Program of Study committee

For students in the Ph.D. program, the Program of Study (POS) committee will normally consist of five members of the graduate faculty. Below are specific guidelines for the composition of the committee (See committee make-up for co-majors.):

• At least one committee member must be from outside the Department of English.
• Normally, the remaining four members of the committee will be from the English Department. Of these, three must be from the major area and one must be from a major area outside the student's major area but within the English Department.
• A faculty member from a major area other than the student's major area may co-chair the POS committee.

Information about English Department graduate faculty and their areas of research and teaching can be found in the Graduate Faculty section of this manual. If a faculty member is listed under your major area, that faculty member cannot serve as an outside committee member. Former outside committee members from faculty outside the English Department are also available.

Committee's role

The POS committee is responsible for the following:

• overseeing a student's progress through the curriculum
• administering and evaluating the specialized field part of the preliminary examination
• approving the dissertation prospectus
• overseeing the work on the dissertation
• administering and evaluating the dissertation defense

Selecting a committee

Selecting members of the POS committee is similar to the process for choosing a major professor choosing your major professor. Typically students seek the advice of their program advisers and graduate instructors. Before asking faculty for a commitment, students typically review with prospective committee members both the student's and faculty member's research interests as well as the faculty member's willingness to serve.

Recommendation for Committee Appointment

When your committee members have agreed to serve, obtain a Committee Appointment Form. Obtain each committee member's signature on the form and submit it to the Graduate English Office for approval by the Director of Graduate Education (DOGE). This completed form is due for approval by the deadline in your fifth semester in the Ph.D. program.

How the committee works

The POS committee meets according to the needs and wishes of you and your major professor. At the Ph.D. level, it is likely that the POS committee will meet at least once to discuss your program of study. The committee will also meet to administer the specialized field exam (RPC) or the Preliminary Oral Exam (ALT), to approve your prospectus for the dissertation, and to administer the dissertation defense. The POS committee may convene on other occasions as necessary or desirable. Remember that the POS committee can perform its several functions well only if you form your committee by the required deadline.

Changing committee members

Remember that filing your committee paperwork does not commit you for life; you can readily make changes. Changes will depend upon

• consent of the faculty member(s) to be added
• agreement between you and your major professor
• consent of the faculty member(s) being replaced
• approval of the English Department's Director of Graduate Education (DOGE)

After the faculty members to be added and replaced have consented to the change, obtain a Request to Change Committee Appointment form. Signatures must be obtained from your major professor and all committee members involved in the change. You must submit it to the Graduate English Office for approval by the Director of Graduate Education (DOGE). Changes must be approved by the Graduate College Dean before the final oral examination is held.

It is a courtesy for you to make POS committee changes as soon as you know they are necessary, and certainly before faculty have performed large amounts of consulting and editing for you. Making changes promptly allows faculty to shift their time to other students seeking their input.

Program of Study form

The Program of Study (POS) Form represents an agreement between you and the Graduate College on your academic preparation for an advanced degree. It lists the courses you have taken and will take for your graduate degree. This completed form is due for approval by the deadline in your fifth semester in the Ph.D. program.

Notice that courses taken as a graduate student that are not graduate credits (like undergraduate courses required by a POS committee to make up for background deficiencies) are designated as Z courses on the form. Graduate courses taken at another university are designated as TR courses, and ISU graduate courses taken as an ISU undergraduate are designated as U courses. If you have transfer credits, you need to provide a copy of your approved Transfer Credit Petition with copies of transcripts for those courses (a Graduate College requirement). Copies of the approved POS Planning Sheet,  Ph.D. Concentration Petition (RPC students only) , POS waivers/equivalencies memos, over-age course memos, and a Language Requirement Form (ALT students only) should also be attached.

You should complete the POS form with the help of your major professor, and the advice and consent of your POS committee. Because your POS form is a vital document for your graduation, the various check points help catch errors before those errors delay your graduation.

The first and most important check of the POS form occurs when you meet with your major professor to discuss your POS and get his/her signature on your POS form. To avoid a registration hold for your sixth semester, you should fill out the POS form very carefully with your major professor, checking to be sure that you fill in all the blanks and get all the necessary signatures, including your own. Then submit the form to the Graduate English Office by the required deadline. In the past semesters approximately 85% of POS forms have been returned to students because of errors that might have been caught by either the student or the major professor during the first POS check. Not checking your own form carefully before turning it in may negatively impact your ability to register on time.

Once approved by the Graduate College, changes can be made by filing the Modifications to the Program of Study (POS) Form.