Year 3: Requirements, Expectations & Deadlines

During the seventh quarter, students will register for one four-unit LTXX 298 with the Chair or Co-Chair of their Doctoral Committee (or other member, if necessary) to begin work on the qualifying research paper. It should demonstrate the student's awareness of relevant research on the topic and make a clearly stated contribution to the field. Ideally, it should lead to dissertation research. It may be the source of a future publication, although this need not be the case.

Requirements

• The paper will be 30-35 pages long.
• The paper should represent work in a distinct area of study, with a minimum of overlap regarding materials prepared for the two reading lists. 

The qualifying paper will be due to the department and committee one month before the student’s planned written qualifying exam.

The qualifying paper must be deemed acceptable by all members of the committee before the student is eligible to proceed with their written/oral exams as scheduled. The qualifying paper is also considered the capstone project that, in addition to their coursework, renders a student eligible for an MA-along-the-way or a terminal MA (see “Master of Arts and Candidate in Philosophy Degrees” below for more information.)

Students should have already completed the following tasks before the start of the 9^th Quarter, in preparation for the qualifying exam process.If any of these have not been completed, students must complete them as soon as possible.The qualifying exam process may not move forward until these are done:

1. Constitute Doctoral Committee: See the “Program: Year 2” page of the handbook.
2. Submit the "Pre-Qualifying Meeting Worksheet" to the Graduate Office: See the “Program: Year 2” page of the handbook.
3. Update PhD Worksheet through the 9^th Quarter: See the “Lit Dept & PhD Overview” page of the handbook.

During the 9^th Quarter, students complete the remaining steps in the qualifying exam process.

At the beginning of the quarter

1. Confirm the Doctoral Committee: The student will confirm that their Doctoral Committee (as constituted with GEPA) is up-to-date and still meets all requirements for a valid committee. If any changes need to be made, the student will reconstitute their committee (see more details below about committee reconstitution).
2. PhD Worksheet Submission: The student must complete all their coursework requirements, including the 18 seminar, historical breadth, and language requirements. Any necessary course petitions should have already been submitted and approved. The student’s current Doctoral Committee must be listed on the bottom of the form as well. The final (completed) PhD Worksheet, which will be reviewed by the Graduate Coordinator for accuracy, must be attached to the "PhD Qualifying Exam Schedule Request" form (see next steps). If any requirements are not yet fulfilled, the student will not be able to move forward with the qualifying exam. In-progress courses are okay, but all necessary petitions must already be approved and on file. 
3. Qualifying Paper Submission: The final qualifying paper (which the committee will assess for acceptability) is due to the Graduate Coordinator one month before the first written exam. The paper must be attached to the “PhD Qualifying Exam Schedule Request” form (see next step), and the Graduate Coordinator will distribute it to the student’s committee for evaluation.
4. PhD Qualifying Exam Schedule Request: Once the student has worked directly with their Doctoral Committee to determine the date, time, and modality for the oral exam, they must complete and submit the "PhD Qualifying Exam Schedule Request" form (see the “Forms” page of the website).  Within the form, the student will also enter the dates/times of the two written exams (at least two weeks before the oral exam), as well as attach the final qualifying research paper. The completed form must be submitted to the department at least one month prior to the first written exam date.

By the end of the quarter

1. Written Exam (timed): The student will complete the two days of timed written exams, facilitated by the Graduate Coordinator. (See more details about the written exam format below)
2. Oral Exam: At least two weeks after the written exams, the oral exam will take place. (See more details about the oral exam format below)
3. Final Paperwork Submission:  The Graduate Coordinator routes the “Final Report of the Qualifying Examination and Advancement to Candidacy” to the Doctoral Committee during the oral exam (via DocuSign).  Once the entire committee has signed the form online, it is automatically routed to the Director of Doctoral Studies (or Department Chair in some cases).  Once they have signed, it is automatically submitted to GEPA. After GEPA has processed the paperwork, they will add the candidacy fee to the student’s campus bill and notify the student of their approved advancement to candidacy. The student will pay the candidacy fee online at their earliest convenience.

For the Qualifying Oral Exam, all members of the student’s Doctoral Committee must participate in accordance with campus policy.

The preferred means to conduct graduate examinations (doctoral qualifying examination and final dissertation/thesis defense) is when the student and all members of the committee are physically present in the same room. The Department of Literature has determined, however, that exams may be conducted in one of three formats: 1) in-person, with all members physically present; 2) hybrid, with no more than two members participating by live video teleconference, the others being in-person; or 3) remote, with all members participating via live video teleconference. It is expected that all committee members participating via video teleconference will do so synchronously. 

• Regardless of format, in the event that a committee member is unable to attend the scheduled exam (excepting the chair or co-chairs), it is permissible for the member a), to prepare material in advance, submitting it to the committee chair or co-chairs for inclusion during the exam, or b), to examine the student on a separate date - in advance of the scheduled oral exam date.
• If an emergency arises resulting in more than one committee member being unable to attend the exam, the committee chair or co-chairs may use their discretion regarding how to proceed. There must be sufficient expertise among present members to examine the student.

The format of exams will be determined by the student and committee chair(s) in conference with committee members. 

It is the student’s responsibility to work with their committee to schedule the oral exam and meet the above requirements. If a faculty will be examining the student in advance, they will still need to sign the Final Report Form (via DocuSign) on the day of the scheduled oral exam. The paperwork will not move forward until all committee members have signed.

The qualifying written exam consists of the qualifying research paper and two (timed) written exams. The qualifying research paper will have already been submitted one month before the written exam. The two (timed) written exams will take place at least two weeks before the scheduled oral exam. The written exams will take place on two days, with one day off in between (or a two-day weekend, if scheduled for Friday & Monday). The first exam day concentrates on the student’s first reading list; the second exam day concentrates on the student’s second reading list. Each day's exam consists of one four-hour essay.  Students and Doctoral Committee members will consult about possible questions for the exam, but faculty are not permitted to inform the student of a question's final configuration. The Committee Chair has the final responsibility to prepare the exam questions by soliciting questions from the Doctoral Committee members. From the suggested list of questions, the Committee Chair will choose two for each exam; the student will then choose one of the questions for each exam.

Individual written exam questions will often have multiple elements or sub-questions, and students are expected to address all elements of the question they choose to write on. Each written exam should be at least 2,000 words. Students may use books and notes during the examination. If the examination is to be written in a language other than English, it must be specified in writing prior to the exam. If a student submits an incomplete written exam (e.g., not addressing all elements of the chosen question) or a written exam of insufficient length (fewer than 2,000 words), their exam is subject to departmental review to determine if they must retake the written exam in order to pass. This determination will happen before the scheduled oral exam and will be made in conjunction with the student’s doctoral committee.

The Graduate Coordinator will email the two questions to the student at a predetermined time (as arranged by the student). The student then has four hours to write their essay and email it to the Graduate Coordinator as an attachment. The Graduate Coordinator is responsible for providing the completed exams to each member of the Doctoral Committee. If a student submits their written exam after the deadline, their exam is subject to departmental review to determine if they must retake the written exam in order to pass.  This determination will happen before the scheduled oral exam and will be made in conjunction with the student’s doctoral committee.

All members of the Doctoral Committee will read all written components of the exam.

The oral examination follows the written examination by two to four weeks. The oral examination will last for two hours and will cover materials on the reading lists, the written exam essays, and the qualifying research paper. The Doctoral Committee must agree unanimously that the student has passed the combined oral/written examination. Students must pass both the qualifying paper and the oral/written exams to advance to candidacy.

The oral examination is a private meeting. Students may invite no more than four observers, who usually attend to take notes on the examination.

If the Doctoral Committee unanimously agrees that the student has passed the qualifying exams, they will sign the “Final Report of the Qualifying Examination and Advancement to Candidacy” via DocuSign. It will then route to the Director of Doctoral Studies (or the Department Chair in some cases) for their signature. Once fully signed within the department, it will  automatically be submitted to GEPA. After GEPA has processed the paperwork, they will add the candidacy fee ($50) to the student’s campus bill and notify the student of their approved advancement to candidacy. The student will pay the candidacy fee online at their earliest convenience.

Passing all components of the qualifying exam (qualifying paper and combined written/oral exam) advances a student to candidacy. It means that the committee deems the student ready to begin the dissertation, and will continue to work with the student unless the student wishes to reconstitute, the student changes the direction of their research such that another committee would be more appropriate, or a committee member/members request removal from the committee for another reason.

If the committee chair feels that a student is in danger of failing any element of the qualifying exam, the chair should clearly inform the student of their concerns well in advance of the exam, so that the student can choose to work on improving foundational skills, seek additional help, and/or seek a timeline extension if appropriate and warranted. Faculty are reminded that serious concerns about a student’s academic progress should be shared clearly with students and documented in writing (for instance, in Spring Evaluations).

The specific components of the qualifying exam will be assessed as follows:

1. Qualifying Paper: The qualifying paper must be deemed acceptable by the committee before the student is eligible to proceed with their written/oral exams. The qualifying paper is also considered the capstone project that, in addition to their coursework, renders a student eligible for an MA-along-the-way or a terminal MA.

The committee will assess the qualifying paper according to the following rubric:

The entire committee must agree on this assessment.

The Qualifying Paper, if the student receives an assessment of Pass, will render the student eligible to proceed with the written/oral exam. It will also enable a student to leave the program with a terminal MA (if they are eligible per GEPA policy on duplication of degree—see “Master of Arts and Candidate in Philosophy Degree” below for more details.) A student who passes the qualifying paper can leave with a terminal MA without taking the written/oral qualifying exam or if they later fail the written/oral qualifying exam.

1. Written Exam: Students must submit a completed written exam in order to schedule an oral exam. However, the committee’s assessment of the written exam will take place concurrent with the assessment of the oral exam. The written exam will need to be deemed complete in order to schedule an oral exam, but will not be assessed as either passing or failing until after the oral component of the exam.
2. Oral Exam: The committee will hold the oral exam, and then will assess the written and oral exam together, as two components of one overall examination (since the oral exam typically asks the student to elaborate on/expand their written exam answers).

The committee will assess the combined written/oral exam according to the following rubric:

If a student receives an assessment of “Pass,” the student will advance to candidacy. Upon passing the qualifying examination, the doctoral candidate will be awarded the Candidate in Philosophy degree (an interim degree).

If the examining committee requests a re-examination, the committee will clarify the weaknesses in the exam, so that the student can prepare to take it a second time if they choose to do so. If a second oral examination is warranted, it should be taken no later than one quarter after the first examination. One re-examination is allowed; a student cannot be granted a second re-examination.

A student who fails the combined written/oral exam cannot advance to candidacy and will be terminated from the program, but is eligible to receive a terminal M.A. unless they are deemed ineligible to do so per GEPA restrictions on duplication of degree.

Upon passing the entire qualifying examination (qualifying paper and written/oral exam), the doctoral candidate will be awarded the Candidate in Philosophy degree (an interim degree).

Some students may also receive an M.A. degree (also known as an “M.A.-Along-the-Way”) based on the qualifying paper. UCSD policy dictates that duplicate degrees may not be awarded unless the disciplines are substantially different. Literature students who have not previously earned an M.A. degree will automatically be awarded the M.A.-Along-the-Way from UCSD when their committee passes their qualifying paper and approves their advancement to the written/oral qualifying exam.

For Literature students who have previously earned an M.A. degree, the department may request to award an M.A.-Along-the-Way if it is determined that the disciplines are substantially different (meaning completely outside of literary or cultural studies). The final decision is determined by GEPA and UCSD’s Academic Senate. If a student would like to know if they are eligible to receive an M.A.-Along-the-Way upon passing the qualifying paper, the student should consult with the Graduate Coordinator.

If a student is approved to receive an M.A.-Along-the-Way, the M.A. course requirements (which are a subset of the full PhD seminar requirements) must be fulfilled by only UCSD courses taken during the PhD Program. No transferred courses from previous graduate coursework may be applied to this subset of the requirements. The specific subset of twelve courses required for the M.A.-Along-the-Way degree are:

• LTTH 210A, 210B, and 210C
• 4 Graduate seminars in the primary literature concentration
• 2 Graduate seminars in the secondary literature (language other than the primary literature concentration)
• 1 Graduate seminar elective
• 2 LTxx 298s (qualifying prep independent study courses)