Program Policy on the "Seven-Year Rule": Notice to Students

The following policy has been approved by the Department of English and the Graduate Studies Office. If you have questions about this policy, we encourage you to contact the Graduate Coordinators.

There is a seven-year limitation on units earned towards the M.A. in English Composition. No more than seven years may elapse between the time of registration for the earliest course listed on a student’s program plan (advancement to candidacy form) and the completion of all requirements for the degree, including the filing of an approved thesis. Students who have taken any required or elective course which expires subsequent to Spring Quarter 2006 because it exceeds this seven-year limitation will be required to retake the course, regardless of the grade originally earned. If the course is no longer offered, students will be required to take a comparable course selected by the Graduate Coordinator or Associate Graduate Coordinator. Only by retaking the course or taking a comparable course can a student satisfy currency. The English Department will not assess or validate a student’s currency in a course which expires subsequent to Spring 2006 or approve a student's petition to waive the seven-year limitation on such a course.

 This policy has been instituted for the following reasons:

• A degree date acts a certification of currency in the field; we believe that degrees bearing a current date but awarded based upon course work undertaken more than seven years ago undermine the academic integrity of our program. Because substantial numbers of our students intend to teach in the community colleges, we are particularly concerned that their knowledge of the field be current, as this issue of currency directly impacts the perceived value of our program in the community we serve.

• Curriculum in the M.A. program is routinely updated to reflect current scholarly and disciplinary trends. The curriculum of each concentration and the program as a whole consists of integrated courses, in which the knowledge gained in one course is reinforced and expanded upon by another. The value of this integration is lost if students rely upon courses taken more than seven years ago.

• The student’s coursework provides the foundation allowing him or her to engage in the research leading to the culminating project required of all students in the program, the thesis. Failure to complete the thesis within the seven-year period allowed jeopardizes its scholarly relevance and value, and leads to a host of practical and pedagogical problems for faculty serving on thesis committees.

• We wish to encourage students to complete their degrees in a timely fashion; neither students nor the program are well served when more than seven years is devoted to earning a degree that can readily be earned in the generous span of seven years (21 quarters) currently allowed. Students who experience personal problems requiring an extended period away from their graduate studies should file a formal petition for a leave of absence with the University to preserve their catalog rights.

Note: The effective date of credit expiration (subsequent to Spring 2006) was selected to allow publication of the new policy and advise students who hade devoted less than seven years to the program of the need to complete their degree requirements so that they will not be required to retake courses. Under certain very limited circumstances, students whose required or elective courses expire during or prior to Spring 2006 may be eligible for waivers. Please contact the program coordinators if you have questions about your status. Publication on our program website constitutes notice to all students of the institution of this policy.