD "scorecard."
At the end of this document, you will find sample schedules for typical versions of the MA and PhD programs. In advising, you will also receive a copy of the MA and PhD "scorecards," which are simple means to check off what program requirements you have already met and what requirements you still need to meet.
Reserve "Directed Reading" courses for the semester before qualifying exams.
Save directed readings courses for a full, focused semester before your qualifying examinations. Do, of course, remember that like all tutorials, such courses are given at the discretion of individual professors-you must negotiate with them, even in the semester before your qualifying exams. For more explanation about Directed readings courses, see the corresponding section of the Graduate Program Policies document.
Take required ("core") courses when they appear.
In a small program such as our own, many courses are in three, four, or five semester cycles. Even if this creates a certain inconvenience, you should take core requirements in the semester they appear: do not wait for them to reappear as a part of the regular course rotation.
"Front-load" courses in your program.
When you have the option, try to complete your course work as soon as is practicable, even if this means an uneven distribution of courses at the beginning of your program (also called front-loading). Later in your program, you will then have the opportunity to focus on the special needs of your examinations and dissertation.
Department Mailing address
As a grad student at TCU, you may use the department snail-mail address for professional correspondence:
Department of English
TCU
TCU Box 297270
Fort Worth, TX 76129
For professional correspondence, you can also use department letterhead, which you can obtain from Claudia or Nancy.
Stuff to Get when You Arrive on Campus
ID card-from the ID Card Center (221 Student Center).
Parking permit-from the TCU Campus Police (3025 Lubbock).
Set up a TCU Email account-this is a requirement of the program and is the primary means by which official graduate announcements are made. (Speak to
Claudia/Nancy, who can help you with the paperwork). If you maintain an
off-campus email account, then make sure you set your TCU account to forward email automatically.
Stuff to know about:
Notices-general department notices are made one of three ways: to your TCU
email address, to your department snail-mail box, or posted to cork board outside the graduate offices on the third floor of Reed.
§ Snail-Mail boxes-each grad student has a mailbox which will be assigned by the English office in the fall. (Please check your mail regularly!)
§ Office space-offices are assigned to all GIs (check with Claudia/Nancy).
§ Grad students without GI appointments may wish to set up carrel space in
§ the library. A limited number of carrels are available on a first-come, first served basis; check with the reference desk for availability.
§ Phones-all Reed Hall offices have campus phones for professional and local calls.
§ Xerox machines-GIs are assigned numbers for xeroxing associated with their teaching. As with all other important numbers, these should be kept secure. Students can charge xeroxes made in the library to their campus accounts.
§ Computers-computer workstations are available in all grad student offices, in the English Department office, and in various computer labs scattered around campus.
§ Off-campus Internet Service-generally available only to students who are using the web as a part of their GI teaching, but please check with the department chair, or the Computer Help Desk (x6855) for current policy.
Grad Student Rep:
Each year, the graduate students elect a representative to the Graduate Committee (for a full description of this committee, see Graduate Program Policies). This person represents graduate students' interests before the faculty, and also organizes meetings of the graduate students to disseminate information, discuss matters, or canvass opinions.
For 2003-2004, this representative is Erin Sagerson.
Grad student "mentors"
Each year, senior graduate students volunteer to serve as "mentors" to new graduate students. This purely voluntary arrangement assists new students with any aspect of their experience at TCU-from the minutia of department policies to practical advice about how to balance the competing pressures.
If you are interested in participating, contact the Grad Student Rep.
Graduate Student Organization
Recently, a number of graduate students across the university have formed an interdisciplinary organization to lobby the TCU administration and TCU Student Government on matters of importance to grad students. For more information for 2003-4, please check with Lisa Baird, an English department graduate student.
Professional Development
Most graduate students join one or another professional organization as soon as they matriculate. Each discipline, sub-discipline, and sub-sub-discipline has its own newsletters, journals, and conferences, but the umbrella organization for scholars of language and literature is the Modern Language Association. Grad students can join the MLA at a very modest cost ($10/year), for which you will receive the MLA newsletters, the journal PMLA, and an annual called Profession; while the MLA isn't one-stop shopping, it is still the best single source for new about our profession. MLA's Graduate Student Caucus remains the best method for the representation of graduate student interests and professional concerns. MLA members also get discounts on MLA publications and conference registration; grad students also become eligible for travel grants. Full info is available at www.mla.org.
You might also consider reading The Chronicle of Higher Education, published each week and available both in the library and the Faculty Center.
Many students and faculty find that the Call For Papers listserv maintained at the University of Pennsylvania provides an excellent source of information about conferences, publication opportunities, and trends in the profession. It also has a fully searchable archive. See http://www.english.upenn.edu/CFP/.
Finally, spend some time reading the books below; they are well worth your effort.
The 5 Books Every Grad Student Should Know
Most grad students will want to own copies of these books, but you'll also be able to read library copies. (See also the Graduate Program Policies document's section on writing the dissertation.)
Gibaldi, Joseph. The MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing. 2/e. New York: MLA, 1998.
Goldsmith, John A., John Komlos, and Penny Schine Gold. The Chicago Guide to Your Academic Career: A Portable Mentor for Scholars from Graduate School through Tenure. U of Chicago P, 2001.
Harner, James L. Literary Research Guide. 3/e. New York: MLA, 1997.
Lamont, Anne. Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life. New York: Anchor, 1995.
Toth, Emily. Ms. Mentor's Impeccable Advice for Women in Academe. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania P, 1997.
Outline of the typical MA program
Year One
Fall Spring
Course_____________ Course_____________
Course_____________ Course_____________
Course_____________ Course_____________
GA assignment GA assignment
Year Two
Fall Spring
Course_____________ Course_____________
Thesis guidance 70980 Thesis guidance 70990
May: graduation
Thesis and Advisory Committee:
Toward the end of the second semester, an MA candidate begins to generate several possible ideas for the research and writing of the MA thesis. With two or three such ideas in hand, the candidate invites a member of the faculty to direct the thesis project. After consultation with the director, the candidate then invites two additional faculty to form the MA advisory committee. A rough prospectus for the thesis should be completed by the beginning of the third term.
Outline of the typical 4- and 5-year Ph.D. programs
4-Year Program (generally, for someone entering with an MA and 18 credits)
Year One
Fall Spring
Course_____________ Course_____________
Course_____________ Course_____________
Course [Teaching Practicum] Course_____________
GI assignment GI assignment
Spring
Course ___________
Course ___________
Course ____________
Year Two
Fall Spring
Course_____________ Course_____________
Course_____________ Course_____________
GI assignment GI assignment
Late spring:
Qualifying exam committee formed
Year Three
Fall Spring
Course [or Directed Reading] _____ Dissertation Guidance 90980 (6 hrs)
Course [or Directed Reading] _____ GI assignment
GI assignment
August: January:
Examination lists approved Prospectus submitted
December: February:
Qualifying examinations Prospectus approved
Year Four
Fall Spring
Dissertation Guidance 90990 (6 hrs) Dissertation Guidance 90990 (1 hr)
GI assignment GI assignment
August: prospectus approved February:
Diss. draft "finished"
April:
Dissertation defended
May:
graduation
5-Year Program (generally, for someone entering with a BA only)
Year One
Fall Spring
Course_____________ Course_____________
Course_____________ Course_____________
Course_____________ Course_____________
DA/UF assignment DA/UF assignment
Year Two
Fall Spring
Course_____________ Course_____________
Course_____________ Course_____________
Course [Teaching Practicum] Course_____________
GI assignment GI assignment
Year Three
Fall Spring
Course_____________ Course_____________
Course_____________ Course_____________
Course_____________
GI assignment GI assignment
Late Spring:
Qualifying exam committee formed
Year Four
Fall Spring
Directed Reading__________ Dissertation Guidance 90980 (6hrs)
Directed Reading__________ GI assignment
GI assignment
August: Examination lists approved January:
December: qualifying examinations Dissertation prospectus
Year Five
Fall Spring
Dissertation Guidance 90990 (6 hrs) Dissertation Guidance 90990 (1 hr.)
GI assignment GI assignment
February:
Dissertation draft "finished"
April:
Dissertation defended
May:
Graduation
Concerning Such Schedules and Templates
NB:
(1) The Department recognizes that many students on the 4-year plan will take 5 years, and many on the 5-year plan will take 6 years. Funding beyond the 4th or 5th year may be available, either in the form of a Corder Fellowship or through other means. However, students should plan to complete their work in as efficient a way as is practicable.
(2) Radford and University Fellows will complete 24 hours in the first year (Green fellows will complete 30), and so their plans will look somewhat different in the mid-years. The greatest advantage of these fellowships is that they will have the opportunity to give at least two full years to the dissertation project.
(3) Some students who matriculate without previously having met the language requirement complete their requirement with course work. The only practical time for this course work is the summer sessions.
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