All current MA and PhD students enrolled in the History Department’s graduate program are expected to make satisfactory progress toward completing the requirements of their degree. In most cases, students register as full-time, meaning that they enroll for at least nine credit hours per semester. All full-time students in the MA program are expected to complete all of the Master of Arts Requirements by the end of the fourth semester of study. University requirements state that all requirements for a master’s degree must be completed within eight years of the student’s enrollment.
Students entering the Ph.D. program are expected to take their Doctoral Comprehensive Examination soon after their fourth semester of residency. Upon successful completion of the comprehensive examinations, a student becomes a doctoral candidate. Students are on track if they successfully defend a dissertation prospectus the semester after they pass exams. Research and writing of the dissertation normally takes two or three years after admission to candidacy. University requirements state that doctoral candidates are allowed no more than five years to complete the degree after their admission to candidacy.
For details on residency requirements, transfer credits, petitions, extension requests, etc., contact the Director of Graduate Studies.
Program Requirements
In addition to individual degree requirements (see “Degree Requirements”), all current students enrolled in the History Department’s graduate program are expected to fulfill several common program requirements that are designed to serve as important milestones in the student’s progress toward completing the degree. These requirements include:
- All incoming graduate students should make an appointment with the Director of
Graduate Studies or the Director of Public History at the beginning of the first
semester of study to discuss possible course selections and fields of study.
A tentative plan of study will be drawn up and placed in the student’s permanent
file, and a copy of the plan will be forwarded to the student’s main faculty
adviser.
- All new graduate students must make an appointment to meet with their main faculty
adviser during the first semester of study. Doctoral students must also meet
with faculty members who will serve as their field examiners for comprehensive
exams. These meetings should take place before registration for the next semester
begins. Students should discuss their tentative plan of study and decide on course
selections for the following semester. Faculty advisers should consult with the
Director of Graduate Studies or Director of Public History before any changes
are made in the tentative plan of study. The program of study should be developed
in consultation with the student's exam committee and the Director of Graduate
Studies and must be approved by the DGS.
Graduate students should meet with their faculty adviser at least once every subsequent semester to discuss their progress. The faculty adviser is responsible for communicating to the Director of Graduate Studies any problems or concerns they may have with the student’s academic progress. The faculty adviser is also responsible for communicating to the student, as well as to the student’s examination committee or thesis/dissertation committee, any recommendations from the Director of Graduate Studies and/or the Research & Graduate Studies Committee, or other issues related to the student’s academic progress.
- Each graduate student is responsible for completing an annual Graduate Student Activity Report. (The report form can be found at: http://history.wvu.edu/graduate/current-students#Requirements). In the report, students will summarize courses taken and provide an overview of their general academic progress. They should also describe any professional development activities (conferences, papers, orientation to the profession events, pedagogical seminars, etc.) they have participated in. Students must forward their report to the Director of Graduate Studies by February 1 st. The report will be included in the student’s permanent file and are used in reappointment decisions. Public History students must submit a resume for review in lieu of the Graduate Student Activity Report.
- All students must file a Plan of Study (POS) by the end of their second semester of study. Doctoral students should file the Plan of Study within two weeks of the completion of their First Year Review (for more information of the First Year Review please see below under “Procedures for Graduate Student Evaluation”). The Plan of Study must be typed and signed by the student and by the members of the student’s examination committee (or their thesis committee) including the committee chair. Once completed, the Plan of Study should be submitted to the History department office. A copy of the completed Plan of Study will be placed in the student’s permanent file. Please note that the completed Plan of Study is a formal agreement between the student and their examination committee, and cannot be deviated from without the consent of the student’s examination committee. Any changes made to the Plan of Study must also be approved by the Director of Graduate Studies. It is the main faculty adviser’s responsibility to ensure that the Plan of Study for each student working under them is followed once it is approved, and that any alterations that are made subsequently to the Plan of Study are approved by the Director of Graduate Studies. If the Plan of Study is altered, students must submit a new Plan of Study and must include a memo with the new Plan of Study explaining the changes.
- All full-time M.A. students and full-time Ph.D. students who have not yet taken their comprehensive examinations are strongly encouraged to maintain continued enrollment for one credit hour in History 796, Graduate Seminar/Orientation to the Profession; part-time students are not required to register for this class, however, they are strongly encouraged to attend for at least two semesters. This course offers professional development workshops on such topics as writing successful grant applications and preparing for the comprehensive examination or for job interviews. It also involves presentations by guest faculty, alumni, or by advanced graduate students. History 796 meets approximately four times per semester, usually on Friday afternoons.
In addition:
Students must remove all “incompletes” in courses by the end of the following semester.
At least 60 per cent of course credits counted toward meeting the Master of Arts degree requirements must be at the 600 level or above, and no courses below the 400 level can be counted for an advanced degree (M.A. or Ph.D.)
A student who wishes to change the major field of study and select a new thesis/dissertation director must have such a change approved by the Department’s Graduate Studies Committee.
Program Requirements
All students in the Department of History graduate program, whether M.A. or Ph.D., will be monitored and evaluated regularly. The specific responsibilities and procedures for graduate student evaluation are discussed below.
Faculty are responsible for monitoring the graduate students enrolled in their classes, whether 400-level lecture courses or graduate seminars. If at the end of the semester a graduate student’s performance in a class is deemed unsatisfactory, the faculty member will complete a brief evaluation report, which they will submit to the Director of Graduate Studies by the end of the final examination week. The report will be included in the student’s permanent file. A student’s work will be considered unsatisfactory, if they receive a letter grade of C+ or less in one or more courses. Faculty should also notify the Director of Graduate Studies throughout the semester if they have any concerns about a graduate student or students taking their classes.
At the end of each semester, the Director of Graduate Studies will review the faculty evaluation reports. If the review reveals that a student is not performing at a satisfactory level in one or more courses, the DGS may ask the Graduate Studies Committee to review the student’s permanent file and to prescribe a course of action for correcting the deficiencies. The DGS will then communicate the recommended course of action to the student as well as to the student’s main faculty adviser. If the DGS’s review at the end of the following semester reveals that the student is still not performing at a satisfactory level in one or more courses, then the DGS in consultation with the Graduate Studies Committee will recommend that any financial support the student is receiving from the Department be revoked.
First-Year Review for Ph.D. Students:
All Ph.D. students are required to undergo a First Year Review. The First Year Review meeting will take place near the end of the second semester of the student’s program, normally in April. The student, the DGS, and the student’s examination committee (see below under “Doctoral Comprehensive Examination”) shall take part in the First Year Review Meeting. At the meeting, the student will outline their progress in the program to date, including their selection of a major field and three minor fields, the course work they have completed for each field, the coursework they have yet to complete for each field and when they plan to complete it, their projected date for taking their comprehensive examinations, and their tentative plans for dissertation research. Plans for completing any other requirements, such as the language requirement, should also be outlined. Each field adviser will be asked to provide feedback on the student’s performance and any concerns they may have about the student’s ability to complete the work and take the comprehensive examinations on schedule. If the examination committee is satisfied with the student’s performance and projected plan for completion, the student will be allowed to continue in the Ph.D. program and continue to receive financial support from the Department. If the committee finds any deficiencies in the student’s performance and/or projected plan for completion, the student will receive notice of the deficiencies and be placed on probation for their second year.
At the end of the First Year Review meeting, the DGS will write a First Year Review Report, which must be signed by the student, his/her main faculty adviser, and the DGS. A copy of the report will be given to the student, and another included in the student’s permanent file. Within two weeks of the completion of their First Year Review meeting, the student must file their Plan of Study (see above under “Program Requirements” for more information on the Plan of Study).
Students who are placed on probation will receive notice in writing of the deficiencies in their performance and/or program and, receive clear directions for correcting the deficiencies with a timeline for doing so. The notice must make it clear to the student that failure to correct the deficiencies within the specified timeline will result either in the revoking of any financial support, or dismissal from the program. The notice must be signed by the student noting that they are aware of the stipulations, and returned to the DGS. A copy of the notice will be given to the student, and another included in the student’s permanent file. Students on probation will also be required to undergo a second review. Again, the student, DGS, and the student’s examination committee shall take part in the second review. At the meeting, the student will outline their progress in the program since the previous meeting, and the course of action they have undertaken to correct the deficiencies identified by the committee in the notice. If the examination committee finds the student’s performance and corrected course of action to be satisfactory, the student will be allowed to proceed in the Ph.D. program and continue to receive financial support from the Department. If the student’s performance and corrected course of action are found to be unsatisfactory, the committee may recommend either: a) to allow the student to continue in the PhD program, but have their financial support revoked; or b) to release the student from the program altogether.
For more about these policies, see the catalog.
Time Limits:
Master’s students may continue in a program for up to eight years. Students inactive for two or more years or who exceed eight years must reapply for admission. Doctoral candidates must complete the remaining requirements after reaching candidacy in five years. To maintain candidacy, doctoral candidates must be registered a minimum of one credit hour each semester (fall and spring). For more, see the university guidelines in the catalog.
Leave of Absence:
If graduate students are in good standing and desire to step away from their academic path for one or more semesters, they may request a leave of absence. A leave of absence maintains candidacy but does not change time limits. For more on leave of absence and enrollment questions, see the university guidelines in the catalog.
Modification of Duties:
If graduate students on an assistantship need to be away from their work for more than two weeks, but are not seeking a leave of absence, they can request a modification of duties.