DE Admissions, Qualifying Exams, and Advising
Admissions Criteria
Students interested in applying to the designated emphasis in Writing,
Rhetoric and Composition Studies need to complete a Designate Emphasis
Application Form (available from Graduate Studies). Students are
encouraged to apply to the DE during their first year of graduate
study; students must apply to the DE before taking their qualifying
exams. Students also need to submit a letter of application to the
WRaCS program committee explaining their interests in and preparation
for graduate-level study in WRaCS.
Qualifying Examination Requirements
The student's Qualifying Examination Committee must include at least
one member of the WRaCS faculty. The Chair of the Writing, Rhetoric,
and Composition Studies designated emphasis and the student's Ph.D.
program Graduate Adviser must co-sign the Qualifying Examination
Committee form, which is submitted to Graduate Studies for approval for
approval by the Dean of Graduate Studies.
The Qualifying Examination will assess the student's level of knowledge within the area of the DE, as well as in the Ph.D. program. Satisfactory performance on the Qualifying Examination for the Ph.D. will be judged independently from performance on the DE. Thus, an allowable outcome of the Qualifying Examination is that the student's performance may be "passing" for the Ph.D. but "not passing" for the DE.
In the event that a student passes the Ph.D. qualifying exam, but receives a "not pass" for the DE, the Executive Committee of the DE will define a plan for remediation. The plan may include, but is not limited to re-examination by the DE Executive Committee, coursework, teaching, or preparation of a paper. If the student is re-examined, the outcome is limited to "pass" or "fail". If the student receives a "fail", the student is disqualified from the DE.
Dissertation Requirements
The student's Dissertation Committee shall be selected in accordance
with the regulations of the Ph.D. program, but must include at least
one member of the DE. The DE member may be the Dissertation Committee
Chair. Further, the dissertation topic chosen must have some relevance
to the DE.
Degree Conferral Process
The DE will be awarded solely in conjunction with the Ph.D. and will be
signified by the degree designation "Ph.D. in X with an Emphasis in
Writing, Rhetoric, and Composition Studies" where X is one of the
affiliated Ph.D. programs.
Student Advising
Working with the graduate advisers in the affiliated PhD programs, the
WRaCS graduate adviser oversees students’ academic progress towards
fulfilling the DE requirements. Students should meet with the WRaCS
adviser regularly to consult about their selection of courses.
The WRaCS graduate adviser will help students develop dissertation topics which substantially examine an issue related to the designated emphasis. The WRaCS adviser will also confirm for Graduate Studies and the student’s PhD program that all DE requirements have been met prior to graduation.
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