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About the Doctoral Degrees
The English Department offers two doctoral degrees: the Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Professional Communication and the Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics and Technology.
Credits and time restrictions
For the Ph.D. in Rhetoric and Professional Communication or Ph.D. in Applied Linguistics and Technology, students must complete a minimum of 60 credit hours above the B.A. or B.S., plus 12 hours of credit in 699. Students must have completed a master's degree upon entry into either of the Ph.D. programs and are expected to complete the program within five years (seven years maximum).
Cases in which the student leaves ISU during his or her graduate career and later returns are dealt with individually by the Director of Graduate Education, the student's POS committee, and the Graduate College.
Residency and registration requirements
Ph.D. students are expected to earn at least 24 credit hours during two consecutive semesters or during a continuous period including two semesters and a summer session. This requirement does not apply to doctoral students who are employed at least half-time (e.g., teaching assistants) by Iowa State University. Students must also complete at Iowa State University a minimum of 36 credit hours that have been approved by the POS committee.
Special Registration Procedures and Policies
English 699: Research
English 699 is the course students enroll in for the purpose of writing the dissertation. There is a presumption that 699 credits will be part of a coherent research agenda leading to the dissertation. Students may register for more than 12 credit hours of 699 although not more than 12 credit hours will count on the POS. Normally 699 credits may be taken if students have met the following requirements:
- filed with the Graduate College the paperwork for the Ph.D. POS committee
- completed 45 hours of Ph.D. coursework
- completed the portfolio assessment
- (RPC Ph.D. only) completed English 601 (a primary core requirement)
Students who have not fulfilled the above requirements may take 699 credits only by filing a petition that must be approved by the Director of Graduate Education. Registration reference numbers for 699 may be obtained in the Graduate English Office, 403 Ross Hall, once these requirements are met.
Graduate Studies 680: Continuous Registration
Students may register for Graduate Studies 680 (Continuous Registration) after having passed the preliminary examination and before having completed the final oral defense of the dissertation.
| Doctoral students who have passed the preliminary examination must register for either Graduate Studies 680 or English 699 until they finish the degree. Students who fail to do so will be registered retroactively at the time of graduation and charged the appropriate fees for all semesters in which they did not register. |
Discontinuous Registration
Once admitted and enrolled for classes in the Ph.D. program, it is possible to take a semester off at some point and still remain in the program. Such "leave-taking" assumes that you are not in a position to take English 699, Graduate Studies 680 (Continuous Registration), or Graduate Studies 600 (Examination Only) and should be discussed with your program adviser or major professor.
It is not possible to take a leave of absence from a teaching assistantship. If you discontinue your enrollment, you must resign your teaching position and then reapply for an assistantship, using the same application deadline as those newly applying to the program (usually January 15), to be reinstated. Because this application for an assistantship will be evaluated along with that of those newly applying to the program, reappointment to a teaching position is not guaranteed. (See page 1.16 for more information.)
