Getting Started

To be admitted to an English major program, you need to see an English advisor. Your advisor will talk with you about program options and help you complete and submit your major or minor application form. Copies of these forms are available at the English department office. Your advisor will also assign you a faculty mentor who will help you compile your portfolio as you take your courses.

Those of you seeking teacher certification need to talk to the Certification Office about the admission requirements for teacher education programs and will need to complete those requirements. See an education advisor to establish a plan for completing the professional sequence courses which lead to teacher certification.

Planning Your Course of Study

There are many options in each strand of the major and minor programs. However, all students in the English and English/Language Arts Teaching Majors will begin their programs with the following two courses, which may be taken in sequence or simultaneously:

• ENG 302 Poetry and Poetics is designed to help you become aware of the ways in which language can appeal to our senses through its designs, sounds, situations, rhythms, moods, tones and voices, a good orientation to the intense, concentrated critical analysis literature, and especially poetry, requires.
• ENG 303 Principles of English Studies is an introduction to the ways of reading and writing you will be expected to recognize and practice in your other courses. In this class you will also begin your major portfolio - the focus of your senior colloquium - by submitting a writing sample and a purpose statement explaining why you chose the major and what you hope to learn. This writing sample will also function as an intermediate writing assessment as required by university policy.

Students in the English Major: Writing Specialization are expected to complete ENG 301, Rhetoric, and ENG 303 (described above) prior to enrolling in other upper division courses.

Selecting Courses from the Program Strand

Each major and minor requires a certain number of classes from each strand, but there is room to personalize your own program within the guidelines. You should think about your interests and your goals when designing your program.

The program outlines on this Web site and in the university catalog give you guidelines for planning a program. The options within each strand allow for much flexibility - but if you find that you need or want to substitute one class for another, check with your advisor. Your advisor should be able to give you an idea of when most classes will be offered; the department has a tentative schedule for two years in the future, but the schedule is changeable.

Some Things to Remember

• You need a minimum of 180 credits to graduate
• At least 60 credits must be upper division (all courses numbered 300 and above)
• Study in residence on the university campus of at least three quarters with a minimum of 45 credits is required.
• You should plan to take the senior colloquium during your last term
• Course planning schedule and a "Permit to Substitute for Required Course" forms are available at the English department office

Making the Most of Your Studies

If you enjoy studying English, you already know some of the pleasures and complications of reading and writing with others. Most people appreciate the variety of the reading and writing experiences. Most people also appreciate the variety of approaches and strategies professors use in major courses. However, it is inevitable that sometimes that variety of expectations and perspectives can be confusing or frustrating. Your grades, and our comments on your work, may not always seem to take into account the amount of thought and effort that went into your assignments. You may feel at times that you are only discovering after the fact what your professors wanted you to do.

If this happens, be reassured that we do our best to make our expectations clear and our suggestions for improvement helpful and positive. However, in upper division courses in English, as well as in many other disciplines, you are frequently asked to work beyond the realm of certainty and correctness and in the realm of probability and effectiveness. We can tell you what we expect you to do; but we cannot guarantee the level of success of the end endeavor. Our evaluations of your work are meant to supplement our instruction; they are intended to help you achieve higher levels of success in subsequent assignments. Read your marginal comments. Take advantage of office hours and conference opportunities. Talk about your ideas with others. Through interaction and practice with a variety of readers, your interpretive and writing abilities will become stronger and more flexible.

Compiling Your Portfolio

During your course of study you'll be required to compile either a paper or an electronic portfolio which represents your accomplishments in the major. As you write papers and complete assignments for courses and get feedback from your professors, you will acquire a number of papers from which to choose. The program coordinators will serve as portfolio mentors and will let you know what the portfolio requirements include. For example, those of you in the English Major will need to select and save literary analysis papers to include in order to reflect your familiarity with various methods of reading texts. English/Language Arts Majors will complete an e-portfolio using LiveText software which will include assignments from major and professional sequence classes to demonstrate competence in each of the outcomes required for a teaching endorsement in your chosen field. Portfolios are completed within the required senior colloquium classes.

Satisfactory Progress and Academic Standing

Everything you need to know about academic and general regulations can be found in the Undergraduate/Graduate Catalog. While a summary of the more important regulations and requirements is provided here, you should also review the appropriate sections of the university catalog occasionally to be certain you are on track. Even though faculty will be available and accessible to you for advising as you progress through your academic program, it is your responsibility to become familiar with department and university policies and procedures.

The usual undergraduate load is 15 credits per quarter, including physical education activities, and 45 credits should constitute the study load for the academic year. Students with a cumulative grade point average of 2.8 or higher are eligible with approval to carry overloads. Loads of 19 to 20 credits must have approval of the Director of Academic Advising for pre-major students and of the department chair for students who have been admitted to majors. Loads in excess of 20 credits must be approved by the appropriate school dean, as well as the department chair, or in the case of pre-major students, the Director of Academic Advising. Students on academic probation may not carry loads in excess of 12 credits.

Full-time and part-time students are determined by the number of credits for which they registered. A full-time student has enrolled for 12 or more credits. Students participating in activities which require "normal/satisfactory progress" must be registered for and successfully complete 12 or more credits per quarter. Veterans should see the veterans affairs office for additional requirements

Good Standing is defined as a quarterly and cumulative grade point average of 2.0 or higher. A GPA that falls below 2.0 can result in Academic Warning, Probation and even Suspension. Students with a GPA of 3.5 or higher are listed on the honor roll, and if the cumulative GPA is above 3.5 at graduation, baccalaureate honors are awarded.

Departmental Honor

The honors program in English recognizes the superior scholarship of those students who are able to complete successfully an advanced independent study and writing project. To qualify for the program, you must have completed 25 credits in your major program, have an overall GPA of 3.0 and 3.4 in English, and be re commended by three faculty members, including two from the English Department.

The chair of the department, as director of the program, will appoint an honors advisor and two readers to approve and direct your studies. Under the direction of your advisor, you will enroll for ENG 496: Independent Study, in which you will design and complete an independent project in addition to completing your other major requirements. Prior to your last quarter in residence you will complete a study culminating in the writing of an honors paper, an essay treating a subject appropriate for undergraduate English study and reflecting an awareness of the humanistic emphasis of the discipline. When your committee and program director accept the honors paper, you will graduate with departmental honors in English.

Quarterly Advising Meetings

While you will have regular contact with your major advisor, we supplement that individual interaction with advising meetings, held the day before classes begin and during pre-registration each quarter. At these sessions, faculty members will be present to acquaint you with future offerings, answer your questions, review your progress and gather information from you about your interests and concerns. Regular attendance at these sessions offers you contact with your peers and insures that we work together to make the program as effective as possible.