English Graduate Handbook: Graduate Committees

Graduate Executive Committee

Membership: The Director of Graduate Studies, the Directors of Freshman English, one member elected annually by the Department's Graduate Faculty, one graduate student representative (normally the president of EGSA, the English Graduate Student Association), and the Department Head, ex officio, plus three additional faculty appointed by the department's Executive Committee. (The student representative attends meetings on such matters as course assignments, Graduate program policy changes, etc., but does not attend meetings devoted to discussing the performance of specific students on examinations, or to awarding of fellowships, teaching assistantships and lectureships, admissions, and the like).

Function : The Committee, in consultation with the department's Graduate Faculty, determines general policy for the graduate program. The Committee's duties include: initiating program changes, discussing issues of student or faculty concern; acting on admissions; awarding fellowships, teaching assistantships and lectureships; arranging the graduate course schedule; and nominating candidates to the Graduate Faculty.

Graduate Examination Committee

Membership : The Director of Graduate Studies and seven faculty nominated annually by the Graduate Executive Committee and appointed by the department's Executive Committee; two graduate student representatives (appointed by EGSA) who have completed examinations for the Ph.D.

Function: The Committee administers all general graduate examinations. Its duties include: establishing dates, times, and readers for all general exams, selecting texts and questions for the M.A. written exam, establishing and revising reading lists for doctoral prelims and soliciting questions and procedures for all exams from the Department as a whole. Though written exams are authorized by the Graduate Examination Committee, they are composed by specialists in the field and are reviewed in advance both by appropriate faculty members selected by the Director of Graduate Studies and by the graduate student members of the Committee.

Graduate Admissions Committee

Membership : The Director of Graduate Studies and five faculty nominated annually by the Graduate Executive Committee and appointed by the department's Executive Committee.

Function: The Committee reads and evaluates applications for admission to the program, presenting recommendations to the Graduate Executive Committee and the Graduate School.

Graduate Placement Committee

Membership : Six members of the Department appointed annually by the Executive Committee.

Function : The Committee helps graduating students locate academic positions and prepare for job interviews.

Graduate Prospectus Review Committee

Membership : Members from the Graduate Executive Committee will be responsible for evaluating applicants' proposals. Three faculty members from this committee will be assigned this task per semester. The task will be done twice a year to comply with the Research Foundation's fall/spring deadlines.

Function : After the student's Advisory Committee has approved and signed the student's proposal, the Graduate Executive Committee will evaluate all proposals in competition for the Dissertation Fellowship Award that is given twice a year. The Director of Graduate Studies must also sign the application to confirm that the results of this evaluation were favorable.