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A Practical Guide to the Ph.D. Program in English for StudentsThis short, practical guide is intended for students in the Ph.D. Program in English. You should also peruse the Graduate Center Student Handbook, which is available from the Office of Student Affairs, room 7301, and in the English Program lounge, room 4406. If you have any unanswered questions, feel free to ask any of the staff or faculty - we'll be happy to help! This Guide is a work in progress. Any errors, omissions, or general suggestions for improvement should be communicated to the Assistant Program Officer (APO), Nancy Silverman. Contents:
I. Basic InformationNote: All Graduate Center (GC) phone numbers begin 212-817-xxxx. The final four numbers are the extension (e.g., the English Program ext. is "8315") and can be dialed from any GC phone simply by dialing those four numbers. All outside calls made from within the GC must be connected by dialing "9" first. A. The Program Officers and Staff
B. The Place and the SpaceThe GC building has many amenable features, and a few disadvantages. The building was formerly the B. Altman department store, and remnants of its Beaux Arts style are still visible in the ornate staircase and elevator of the Mina Rees Library. Building security is excellent - if you ever experience any difficulties, call x7777 or press one of the blue assistance panels located in the hallways. There is a coffee shop located on the first floor and a full cafeteria with a ceiling skylight (through which you can see the tip of the Empire State Building) on the 8th Floor. The English Program's offices are mostly clustered around the lounge, room 4406. There is a Thesis Room (4406.11) which houses a few classes and is used for other departmental business. The lounge features a bank of computers connected to one printer. Paper for the printer is now provided by the GC as part of the student technology fee. Unfortunately, there is no copier on this floor for student use - please use the copiers in the library. There are also a few printers in the library. You need a GC computer account to use any computer here - to get one, please go with your ID card to the Information Resources desk located at the foot of the stairs on the Concourse level of the library. Our other "space" is, of course, virtual. The departmental website should be checked often for information about events, courses, faculty information, etc. -- http://web.gc.cuny.edu/English. The GC website is at www.gc.cuny.edu. C. Affiliations with Other Units of the GC and Other UniversitiesEnglish Program students may enroll in seminars in other disciplines, and they may earn certificates in five areas (see third bullet below).
The CUNY GC is a member of the New York City Interuniversity Doctoral Consortium (including Columbia, Fordham, NYU, New School University, Rutgers, SUNY Stony Brook, and Princeton) and has a consortial arrangement with General Theological Seminary. The GC is a member of the university consortium that in part comprises the Folger Shakespeare Institute in Washington, D.C. As a result of this affiliation, Ph.D. students in English are eligible for - and frequent recipients of - funding to participate in Folger Institute Seminars. The English Program is a member of the Association of Departments of English of the Modern Language Association and of the Dickens Project at the University of California at Santa Cruz. Two students are sponsored every summer to attend the ten day Dickens World event at the end of August. Interested students should contact Nancy Silverman. D. Other Features of the Ph.D. Program in English1) Friday Forums and Sponsored ConferencesTo ensure that some portion of every week is dedicated to fostering communal intellectual vitality and conviviality, the English Program sponsors Friday Forums, which bring to the GC internationally recognized scholars, writers, and publishers to discuss a wide variety of literary and cultural topics. This series of lectures and readings is followed by a reception with food and wine. Forums generally take place at 4 p.m. on Fridays, but many occur in conjunction with all-day conferences and interdisciplinary events. The Program sends out a full schedule at the beginning of every semester. Some Forums are devoted to special issues of student/faculty concern, such as financial aid, adjunct teaching, curricular changes, and the education job market. The first Forum of the Fall Semester is generally an orientation session for new students in the Program, and the last one in each semester, the Winter/Spring Revels, is a party not to be missed. 2) Program Communications (Including E-mail) and Changes of AddressA letter sent by the Program's EO to the faculty and students at the beginning of each semester functions as a general newsletter, summarizing information about faculty and student publications, special seminars, grants/fellowships, lectures, and upcoming academic events, including conferences. Letters sent since Spring 1999 can be read on the Program's Web site. Many important announcements are sent out via e-mail. (Some, but not all, announcements are also delivered through regular U.S. mail.) Students are given an e-mail account at the GC when they matriculate. Students must provide an e-mail address to Nancy. Please also update Nancy on all changes of street and e-mail address, as well as telephone number. In addition, the Office of the Registrar asks that students file a "Change of Address" card; they will not accept an email or phone call from the department. 3) The English Students' Association (ESA)The ESA is a student-run organization that seeks to improve living and working conditions in the Program. The ESA provides a forum for student concerns via meetings and its listserv, sponsors a network of student mentors, and runs an annual public conference. Information about subscribing to the ESA email list is available on a bulletin board in the lounge area. The ESA also creates, distributes and collects anonymous class evaluations, which are made available to all students in a binder kept in the lounge. 4) The Doctoral Students' Council (DSC) and The Graduate Student AdvocateStudents in all programs at the GC have formed the DSC, which brings their concerns to the administration; lobbies for their interests before the University Student Senate, the CUNY Board of Trustees, the Mayor's Office, and the State Legislature; supports intra- and interprogram student organizations; and provides legal services and funding for cultural activities. The DSC subsidizes the Advocate, a newspaper published six times annually (ext.: 7882). The English Program has three representatives on the council. The DSC is located in Room 5495, in the Robert E. Gilleece Student Center (ext.: 7845; fax: 212/817-1592; dsc@gc.cuny.edu; http://web.gc.cuny.edu/dsc). 5) The CUNY Library System and the New York Public LibraryOne of the consortial advantages of CUNY is its library system, which houses over six million volumes, 31,000 journal/periodical titles, and many resources available on microform and CD-ROM. Students enrolled at the GC have borrowing privileges at all twenty CUNY libraries, and they may return books, unless they are more than six weeks overdue, at any CUNY college. Renewals of books can be made only at the lending library; fines on overdue books can be paid at any system library (except Bronx Community and Hostos Community colleges and the Law School). The entrance to the GC's Mina Rees Library is on the first floor and is only open to CUNY students. An on-line public access catalog (CUNY+) permits users to determine the location and circulation status of nearly every book and periodical held by CUNY. Students and faculty can search CUNY+ from within any CUNY library, from many department and program offices, via the Mina Rees Library Web site (http://library.gc.cuny.edu), and from home. The site explains the library's hours and borrowing policy, hosts 60 full-text and citation databases and has may useful links and other services; it also provides interactive forms for making Interlibrary Loan (ILL) requests, renewing GC books, asking reference questions, and requesting library instruction. ILL arrangements make it possible to obtain material held in other collections throughout North America and the world. (When their research requires it, CUNY students and faculty may gain on-site access to collections at any of over 250 libraries in the New York City area using the "METRO card." For more information, inquire at the Library.) One of the greatest storehouses of information and research material anywhere is the Humanities and Social Sciences Library of The New York Public Library (NYPL), located just ten minutes north of the GC, on Fifth Avenue between 40th and 42nd Streets. Faculty and students at the GC may secure a place to work in the Wertheim Study, located on the second floor of the NYPL where they are able to get material specially delivered to them, to keep most books on a designated reserve shelf for one month, and to enjoy a private place to study. If interested, students should take current GC ID to the Office of Special Collections in (NYPL) Room 316. Any member of the public has access to the noncirculating resources of NYPL; users can discover more about its abundant holdings by searching on-site catalogs (for material acquired before 1971) or CATNYP (an on-line public access catalog for material added to the collection after 1971). Older material is being gradually added to CATNYP: currently 2 million records for titles catalogued prior to 1972 have been added. Information about all branches of the NYPL is available at htttp://www.nypl.org. Please note that Brooklyn (http://www.brooklynpubliclibrary.org) and Queens (http://www.queenslibrary.org) have independent public library systems. II. Proceeding Toward the Ph.D. in EnglishStudents in the Ph.D. Program in English complete the following requirements in earning their doctoral degrees:
Each of these requirements is explained more fully below. A. Definition of Levels and Advancement to CandidacyTuition charges are based on a student's "level" within the Program, which is figured as follows:
Current tuition rates can be found online at http://www.gc.cuny.edu/current_students/tuition_curnt_stdnts.htm. B. Registration ProceduresThere are usually approximately 25 courses offered each semester in the department. Course descriptions for each semester since Fall 1998 are posted on the Program's Web site. Continuing students who are enrolled may sign up for courses during the initial registration period that runs about four weeks (usually in December and January for the Spring Semester, and in May and June for the Fall Semester). At that time, on-line registration is open to all students who are not blocked because of financial or academic concerns. (Students who have such registration holds receive a letter from the Registrar in advance.) Nancy sends out and posts a Registration FAQs sheet to remind students of how to register on-line. There is a $15 fee for late registration. All students are strongly encouraged to avoid this fee by registering on time. In planning their course work students will want to refer to two publications:
To register online, go to www.gc.cuny.edu and click on Student Web, then "Login to Secure Area." The login asks for the student's Banner ID, which is the number that begins with four or five zeros and might be on the student's ID card. (If it's not, email the APO and she will provide it) Then it asks for a Banner PIN which is pre-set to be the student's six digit date of birth without slashes - month then day then year. Once you're in, you'll be asked to create a new PIN - this must also be six digits. Then just follow the instructions. If you have forgotten your PIN, you'll have to go to the Registrar's Office to have it re-set. Seminar meeting room numbers are posted before the semester begins in the English Program Office, in the Office of the Registrar, and on the computers located on kiosks on each floor. Students can change their registration during the add/drop period which extends through the third week of every semester. C. Course Credit Numbers and Credit RequirementsCourses in the Ph.D. Program in English - including the practicum for new teaching interns - are normally taken for 4 credits and a letter grade. Students may enroll in most regular (4-credit) English Ph.D. seminars for 2 credits; in such cases, the professor stipulates the amount of work that is required. Four-credit courses taken for 2 credits can be assigned only a pass/fail grade. Students who enter the Program with a baccalaureate degree alone may enroll in a maximum of three seminars for 2 credits; students who enter with a master's degree may take a total of two seminars for 2 credits. Note: 3-credit classes in other programs cannot be taken for 2 credits. Students must take a minimum of seven credits per semester to maintain full-time status. Students must complete a minimum of 60 credits of approved course work (including transfer credit) for the Ph.D. degree, maintaining an average grade of B or better. Once 60 credits have been completed, students may continue to take classes for credit if they wish as long as they are at Level I or II. D. Specific Course RequirementsWhile students are expected to take most of their seminars within the English Program, they should not overlook courses offered in related disciplines or listed in groups at the back of each semester's "Announcement of Courses" booklet under:
Students interested in earning a certificate in one of these programs while working toward the Ph.D. in English should see Ms. Mary Frisque, the APO in the Certificate Program Office (Room 5109; ext.: 8124; mfrisque@gc.cuny.edu), Ms. Elizabeth Small, the APO in Women's Studies (Room 5103; ext.: 8905), Prof. Stephen Briar, the Coordinator of ITP (ext.: 7920) for more information. Anyone wishing to take more than a total of two courses outside of English needs a Program Officer's permission to do so. All students in the Program must take a course in research and critical methodology, English 79500 ("Theory and Practice of Literary Scholarship and Criticism") for 4 credits. The 2-credit Pass ("P") grade option does not apply to this course. E. Independent Study Courses and Dissertation WorkshopsAlthough the Program's course offerings are ample and wide-ranging, some students may want to undertake an independent reading or research project with a member of the doctoral faculty. Currently, the Graduate Center has imposed a cap on the number of courses, including independent studies, which all Programs can offer. Therefore, the Ph.D. Program in English can offer only a very limited number of independent study courses per semester. If a student wishes to do an independent study, he or she must first confer with a faculty member who will direct the independent study. Students should be aware that while faculty members receive little or no compensation in their teaching schedules for an independent study, they may find reward in directing investigation into a mutually intriguing topic. Thus, students should take the initiative to define a specific project, one that relates to a professor's expertise and interest, before they ask for faculty sponsorship. Independent studies generally involve substantial reading, regular meetings, and significant written work. The student must then prepare a description of the course and give a rationale for why this course can be done only in the format of an independent study. The faculty member who will direct the independent study must sign off on the description and the rationale. The request, accompanied by the description and rationale, should be submitted to the Executive Officer, Professor Steven Kruger, no later than the first day of registration for the following semester. He will make the final determination as to which proposals will be approved. Students who have completed their course requirements, the Second Examination ("Orals"), and preliminary work on a thesis may find it helpful to enroll in "Dissertation Workshop" (English 91000), which is offered (for zero credits) each semester. The workshop is led by a professor with considerable experience in directing dissertations. Students prepare and read each others' work (including drafts of the dissertation prospectus), as well as discuss the job market and the academic profession. Please note that workshop information such as the day/time and instructor are always announced during the first week of every semester. Students may register for the course on-line; if they have difficulty adding it, they should talk to the APO or EO, who may have to process a "registration override." F. Transfer CreditThe English Program will accept a maximum of 24 credits earned in another graduate program toward the 60 credits required for the Ph.D. The following restrictions apply to these transfer credits:
A faculty member designated by the Program evaluates each entering student's work in another graduate program and sends written word, usually before the end of the student's first year of study, regarding the amount of credit that will be accepted in the English Program. Only course work recorded on official transcripts will be considered for transfer credit. Students enrolled in a master's degree program at the time of their application must, upon matriculation, submit an updated official transcript that shows all grades and/or the conferral of a degree in order for their work to be evaluated. Students transferring credit from outside the CUNY system may need to furnish the Program an appropriate university catalog and/or class syllabi. G. GradesThe following grades (and quality point values) may be given to students at the GC:
To remain in the English Program, students must maintain at least a B average. The following grades may be given in particular circumstances:
The following restrictions apply:
It is now possible to check your grades online. Go to www.gc.cuny.edu and click on Student Web, then "Login to Secure Area." You will be asked for your Banner ID, which is the number that begins with four or five zeros and might be on your ID card. (If it's not, email the APO and she will provide it to you.) Then it'll ask for your Banner PIN which is pre-set to be your six digit date of birth without slashes - month then day then year. Once you're in, you'll be asked to create a new PIN - this must also be six digits. Then just follow the semi-logical instructions. If you have forgotten your PIN, you'll have to go to the Registrar's Office to have it re-set. H. Grades of Incomplete and Their RemovalStudents who are unable to complete their work for a course within the allotted time period may request a grade of incomplete ("INC") by completing an "Incomplete Contract" with the instructor before the last day of classes. Incomplete grades must be resolved within two semesters of the final meeting date of the course, at which point they automatically become grades of permanent incomplete ("INP"). Any further extension requires a written application, as well as the permission of the instructor, the EO, and the Vice President for Student Affairs. The Registrar puts a hold on the registration of any student who has more than two grades of incomplete, and the English Program's Student Progress Officer oversees all such student records. Courses in which an unresolved incomplete grade is recorded do not count toward the 60 credits required for the degree (or the 45 credits required to advance to Level II). Students with multiple incompletes are in jeopardy of losing financial aid - both from the GC and from the Program. I. Overseeing Satisfactory ProgressThe English Program takes very seriously each student's steady movement toward the doctorate. One member of the Program's administrative team is the Student Progress Officer, who pays close attention to the following impediments to a successful completion of the degree:
Working with the student and appropriate graduate faculty members, the Student Progress Officer attempts to establish reasonable time limits for the individual to move through the Program more expediently. J. Leaves of AbsenceStudents who wish to interrupt their doctoral study may be granted leaves of absence for up to a total of four semesters. Students should apply for a leave at least two weeks before the first day of classes for the semester in which the leave is to begin (applications are available here). If the leave is warranted, the EO will forward the application to the Office of the Registrar approving it. Leaves of absence must be cleared by the Office of Financial Aid, the Mina Rees Library, the Bursar, the Business Office, and (if applicable) the Offices of International Students and Residence Life. During the period of the leave, no changes in academic status - including the scheduling or taking of any of the required examinations, moving from one tuition level to another, applying for an en-route degree, advancing to candidacy, and defending a dissertation - can occur. Students who are not United States citizens should ensure that a leave of absence does not affect their visa status. Students pay a $10 readmission fee at the Bursar's Office when they return from a leave of absence. The Office of the Registrar automatically generates registration materials for returning students based on the period of time stipulated for the leave of absence. K. Withdrawal from the Ph.D. Program and The Graduate SchoolStudents who voluntarily withdraw from the Program must give written notice to the EO (applications are available here), who forwards it to the Office of the Registrar. Withdrawals must be cleared by the Office of Financial Aid, the Mina Rees Library, the Bursar, the Business Office, and (if applicable) the Offices of International Students and Residence Life. To return to the Program, a student must apply for readmission and be evaluated by the Admissions Committee. Students who have been withdrawn from the program for four years or less must fill out an Application for Readmission, which is available here. Students who have been withdrawn from the program for more than four years will be required to apply to the program as a new student, and must obtain an Application for Admission from the Admissions Office. Information regarding proportionate tuition refund appears each semester in the GC Student Handbook . The Office of Financial Aid has details regarding the repayment of federal loans when an individual's status as a student changes. Students should familiarize themselves with these fiscal schedules if they are considering withdrawing from the Program. To avoid full tuition liability for a particular semester, for example, they must withdraw before the end of the third week of classes for that semester. L. Master's Degrees from CUNYThe English Program does not offer a Master of Arts degree, but the Registrar sends a letter to each student who is admitted to candidacy with an invitation to receive an M.Phil. degree from the GC (a nominal fee, currently $25, is required). Students in the Program should seriously consider attaining this degree. Because the English Program does not offer its own Master of Arts degree, students may apply for an en-route Master's degree from a participating senior college within CUNY - Hunter College, City College, Brooklyn College, and Queens College. (Although Lehman College and College of Staten Island offer an MA, we have no similar agreements with them.) Students interested in this degree must first have already completed at least 45 credits of course work at the CUNY Graduate Center, and passed the First ("Comprehensive") Examination. These 45 credits must be for courses in which you have earned grades in the range of A or B (not P). (Therefore, 2- credit courses do not count.) Students must then find a faculty member who teaches at the English MA Program at Hunter College, City College, Brooklyn College or Queens College (see the APO for this list) who would be willing to sign a form approving submission of an MA thesis equivalent. Ideally, this professor should be one the student has worked with in the past, and the thesis equivalent should be an "expanded paper," with a focus on research, of at least 30 pages. Please be aware that professors do have the right to refuse to take on this extra work. Once the student has reached an agreement with a professor, she or he should see the APO for the "Application for En-route Master's Degree" form. The student will then fill out this application, have the professor sign it, and return it to the APO, along with a copy of the thesis. After the EO has signed this application, both the form and the thesis will be submitted to the GC Registrar. The GC Registrar must then submit it to the Registrar of the degree-granting school, who then sends it to that school's director of graduate studies for approval. The student's MA degree is then mailed directly to the student from the degree-granting school. Please note the following deadlines for the receiving school (which means that it must be submitted to the APO at least two weeks earlier):
M. The New York City Interuniversity Doctoral ConsortiumThe Consortium helps to unite graduate students at seven New York area universities by enabling them to take courses at any institution within the consortium, which is made up of Columbia University (including Teachers College), Fordham University, New School University, New York University, Princeton University, Rutgers University (New Brunswick campus) and SUNY - Stony Brook. Participants are subject to the academic regulations of the host institution - including its calendar, grading system, and academic honor system - but they pay tuition to their home institution. These requirements apply:
Students who want to register for courses through the consortium should first try to contact the professor teaching the course or at least the department to make sure the course is indeed open. Students should then obtain a "Permit Out" form and an Inter-University Registration Form (together with the accompanying "Instructions" form) from the Office of the Registrar (Room 7201; ext.: 7500; fax: 212/817-1627; regist@gc.cuny.edu). Students complete these forms, getting approvals from the EO and the Vice President for Student Affairs (Room 7301; ext.: 7400; fax: 212/817-1621; eburns@gc.cuny.edu). (The "Permit Out" form should be returned to the Registrar during the registration period, before the semester begins.) Other signatures on the Inter-University Registration Form must be obtained from appropriate personnel at the host institution. Students return this completed form to the Registrar no later than the end of the third week of the CUNY semester. Students who drop a course at a host consortium institution must notify both institutions and follow the appropriate instructions for withdrawing. Students may also take courses at the Bard Graduate Center for Studies in the Decorative Arts, Design, and Culture. Students affiliated with the Medieval Studies Certificate Program may register for seminars in the doctoral program at General Theological Seminary, where they also have access to the library. They should see the Coordinator of the Medieval Studies Certificate Program or the APO for specific information (Room 5109.01; ext.: 8761; fax: 212/817-1528; gburger@gc.cuny.edu). III. Negotiating the Principal HurdlesA. The Foreign Language RequirementStudents are not required to meet the language requirement within a fixed number of years, but they must do so before they may advance to candidacy and, thus, achieve Level III status. Students may demonstrate language proficiency in any of three ways.
Students who have passed the Second Exam, fulfilled their language requirements, and completed at least 60 credits of coursework should see the APO for an "Advancement to Candidacy" form. The student will become a Level III student (and thus enjoy a significant drop in tuition) only after this form has been submitted to the registrar. Please note: once students have advanced to candidacy, they may no longer enroll for courses for full credit (and thus earn a letter grade). Students who wish to complete a certificate program should be especially aware of this, as all coursework required for the certificate must also be completed before advancement. Level III students may continue to register for classes as auditors, but it is expected that most of the student's time will be devoted to writing the dissertation. B. The Program's Major ExaminationsThese examinations are:
1) The First ("Comprehensive") ExaminationThe First ("Comprehensive") Examination - often referred to as "the Comps" - tests student reading skills, as well as the extent and particularity of students' knowledge about the range of literature and criticism in English. All students, regardless of educational background, are required to take this exam at the end of their first year of study. This all-day exam is usually scheduled for the Friday of the third week in August; the APO will announce the exact exam date at least 4 months in advance. The examination consists of four sections (divided into two parts). Students arrive with the first section already prepared, they take the second and third sections in the morning (from 9:00 to noon), and section four in the afternoon (from 1:30 to 5:30), on a single day. Students will not be permitted to sit for the written examination if they do not bring Essay I-A (the "passport essay") to the testing room. Results are available within three weeks and before each semester's deadline for filing for a change in registration level. Information about examination dates is available in the office and is distributed via e-mail. Each examination is read by three members of the doctoral faculty, who award grades of pass or fail to each section of each part. When their judgment is not unanimous, the section(s) in question will be read by an arbitration committee and the EO; the same is true of any section that all three readers grade a failure. Students must retake any section of the test they fail, but they need not repeat sections they have passed. The retake day is usually scheduled for the Friday of the third week in January; the notification letter will contain an exact date. Students who fail the Comprehensive Examination twice will usually be asked to withdraw from the Program. Readers may pass particularly distinguished examinations "with distinction," a notation, reserved for work that is uniformly excellent, that appears on the student's official transcript. Students may best prepare for the Comprehensive Examination by taking a wide variety of courses; many also form study groups, meeting during the months before the August test date. Most student groups make up practice exams and discuss the readings; they also offer helpful moral support during the months before the exam. In 2000, a truly invaluable guide to the exam was created English Program students. "Comprehending the Comprehensives" contains study suggestions, and sample questions and answers. Copies are available in the office and at the Reserve Desk in the Mina Rees Library. 2) The Second ("Orals") ExaminationStudents more thoroughly demonstrate their powers of discernment, analysis, and eloquence on the Second Examination, commonly referred to as "Orals." This is a two-hour examination in three fields, administered by a committee of three professors. All examiners must hold appointments to the doctoral faculty in English at The Graduate Center; any exceptions - for a student doing interdisciplinary work, for example - require the Executive Officer's approval. Students take the Second Examination within one year of completing all their course work and meeting other Program requirements. In planning for the Second Examination, students should:
Students who have passed the Second Exam, fulfilled their language requirements, and completed at least 60 credits of coursework should see the APO for an "Advancement to Candidacy" form. The student will become a Level III student (and thus enjoy a significant drop in tuition) only after this form has been submitted to the registrar. C. The Dissertation: The Prospectus, The Dissertation Itself, and Its Defense1) Choosing and Working with a Dissertation DirectorOne of the most important choices a student in a doctoral program makes is that of a dissertation director. Students will want to ask many questions in coming to a decision: Who is an expert in areas that the dissertation will address? Who can offer important bibliographical data or teach key methodological skills? What about this dissertation would an individual professor find rewarding enough to justify spending many hours working on it? Who can offer guidance on how to employ and maintain a particular critical approach? Who will read chapters judiciously, carefully, and fairly? Who will encourage the dissertation's completion and its excellence? Who will be able to write eloquent, forceful letters - and perhaps make key telephone calls - about the dissertation's contribution to knowledge when its writer enters the job market? Faculty mentors, trusted professors, student colleagues, and Program Officers can all offer advice. Students are free to make their choices, and faculty members are free to accept, or to decline, the request. Usually, student and director will have established a good working relationship before the dissertation has taken much shape; the director may well have been the chair of the Second ("Orals") Examination Committee, the chief reader of the prospectus, and a long-standing adviser. The process of writing a dissertation may lead a student to alter an original understanding with a director, however; in such cases it may seem mutually wise for the student to seek a different director. Approval of the Executive Officer is required. 2) The Dissertation Prospectus and Its ApprovalThe dissertation prospectus should consist of at most ten (10) pages of descriptive material. (This is the usual length of most project descriptions that accompany applications for dissertation-year awards in national competitions.) The prospectus absolutely cannot be longer than ten pages. The prospectus should provide a compact, concise blueprint for a dissertation by including:
Additionally, each prospectus should include as supplementary pages an ample working bibliography for the project. The bibliography has no page length requirements. Students must submit five copies of the prospectus within six months of passing the Second ("Orals") Examination (nothing prohibits them from submitting it beforehand). Students who intend to apply for a dissertation-year fellowship from The Graduate Center should submit the prospectus, approved by their director, to the English Program Office by 1 November so that there will be adequate time for its review (and possible revision) before the 15 January dissertation-year fellowship deadline. Writing a prospectus is one focus of English 91000 ("Dissertation Workshop"), a practical workshop that students who have completed their course work are urged to attend. When the dissertation director judges that a prospectus warrants approval, the following procedure is followed.
3) Progress on the Dissertation, the Dissertation Review form, and Appropriate Registration"ABD" ("all but dissertation") remains one of the most familiar and haunting acronyms of any graduate school. Students should submit written work for review at least once each term. Directors should make every effort to provide concrete, specific, and practical advice, as well as to act promptly on work submitted. Unless they have an approved leave of absence, students who have completed all degree requirements except for the dissertation must maintain their status at The Graduate Center by registering each semester for English 90000 ("Dissertation Supervision"). To get a satisfactory grade ("SP") in this course, students must submit written work-ideally a draft of at least one chapter-each term. Students may need to spend a great deal of time reading in this process, but writing is obviously the sine qua non of finishing a dissertation. Students who submit no work at all during a semester risk receiving a grade of "NRP", signifying "no record of progress". After a student has received two NRP grades in succession, an unfavorable "Satisfactory Academic Progress" report will be generated for that student during the following semester. In order for that student to be permitted to register in the subsequent semester, he or she must meet with the Student Progress Officer to develop a plan for getting his or her dissertation research back on track. Students and doctoral faculty members follow a specific dissertation review process.
The director informs the Executive Officer and the APO when a chapter has been approved. The student should verify that this has been done. The Student Progress Officer reviews each Level III student's case annually. This dissertation review process is meant to ensure that a student is able to complete at least the first chapter of a dissertation in the year following the prospectus's approval, receiving timely guidance in its composition and revision. Please note that this process must only be followed for the first chapter. 4) The Dissertation Proposal Clearance: Human Participants FormAll students who have advanced to Level III status must submit a "Dissertation Proposal Clearance: Human Participants" form to Ms. Hilry Fisher, Director of Sponsored Research, in the Office for Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP [Room 8309; telephone: 212/817-7523; fax: 212/817-1629; hfisher@gc.cuny.edu]). On this form students indicate that human participants are - or are not - an aspect of their research. This is a requirement for students in every Ph.D. program, whether or not their research includes human participants. The form becomes part of the student's file in the Office of the Registrar. Students will not be permitted to deposit their dissertation (and thus graduate) unless this form is on file even if their research included no human participants. Students receive this form in the mail from the Office of the Registrar when they advance to Level III status; applications and instructions are also available from Nancy. It is the student's responsibility to report any revisions in research methodology to the ORSP. This requirement underscores the fact that students in the English Program are part of a large community of scholars in diverse disciplines at The Graduate Center. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services requires The Graduate Center's Committee on the Protection of Human Subjects to review all students' research designs for compliance with federal laws regulating research on human subjects; any research that involves human participants must be approved by this committee before it may begin. Ethical standards established by professional societies and endorsed by The Graduate Center further uphold the importance of this requirement. 5) The Dissertation: Defense and DepositingAfter the director has approved the complete dissertation and the committee of readers has determined that it is of a quality that will permit its formal defense, the student is permitted to schedule the Third Examination, an oral dissertation defense at which he or she answers questions about the work posed by all three readers. The Assistant Program Officer should be informed of the defense date and time, committee members and dissertation title at least one month in advance. The committee members must then determine if the dissertation is:
When the dissertation has won the committee's (and executive officer's) approval, the director submits a Report of Final Examination to the Provost. Students who pass this hurdle have completed all academic requirements for the Ph.D. degree. Now they need only to submit three unbound copies of the dissertation in its approved final version of the dissertation to Ms. Judy Waldman, the Dissertation Assistant (Mina Rees Library Room 1100.05; telephone: 212/817-7069; fax: 212/817-2982; jwaldman@gc.cuny.edu). This final version must conform to specific instructions regarding footnotes (or endnotes), margins, pagination and section sequence, paper quality, spacing, and typefaces. These and other matters are stipulated clearly in the detailed "Instructions for Preparing the Doctoral Dissertation," copies of which are mailed to students when they are admitted to candidacy; they can also be found online at http://inside.gc.cuny.edu/studentaffairs/registrar/docdiss.htm . Students should CAREFULLY consult these instructions before hitting the "print" button for what they hope will be the final copy of their dissertation. In addition, before their dissertation can be accepted, students must present proof that their records have been cleared by the Circulation Librarian, and by the Offices of Financial Aid, Residence Life, the Bursar, and the Registrar. Students are wise to consult recently accepted dissertations for matters of format and organization. Copies of all dissertations written by recipients of the Ph.D. in English are found in the English Thesis Room (Room 4406.11 and the Johnson Temple Study at the back of room 4406 ); originals are also found in the library in the Dissertation Reading Room Students who hope to have their degree conferred by a specific date (at the Commencement ceremony in late May/early June, for example) should take into account the fact that nearly every dissertation will require some emendation after the defense.
6) Dissertation PrizesThe English Program awards seven different dissertation prizes:
If a student wishes to be considered for a prize, he or she should notify both the dissertation director and the APO no later than March 1st , even if they have not yet defended (but plan to have done so by May 1st ). The actual nominations are made by the directors and seconded by at least one other committee member. Faculty are sent instructions about this process in March. The student must make sure that the APO has a copy of the complete dissertation no later than April 15th . Prizes are usually announced at the end of May; winners will be notified in writing. D. The English Program's Job-Placement EffortsTogether with the Program's Placement Committee, which includes several faculty members and students, one of the English Program's Deputy Executive Officers oversees a program to assist students who have nearly (or have recently) completed the Ph.D. degree in finding permanent jobs in universities and colleges. IV. Financial Aid and Teaching InternshipsImportant note: This guide is intended for students who are already in the Ph.D Program. Those of you who have received a Magnet, Gilleece, Marshall, Provost's or Chancellor's Fellowship have been given some instructions already. The Provost's or Chancellor's Fellowships are new this year. As more information about those Fellowships are received, information will be sent to you. Please feel free to ask the EO, the DEOs, and the APO anything if you are concerned in the meantime. A. Financial Assistance at the GCFinancial assistance to students in the Ph.D. Program in English comes in two forms (fellowships and loans) and from two principal sources (The GC and the English Program, each with its own application forms). All fellowships and other forms of financial assistance require a student to register full time each semester and to make satisfactory academic progress. Most doctoral students in English support themselves at least in part through adjunct teaching. In order to compete for the Program's limited resources, all interested students are asked to do three things:
A brochure, published annually, detailing all forms of financial aid available from The GC is available from the Financial Aid Office, room 7201. Information can also be found online, through the Student Web - go to https://banner.gc.cuny.edu/hwrhopbl.htm for direct access, or to http://www.gc.cuny.edu/student_web for all Student Web choices. The Ph.D. Program in English distributes aid that comes from the GC to its continuing students in the form of University Fellowships and University Tuition Stipends. Interested students must fill out an Application for Supplemental Aid. Completed applications must be returned to the EO by 1 April. In addition, please pay close attention to emails sent by the APO. Information about most fellowships is below, but new fellowships are sometimes announced with little prior warning. B. Adjunct Teaching and Graduate Assistant A PositionsMost students in the English Program get training as adjunct instructors in CUNY college classrooms. Graduate students in English usually teach composition, though they are often invited to teach literature as well. At many CUNY colleges composition courses bear more credits than do literature classes, so adjuncts, who are paid by the credit hour, can earn more by teaching them. Please note that these adjunct teaching positions are not Financial Aid awards; they are positions created and paid for by the colleges where the student will teach. 1) Obtaining an Adjunct Teaching Job Through the Internship ProgramDepartments of English on individual CUNY campuses make all decisions in matters of faculty hiring. Students are chosen by - not "placed" in - a department; they may apply directly and independently for teaching positions anywhere in the system. For well over a decade, however, the Ph.D. Program in English has tried to assist its students by locating such jobs largely through the Internship Program, directed by Professor Robert Reid-Pharr (DEO). Students who have not taught at CUNY before are not required to join the Internship Program in their first year of study; they may do so anytime before they advance to candidacy. The Internship Program seeks to provide four specific services:
a. CUNY Colleges Participating in the Internship ProgramAll the CUNY colleges have participated in the Internship Program in one way or another during the past decade. In Spring 2002, some 165 English Ph.D. students (and over ten students in other programs) were teaching via this internship network at a CUNY college. b. The Practicum (ENGL 79000 ["Teaching College English"])Most CUNY colleges have a practicum that is tailored to that campus's student body and composition philosophy. It is taught by a composition specialist at that college. Participants discuss theories of teaching composition and their actual experiences. Readings and course requirements vary, but all students are trained in writing pedagogy. The practicum carries four credits which count toward the Ph.D. degree (letter grades are assigned). It is a requirement for all students in the English Program who are first-time instructors at a CUNY college. Students who accept a teaching position at a second CUNY college are not expected to enroll in a second practicum. For budgetary reasons, practicum courses are offered only during the Fall Semester. Students should take this into consideration because, without formal pedagogical training, they will find it difficult to get a job. Thus, teaching for the first time within CUNY during a spring semester or a summer session is generally not an option. c. Adjunct Pay Rates, Limitations on Teaching, and BenefitsCUNY adjuncts are paid according to a scale based on an hourly rate that starts at $53.60. Please note that all compensation rates listed in this Guide are currently being renegotiated. This figure is multiplied by the number of credit hours a course carries (which varies from three to six), then multiplied again by the number of weeks in the college's semester (14 or 15 weeks at all but Kingsborough and LaGuardia Community colleges). In any given semester, adjuncts may teach as many as three courses totaling no more than nine credit hours at one CUNY college; they may also teach one course, for no more than six credit hours, at a second CUNY college. Most students in the English program find that teaching two courses per semester, in addition to their responsibilities taking classes, preparing for exams, or writing a dissertation, keeps them very busy. Adjuncts who teach at least six credit hours within CUNY for each of two consecutive semesters are eligible, after the second semester, for health insurance benefits. This provision does not apply to students employed as a Graduate Assistant A. 2) The Procedure for Obtaining a non-Internship Adjunct Teaching Job in CUNYOnce a student has gained teaching experience (even before your matriculation into the Ph.D program), students may apply for jobs directly; the APO can provide you with a list of CUNY English department chairs. Students may also ask Prof. Reid-Pharr for assistance. Please note that summer jobs are much more difficult to secure. 3) Graduate Assistant A Positions (Grad A)Grad A positions are available in limited number only at Hunter and Queens colleges, ordinarily for a nonrenewable period of three years. Students apply for them by sending a letter, with a curriculum vitae, to the appropriate chair of the Department of English, stating specifically that they wish to be considered for this position. Applications should be submitted in the Fall Semester, usually for review during the spring and possible appointment the next academic year. The pay scale begins at $16,616 for teaching two courses per semester, which may not total more than 240 hours per academic year. Grad As are not eligible for health benefits. Graduate Assistant A positions are almost always filled by continuing students. C. Dissertation FellowshipsThe Ph.D. Program in English strongly encourages its students to seek funding for the dissertation year from sources outside The Graduate Center. These sources include the American Association for University Women (AAUW), the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation (which oversees the Charlotte W. Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowships), and the National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH). Information about such fellowships is available from the Modern Language Association (MLA), especially through listings in the annual PMLA Directory (the September issue), as well as from postings on the Program's bulletin board in the lounge (room 4406). Some dissertation-year fellowships are also available from The Graduate Center and from the Program; each has its own application process and timing. To qualify for funding, a student must have been advanced to candidacy, and his/her dissertation prospectus must have been approved at least two weeks before the application deadline. The "Advancement to Candidacy for the Doctoral Degree" form requires review by the Office of the Provost and the Office of the Registrar; a time lag can occur in this process, and students should plan accordingly. Some funding sources outside CUNY set earlier deadlines for the receipt of applications and hence for a student's advancement to candidacy (15 November for the AAUW and Newcombe Fellowships, for example).
D. Fellows Programs1) The Writing Fellows ProgramThe Office of the Provost administers the Writing Fellows Program, which was established in Fall 1999 to promote writing-across-the-curriculum efforts at the CUNY colleges. Responsibilities are administrative and pedagogical; they do not include regular classroom teaching but involve such work as developing/managing e-tutoring programs, tutoring in writing intensive courses, and establishing or extending writing laboratory projects. Writing Fellows come from all doctoral programs at the GC. Writing Fellows must have completed at least 45 units of graduate credit and be enrolled as Level II or Level III students. They earn $24,330 per year for a maximum of 225 hours of work per semester during the regular academic year. Colleges may renew the Writing Fellow's appointment for a second year only. Applications are made to the Office of the Provost and are due by mid-March. Applicants may designate a list of colleges (usually five to seven choices) at which they would like their candidacy to be reviewed. Information is available from Ms. Anne Ellis (Room 8113.13; ext.: 7284; fax: 212/817-1612; aellis@gc.cuny.edu). 2) The Honors College Technology Fellows (HCTF) ProgramInaugurated in Fall 2001, the HCTF Program places a limited number of doctoral students at the five CUNY senior college campuses that make up the CUNY Honors College for undergraduates. HCTFs are expected to have a solid working knowledge of instructional technology and how to employ it in the classroom, be comfortable working in a multidisciplinary environment whose focus will change each semester, and have an interest in learning about cutting-edge pedagogies and technologies. English Program students, especially those who have previously served as Writing Fellows, have competed successfully for these HCTF positions. Hired as Graduate Assistant As, HCTFs receive a salary of $20,687 per year for a maximum of 225 hours of work per semester during the regular academic year. The Honors College Technology Fellows Program is administered by Dr. Jane Bowers, Associate Director (Room 3313; ext.: 1855; jbowers@honorscollege.cuny.edu). Appendix: Two Sample Schedules for Meeting the Requirements for the Ph.D. in EnglishThe Graduate Center requires all students in CUNY doctoral programs to obtain the Ph.D. degree within eight years from the time of their first registration if they enter with a baccalaureate degree alone, or within seven years from the time of their first registration if they matriculate with 30 credits of accepted academic work. The following chart gives a suggested plan of action for completing these requirements before the limitation of time expires. STUDENT ENTERING WITH A B.A. DEGREE (ONLY) Academic Year One
Academic Year Two
Academic Year Three
Academic Year Four
Academic Year Five
Academic Year Six
STUDENT ENTERING WITH GRADUATE SCHOOL CREDITSAcademic Year One
Academic Year Two
Academic Year Three
Academic Year Four
Academic Year Five
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Ph.D. Program in English ~ CUNY Graduate Center ~ 365 Fifth Avenue ~ New York, NY 10016-4309 phone 212.817.8315 ~ fax 212.817.1518 ~ email |
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