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Policies and Procedures
Terminal M.A. Degree:
This M.A. track may be recommended to students based on performance in the program. A minimum of 11 courses or 33 credits is required with a GPA of 3.0 or above. In lieu of the thesis/translation, students must successfully complete two additional courses, subject to the approval of the Graduate Program Director.
Incompletes:
Students should avoid taking any Incompletes (INC). Incompletes damage your chances for receiving university and outside fellowships. Even worse, they often cause students to fall further behind in their coursework and other requirements in the following semester.
With the exception of medical, family, or other emergencies, students in Comparative Literature are not permitted to take more than one Incomplete per semester. Students who take two or more Incompletes in any given semester will automatically be put on Probation, which will render them ineligible for a teaching assistantship in the following semester. Such students will lose their teaching fellowships and other grants while on Probation. Students who are carrying two or more Incompletes at any given time will face the same penalties. They also risk being required to take a leave of absence or to withdraw from the program.
If confronted by medical or family emergencies or other extraordinary circumstances that prevent you from completing your coursework in the semester in which the course is taken, you are expected, before the end of the semester, to inform the GPD that you need additional time; the GPD will work with such students on a schedule for resolving the INC that can be modified as circumstances warrant.
Incompletes must be completed before the end of the semester that follows the one in which the Incomplete was taken, unless the professor sets an earlier deadline. In the absence of extenuating circumstances, students who do not resolve their INC within this timeframe will be placed on Probation.
Note: Often students take Incompletes because they believe the extra time will allow them to write better seminar papers. Paradoxically, this is usually not the case; sometimes an extra week or two may be necessary to produce higher quality work, but any more time than that quickly becomes counterproductive. Perfectionism often hinders academic progress.
Conference Funding:
For domestic conferences, students can receive up to $300 in funding per event. For international conferences, students may receive up to $500 per event. All conference travel must be entered into the university online travel registry website PRIOR to travel for approval by the GPD and the Program Director. Students are required to send a brief email to the GPD if they decide not to attend a conference for which they requested funding so that the funding can become available to other students. Likewise, students must notify the GPD by email upon their return from a conference, confirming their attendance for program records.
MA Speaker Funding:
The program allocates $300 per academic year to M.A. students towards inviting a guest speaker or organizing another event. Please contact the Program Director and GPD to apply for these funds.