What should I know about finishing my program?

During your next-to-last semester in the Department, you will need to begin planning for your capstone project or thesis defense. If you have selected a Capstone Project option for your degree, you will need to identify a supervising faculty member and a potential project for the following term (noting that such projects can rarely be completed in the summer months). See the Capstone Project page for additional deadlines and instructions. For a thesis, you will work with your advisor to identify the procedures for wrapping up the thesis.

In addition, you should also contact the Director of English Graduate Studies to prepare for graduation. You will need to identify the courses you have registered for in anticipation of your final semester of coursework, and identify the supervising faculty member for the capstone project or thesis (this information is critical for the department to determine available second readers). Your POS will also need to be reviewed and brought up to date. This schedule provides an opportunity to correct errors and make necessary adjustments while there is still time to change your course enrollment. We will also need to be sure that Banner shows your enrollment in any certificate programs you’ve selected. 

In your final semester of enrollment, you will need to fill out and file Applications for Advanced Degree (those deadlines are September 1 for fall graduation, February 1 for spring graduation, and June 1 for summer graduation).

Applicants for M.A. with Certificates in Technical Communication or TESOL

Students who are applying for an M.A. in English with a Technical Communication Certificate OR a TESOL Certificate will need to check off on the graduate application both the M.A. in English and the Technical Communication Certificate or TESOL Certificate. Two Programs of Study (POS’s), one for the degree and one for the certificate, will need to be signed and submitted, as will an Application for Graduate Degree and Application for Graduate Certificate (initiated by the student near the end of a graduate program). In other words, there are separate “paper trails” (application to grad school, POS, application for degree and/or certificate) for the degrees and the certificate. If the appropriate paperwork is not completed, degrees/certificates will not appear on students’ transcripts.