2007 Review Schedule (pdf) (word) (html)
During your first year of study, you will complete courses in technical communication and rhetoric, your minor, and research methods. You also must complete the first-year review and doctoral degree plan. The first-year and annual reviews are based on the doctoral student's calendar-year annual report (get a blank annual report form).
The first-year review, along with your admission materials and coursework, assesses your ability to complete requirements for the PhD. It takes the place of a preliminary exam in the TCR program, and it offers an opportunity for mentoring.
This review, in your second semester in the program, is the first of the annual reviews reviews of your progress toward the PhD conducted initially by your advisory committee and later by your dissertation committee (see descriptions of both your advisory and dissertation committees below).
The review is based on a portfolio composed of a revised paper from a course in your first semester; your report of achievements and plans; evaluations by your first-semester instructors; and an interview with your advisory committee.
The first-year review provides both the student and faculty members a means by which success in the program can be predicted and needs and goals can be determined. The review will indicate your ability to read professional texts critically, to extract important data and to analyze thematic content in professional texts, and to articulate research problems and methods of solving them. The interview provides an opportunity for you and the committee to discuss course choices and possible dissertation topics. The chair of the advisory committee prepares a written report of the review for the Director of Graduate Studies in TCR including recommendations of the committee. The Director forwards a report to the Graduate School Dean.
The doctoral degree plan specifies your plans for meeting the requirements of coursework, including research methods courses and residence. It defines your dissertation area in general terms. You must prepare the doctoral degree plan, in consultation with the Director of Graduate Studies in TCR and your advisory committee, upon completion of the first-year review but within one year of your initial enrollment. The Director of Graduate Studies in TCR forwards the degree plan to the Dean of the Graduate School for approval.
Each year at the beginning of the spring semester either your advisory committee or your dissertation committee will provide the Director of Graduate Studies in TCR with a written review of your academic progress. This review will consider your accomplishments in the past year and includes a personal interview conducted by your committee. The purpose of the annual review is to provide you and the technical communication and rhetoric faculty a clear assessment of your strengths, to identify opportunities for professional development, and to support timely and effective completion of the program.
Last Updated by Joyce Locke Carter, September 18, 2008