A student’s Supervisory Committee is responsible for both the mentoring and assessment of students and their work after successful completion of the qualifying exam.

The School of Graduate Studies requires students to form their Supervisory Committee and submit a Supervisory Committee Form <http://www.usu.edu/graduateschool/apply/pdf/Sup_Ctee_Form.pdf> by the end of their second semester in the program (spring of their first year). These committees are responsible for approving the student’s Program of Study after the qualifying examination is passed and for drawing up and administering the comprehensive examination. The Supervisory Committee also serves as the examining committee for the final oral examination.

A doctoral student’s Supervisory Committee consists of at least five faculty members from inside and outside the department of English who are interested in and able to help with the dissertation. All members of this committee must have doctoral degrees and be approved by the Dean of the School of Graduate Studies in accordance with the Utah State University General Catalog. Supervisory Committees must include

• three members of the faculty from the written communication areas of the Department of English who are identified as primary faculty members in the TPPC program
• one additional faculty member from the Department of English who is not listed as a primary faculty member in the TPPC program
• one faculty member from outside the Department of English

One member of the committee is designated the student’s chair or major professor. Usually, this will be one of the three primary faculty members in the TPPC program. The student will work most closely with this member.

While students should make every effort to form their full committee by the end of their second semester, the School of Graduate Studies recognizes that students in the TPPC program may need additional time to recruit the committee member from outside the department. Students may therefore submit their Supervisory Committee form at the end of their second semester with just the four members from inside the English Department. A revised Supervisory Committee form, adding the fifth member from outside the department, must be filed by February 15 in the student’s fourth semester (spring of their second year). This revised form will list all five members but need only be initialed by the newly-added member and signed by the department head.

Program of Study

The Program of Study form lists all the courses that will count towards the fulfillment of a student’s degree requirements. It also lists the student’s contact information and the working title of his or her dissertation. It is signed by the student, by all the members of the student’s Supervisory Committee, by the Department Head, and by the Graduate Dean. Once the Program of Study form has been submitted and approved, revisions can be made to it by a memo from the Director of Graduate Studies in English to the Graduate School. Students must file the Program of Study form with the Graduate School by the end of their third semester (fall of their second year) in the program. If they fail to meet this deadline, the Graduate School will stop granting them waivers of tuition.

If students have not yet recruited their fifth committee member from outside the department by the end of their third semester, they may submit their Program of Study form signed by just the four members from inside the English Department. A revised Program of Study form, signed by the outside-the-department member, must be filed by February 15 in the student’s fourth semester (spring of their second year). This revised form will list all five members but need only be signed by the newly-added member, by the major professor, and by the department head.

Program of Study Worksheet

During students’ third semester (fall of their second year), before they submit the Program of Study form to the Graduate School, they should complete the Program of Study Worksheet [link to worksheet] and submit it to their major professor for approval. The Program of Study form is organized chronologically and is intended for the Graduate School. The Worksheet is organized by TPPC program requirements and is intended to help the student and major professor check that all program requirements will be met.