Degree Timeline

First Year students will take required core courses and begin to study the Core Reading Exam List. Students awarded Teaching Assistantships teach three undergraduate writing studio sections per academic year and participate in The Writing Program's teaching practicum course with weekly meetings. Students awarded University Fellowships typically take additional coursework in their first fellowship year. Students are encouraged to propose conference papers for national or regional conferences from the first year.

In the Second Year, students complete their required course work. During the academic year, they should continue studying the Core Reading List as well as either choose a seminar paper on which to base their exam-mandated publishable article or begin work on the annotated bibliography, also required as part of the comprehensive exams. Initial conversations with possible Exam committee members should also occur. During the summer of their second year, students will take the Core Reading List exam. Second year students are also registered for the Future Professoriate Project, begin participating in FPP events and collecting material for a professional portfolio.

By the fall semester of Third Year, students should select an exam committee and complete the final two portions of the comprehensive exam (publishable article/annotated bibliography). Once exams are completed, students should select a dissertation committee and, in consultation with their dissertation chair, begin work on the prospectus and collaboratively develop a timeline for a timely defense. Students continue to participate in the Future Professoriate Project, work with their teaching mentor, complete their teaching portfolio and earn the Teaching Associate Certificate in University Teaching. Students should continue to present papers at conferences, and to develop their research into journal articles when appropriate.

Students who have followed the degree timeline to this point will have the Fourth and Fifth Year available for dissertation writing and polishing as well as career development. Students work with the program's Job Market Working Group and begin the job search, making applications, preparing for interviews and campus visits. They present their research at conferences and publish journal articles; support for developing presentations and articles is available from seminar discussions, discussions with faculty, CCR colloquia, and the Writing Center’s Graduate Writing Groups. Students also complete and defend the dissertation; support is available for this process from your dissertation chair and committee as well as from Writing Groups in the Writing Center, the department, or elsewhere on campus.

What If I Do Not Meet the Milestones?

If life circumstances arise that prevent you from meeting the degree milestones, please let the DGS or your exams/dissertation chair know as soon as you are comfortable doing so. We are here to support you and can help you make arrangements. That said, here are the general rules:

Exams: Exams should be completed no later than May 15th before the end of the third year of study in order to retain your funding. If you don’t finish in the fall, then you should certainly plan to finish in the spring. In order to retain funding for the fourth year, your oral exam must be complete by this deadline. This means that your article and annotated bibliography must be completed, revised based on your chair's comments prior to their approval, and approved by your committee significantly earlier in order to meet the Grad School requirement of scheduling your oral exam at least two weeks out from the actual hearing date. It's important to work with your chair to develop a workable timeline for meeting these milestones and to take into account the fact that late spring is a very busy time for committee members.

Should an emergency or medical situation arise that means you need to alter your timeline, please contact the Director of Graduate Studies as soon as possible. They and the Graduate Studies Committee will work with you to address your situation.

Dissertation: Students who need a sixth year to complete the dissertation may apply for competitively awarded funding. We offer two positions in the Graduate Editing Center of the Writing Center and also often have TAships come available that we can offer. A number of our students have applied for and received TAships in partner departments, and we also can provide support as you apply for dissertation fellowships.

Per the Graduate School Policies on Time to Degree:

Time to Degree

The maximum time for completion of a doctoral degree, as set and monitored by the Graduate School, is eight years from the term the student matriculated into the doctoral program. The eight-year time to degree requirement expectation represents the maximum number of years a graduate student can take to complete the degree. Doctoral programs can and should enforce shorter time to degree requirements as necessary and outlined in their respective departmental handbooks.

The eight-year time to completion expectation does not automatically stop and start again in situations where a student takes a leave of absence, nor does it extend solely based on part-time status. Credited time towards degree completion based on a leave of absence or part-time status will be granted only with approval of the program and the Graduate School Dean through a petition filed with the Graduate School. 

Exceeding Time to Degree Requirements

If the student will exceed the eight-year limit for completing their degree, the student must, by the second semester of their eighth year, with the support of their department and advisor, submit a petition for an extension of study. Such a petition must provide evidence of academic progress on the dissertation and include a detailed plan for dissertation completion within one year. 

Students with an approved petition must register for GRD 991, which requires payment for a minimum of one credit hour per semester. If the student fails to register for GRD 991, for a given term, the student will be withdrawn from the program.  

Petitions to extend the eight-year time to degree requirement will not be approved for greater than one year at a time and additional extensions will only be granted if there are significant extenuating circumstances, with program and Graduate School approval.

For doctoral students admitted prior to the Fall of 2023 and who are already at or beyond their eighth year of study, academic programs are expected to engage with the student to determine whether the student can develop a realistic plan for dissertation completion. Students who provide a plan for dissertation completion that is agreed to by the department and the academic advisor will submit a petition (including the detailed completion plan) to the Graduate School Dean, seeking approval of a formalized timeline for completion of the degree. Petitions for additional extensions will be considered by the program, with concurrence of the Graduate School, on a case-by-case basis and will require registration for GRD 991 in subsequent semesters.

Students beyond the eighth year of study who do not submit a plan to their department or whose plan does not meet the requirements as set forth above will be administratively withdrawn from their program.