The MA/PhD program is designed for graduate students who enter the program without already holding a Master’s (MA) degree in English or closely-related field. It requires 48 units (“credits”) of graduate coursework; this represents 12 courses at 4 units per course, all of which must be taken for a letter grade (as opposed to “Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory”). 36 units—including 20 chosen to fulfill the distribution requirements detailed below—must be completed in the student’s first two years, before taking the first qualifying exam. The first qualifying exam serves as the MA examination for students in this program. The remaining 12 coursework units must be completed before submission of the dissertation prospectus for the second qualifying exam;  upon passing the second qualifying exam, a student will be considered a PhD candidate.

It is university policy that graduate students enroll for at least 8 units per quarter, although you may enroll in up to 12. Particularly when holding TAships, students in the MA/PhD program normally take only two coursework-heavy seminars per quarter; additional units, which require no formal work, may be added to ensure a student remains enrolled at 8 units; the Director of Graduate Studies and/or Staff Graduate Advisor can advise students on how best to proceed with ensuring full-time enrollment.

Students in the MA/PhD program are required to take one course in each of Areas I through V in their first two years (courses must be taken for a letter grade, and may be chosen from either of the fields in each Area).

The MA/PhD program is designed for a five-year timeline. MA/PhD students must take their first qualifying examination no later than their sixth quarter of residence, and the second qualifying examination no later than their tenth. Normative progress-to-degree in the English program requires advancement to candidacy at the beginning of the fourth year; note that university policy mandates that all graduate students advance to candidacy by the close of their fourth year (see Section 3.5 ). In addition, students advancing to candidacy must satisfy the foreign language requirement.

It is the responsibility of each student to ensure  they continue making normative progress in the program – i.e., to complete courses, satisfy language requirements, and pass the first and second qualifying exams in timely fashion. Satisfactory progress toward the degree is often a precondition of assignment to TAships, and students cannot hold an Associateship teaching position as Instructor of Record (an opportunity often available during Summer Sessions) without having passed the first qualifying exam.

The following table shows how the MA/PhD Program requirements might be arranged in a five-year timeline:

Filing for an Incomplete (“I”) requires an Incomplete Petition, signed by the course instructor and e-filed via the Staff Graduate Advisor and the UCSB Office of the Registrar. It is a student’s responsibility to initiate an Incomplete Petition, and students granted an “Incomplete” will be expected to fulfill course requirements by the end of the following academic quarter. In keeping with Graduate Division policy, students can carry no more than eight “Incomplete” units at once; students exceeding this limit cannot be granted a TAship until the quarter after they catch up. Similarly, students on fellowship who hold more than eight “Incomplete” units should expect to lose a commensurate amount of TAship opportunities in the future.

Students with extenuating circumstances may thus want to avail themselves of the strategy of changing their grading option from a letter grade to “S/U” (“Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory”) in order to avoid either an “I” or a lower grade (assuming that work performed in the course prior to the final paper was “satisfactory”). Note that courses taken “S/U” will not count as credit toward degree requirements (see Section 3.1), though they will appear on student transcripts. Students with legitimate academic, personal, or medical reasons may petition the Graduate Committee for an exception to these rules.

The timely completion of coursework is a crucial factor in making normal progress in the program.

“Time-to-degree” (set by Graduate Division) should not be confused with Normative Progress detailed above (set by the English Department). The Graduate Division has set our time-to-degree as 21 quarters (7 academic years) to completion.  Summer quarters do not count toward this limit, whether or not a student is employed by the university. Students beyond normative time-to-degree lose priority for central and departmental funding, and may be denied funding and/or student employment opportunities (TAships) at the university. In the English department, students are required to advance to candidacy within 12 quarters (4 academic years) of entering the program.

Students with extenuating circumstances could also ask to change their grading option from a letter grade to “S/U” (“Satisfactory/Unsatisfactory”) in order to avoid either an “I” or a lower grade (assuming that work performed in the course prior to the final paper was “satisfactory”). Note that courses taken “S/U” will not count as credit toward degree requirements (see Section 3.1), though they will appear on student transcripts. Students with legitimate academic, personal, or medical reasons may petition the Graduate Committee for an exception to these rules. Note that the timely completion of coursework is a crucial factor in making normal progress in the program. The Director of Graduate Studies and the Staff Graduate Advisor can advise graduate students on their options in such scenarios; for this reason, it is important for graduate students to be as proactive as possible in communicating their unique circumstances if and when necessary.

The Registrar’s office classifies graduate students into three categories, based on their level of advancement and/or time in the program. This classification is aligned with, but independent of, departmental “normative progress” toward degree. Most students are either P1-status (not yet advanced to candidacy) or P2-status (advanced to candidacy, “ABD” or “All But Dissertation”). Once you advance to candidacy, you have three additional years (9 quarters) to complete your degree. If you do not file your dissertation at the end of the 9th quarter, you are converted to P3 status.

Classification:

• P1 Status (Not advanced): Assigned by Registrar
  • Eligible to apply for central funding
  • Eligible to apply for extramural funding
  • Eligible to apply for employment (e.g. TAship)
• P2 Status (Advanced): Assigned by Registrar
  • Begins the quarter after advancement to candidacy
  • Eligible to apply for central funding
  • Eligible to apply for extramural funding
  • Eligible to apply for employment (e.g., TAship)
• P3 Status: Assigned by Registrar
  • Begins 10 registered quarters after advancement to candidacy
  • Not eligible to apply for central funding
  • Eligible to apply for extramural funding
  • Eligible to apply for employment (e.g., TAship)

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