Texts and Technology PhD
Introduction
Together, the Graduate Student Handbook and your graduate program handbook should serve as your main guide throughout your graduate career. The Graduate Student Handbook includes university information, policies, requirements and guidance for all graduate students. Your program handbook describes the details about graduate study and requirements in your specific program. While both of these handbooks are wonderful resources, know that you are always welcome to talk with faculty and staff in your program and in the Graduate College.
Academic Integrity
The central activities and missions of a university rest upon the fundamental assumption that all members of the university community conduct themselves in accordance with a strict adherence to academic and scholarly integrity. As a graduate student and member of the university community, you are expected to display the highest standards of academic and personal integrity.
Starting Fall 2011, all students newly admitted to doctoral programs must complete Academic Integrity Training prior to the student's advancement to candidacy.
Here are some resources to help you better understand your responsibilities:
Degree Requirements
Enrolling in Courses
Each semester, course descriptions for the following semester are sent via e-mail prior to registration to all students admitted into the Texts and Technology program. Once you receive the course descriptions and have selected your courses, you need to obtain a permission number either in person, by phone, or via e-mail from the admissions specialist in order to register. Registration into a Department of English graduate course can only be achieved with a permission number because the courses are kept closed on the myUCF registration page (https://my.ucf.edu). Once you have been given a permission number for a course, your seat in that course is guaranteed.
NOTE: The permission numbers can be used only once. If you drop the course after you have registered for it but decide that you indeed want to take the course, you will need to obtain a new permission number to register for that course again.
Enrolling in Candidacy Examination Hours
Students are admitted to doctoral candidacy after the successful completion of their candidacy examination, which occurs at the end of their regular coursework. Although students may begin preparing for their candidacy examination at any point during their programs, they are not permitted to enroll in candidacy examination hours (ENC 7919) or to schedule their candidacy examination until their last semester of coursework. Students should spend the equivalent of at least one full semester preparing for their candidacy examination.
In the first semester in which a student enrolls in ENC 7919 (candidacy examination hours), he/she must enroll for at least three hours of credit. If the student does not take and pass the candidacy examination in that semester, he/she must be registered for at least one credit hour during the semester when he/she takes the examination again. The student may enroll for one hour of ENC 7919 to fulfill this requirement. (NOTE: students must be enrolled for at least one credit hour to use the university library facilities even during summer semesters.) Students who are on graduate assistantships or fellowships may enroll for up to nine hours of ENC 7919 in order to maintain their full-time status.
Any student who enrolls for more than nine hours of ENC 7919 or who registers for ENC 7919 in three or more semesters before successfully completing the candidacy examination must get approval from the T&T Director before he or she can register for additional ENC 7919 hours. Students on university support who fail the candidacy examination can be supported for only a maximum total of eighteen hours of ENC 7919.
Enrolling in Dissertation Hours
After students have successfully completed the candidacy examination, they are admitted to doctoral candidacy, and they may begin taking their required dissertation hours (ENC 7980) during the next semester. To register for ENC 7980, students must: (1) have formed a complete dissertation committee, (2) have a dissertation committee approval form completed and approved by the CAH Dean’s office, and (3) have a dissertation chair who is under contract to teach at UCF during the semester in which the credits are taken.
NOTE: The third requirement is usually only a problem if a student’s chair goes on leave/sabbatical or if the chair is not under contract to teach during the summer session.
Continuous Enrollment for Doctoral Candidates
Once beginning dissertation hours (ENC 7980), students must continue to enroll in dissertation hours until the time that they graduate. This includes summer terms and the term of their graduation.
NOTE: Doctoral candidates on UCF fellowship or departmental assistantships are considered full time if they enroll in three hours of ENC 7980 per semester. However, a student may be held to other requirements for full-time status outside of UCF (e.g., financial aid agencies, veteran status, or employers).
First Year Review
At the end of the first year of study, each full‐time student’s performance will be reviewed. For part‐time students this review will occur after eighteen hours of coursework or two years of study, whichever comes first. The First‐Year Review is intended to help identify students’ strengths and weaknesses in completing the Texts and Technology program. Students who pass their first‐year review continue their coursework and face no additional programmatic evaluation until their candidacy examinations. Students whose first‐ year review identifies significant problems will be given feedback about those problems and will be required to have a second review during the second regular (excluding summer) semester after their first review. Students who do not make sufficient progress in addressing the problems identified in their first‐ year review by the time of their second review cannot continue in the program. In the first‐year review, evaluation of students' progress is based on three components: GPA (3.5 or higher is expected), students' progress in moving through the program’s requirements (completing core courses successfully, clearing any incompletes), and evaluations written by the instructors of the student’s Texts and Technology courses during the appropriate period. The written evaluations are submitted to the Texts and Technology Director who summarizes the student’s progress (including both strengths and weaknesses) and informs the students of their progress.
Internship
The purpose of the internship is to provide students the opportunity to integrate valuable practical experience with the theory and content of their courses in the Texts and Technology program. Additionally, students who are working as interns should make a meaningful contribution to the company or organization during the internship experience.
Sample Internship Experiences
- A student working for Harcourt School Publishers on template development for the Social Studies department and participating in a range of new media and technology issues
- A student assisting with staff understanding and use of Boardmaker software and integrating basic Augmentative Assistive Communication (AAC) strategies into staff in-service training for Achievement Academy, a pre-kindergarten/kindergarten charter school for developmentally delayed children
- A student working with a professor to develop a CD on “Why Writing Matters” and a web site for composition faculty
Timeframe
The internship will normally be completed in eight to fifteen weeks. However, in some cases, companies may want interns for a longer period. The minimum number of contact hours for the entire internship experience must be eighty hours. Details of the internship, including timeframe and hours per week, must be outlined in your proposal.
Compensation
Compensation may be negotiated for some internships, but any negotiation for compensation is strictly between you and the company or organization. The Texts and Technology program does not handle compensation for internships. Many internships are on a voluntary basis.
Eligibility
To apply for an internship for credit, students must meet the following criteria:
- Completion of at least twelve credit hours of required coursework.
- Submittal of three copies of the internship proposal (one for the Texts and Technology Director, one for the faculty internship supervisor, and one for the company or organization mentor).
- Submittal of one copy of an internship approval form with the signatures of the student, Texts and Technology Program Director, the faculty internship supervisor, and the company or organization mentor.
- Enrollment in ENG 6947—Texts and Technology Internship (3 credit hours)
Getting Started
Students in this course must contact and obtain an internship from an appropriate for-profit or non-profit company or organization in industry; local, state, or federal government; the military; the arts; or education. Involvement in various grassroots companies or organizations is encouraged. Also, the internship experience must include some emphasis on technology—ranging from using technology to helping to develop technology.
Please do not expect the faculty in the Texts and Technology program to provide you an internship. Please plan on doing the research and laying the foundation for the internship yourself. If you have an interest in a company or organization or if you have a contact for a possible internship, you should follow up on any possible opportunities. In most cases, you will need to submit an application or cover letter and resume and interview for the internship.
A copy of the internship fact sheet and approval form can be found on the Texts and Technology website (http://english.ucf.edu/graduate/tandt.php ) or from the Department of English graduate office in Colbourn Hall room 302-E.
Grading in T&T COURSES
All T&T courses use the +/- system. In general, grading is more stringent in Ph.D.-level courses than students may have experienced in masters-level graduate courses. Of course, individual instructors set the criteria for evaluation of assignments and assignment of final grades in their courses, but students can expect that instructors’ individual policies reflect the following general guidelines.
A A final grade of “A” in a graduate course indicates consistently strong and outstanding achievement. Students receiving an “A” have not only fulfilled all course requirements but have exceeded them by the skill and originality of their written and oral work.
A- A final grade of “A-” indicates that students have successfully fulfilled all course requirements satisfactorily.
B+ A final grade of “B+” indicates that a student has fulfilled all course requirements
with minor exceptions.
B A final grade of “B” indicates that a student has done passable work in the course although there may be some significant problems in some aspects of his/her performance. While this grade often indicates a potential greater than the finished work demonstrates, a student who receives “B” grades on a regular basis should seriously consider the kind and amount of commitment he or she is able to give to graduate school.
B- A final grade of “B-” indicates that while some of the student’s work was acceptable, other aspects of the work failed to fulfill the basic expectations for PhD -level work.
C/D Final grades of “C+,” “C,” “C-,” “D+,” “D,” and “D-,” indicates various degrees of substandard performance. Anyone who receives a grade below a “B-” must meet with the T&T Director to discuss the advisability of continuing in the program.
F Failure.
Curriculum
Students must write a dissertation on their research that will explain and defend a significant original contribution to the field of Texts and Technology. Students choose their dissertation adviser and committee from within the program. Students will submit at least one substantial scholarly article to a national peer-reviewed journal with the approval and assistance of the dissertation chair and the director of the doctoral program.
Required Courses—12 Credit Hours
Core
- ENG 6800 Introduction to Texts and Technology (3 credit hours)
- ENG 6810 Theories of Texts and Technology (3 credit hours)
- ENG 6801 Texts and Technology in History (3 credit hours)
- ENG 6812 Research Methods for Texts and Technology (3 credit hours)
Elective Courses—21 Credit Hours
Restricted Texts and Technology Electives—12 Credit Hours
- ENC 6428 Rhetoric of Digital Literacy (3 credit hours)
- ENC 6XXX Acoustical Texts and Technology (3 credit hours)
- ENC 6426 Visual Texts and Technology (3 credit hours)
- ENG 6814 Gender in Texts and Technology (3 credit hours)
- ENG 6811 Cultural Contexts in Texts and Technology (3 credit hours)
- ENC 5225 Theory and Practice of Document Usability (3 credit hours)
- ENC 6XXX Ethics in Texts and Technology (3 credit hours)
- ENG 6939 Topics in Texts and Technology (3 credit hours)
- ENG 6948 Teaching Practicum in Texts and Technology (3 credit hours)
Restricted Interdisciplinary Electives—9 Credit Hours
Nine hours of advised interdisciplinary electives are required for students in the PhD Program in Texts and Technology. This requirement encourages students to find graduate-level coursework best suited to develop their research agendas and to prepare for their dissertation.
Dissertation—18 Credit Hours
Candidacy Examination—3 Credit Hours
- ENC 7919 Doctoral Research (3 credit hours)
Students are admitted to doctoral candidacy status upon completion of a written examination with three parts—one part based on a reading list reviewed annually by the Texts and Technology faculty and the other two parts based on reading lists prepared by each student and approved by the examination committee. The candidacy examination for each student is written and evaluated by a committee of three UCF graduate faculty chosen by the student; however, at least two members of each candidacy examination committee must be members of the Texts and Technology core faculty. Students must be registered for ENC 7919 during the semester in which they take their candidacy examination and they must find a Texts and Technology core faculty member to serve as the chair of their examination during the semester before taking ENC 7919. Students cannot register for dissertation credit ENC 7980 until the semester after they have successfully completed the candidacy examination. Students who fail the candidacy examination a second time cannot continue in the program.
Admission to Candidacy
The following are required to be admitted to candidacy and enroll in dissertation hours:
- Completion of all course work, except for dissertation hours.
- Successful completion of the candidacy examination.
- Successful defense of the written dissertation proposal.
- The dissertation advisory committee is formed, consisting of approved graduate faculty and graduate faculty scholars.
- Submittal of an approved program of study.
Dissertation and Oral Defense—15 Credit Hours
- ENC 7980 Doctoral Dissertation (15 credit hours)
Students choose their dissertation adviser and committee from among the faculty in the Texts and Technology PhD program. They choose the adviser and committee after they have completed approximately 27 credit hours toward the degree or after the first year-and-a-half of course work. All dissertation committee members, including outside readers, must hold a PhD or another relevant terminal degree.
Students must write a dissertation on their research that will explain and defend a significant original contribution to the field of Texts and Technology. It may be of a theoretical, historical or pragmatic nature, but must meet conventional academic standards. The dissertation committee administers the candidate’s oral defense of the dissertation, with passing determined by acceptance by a majority of the committee. The dissertation adviser, the dissertation committee and the dean of the college or designee must approve the final dissertation. Format approval is required from the Thesis and Dissertation Office and final approval of degree requirement completion by the College of Graduate Studies (Millican Hall 230).
Students will submit at least one substantial scholarly article to a national peer-reviewed journal with the approval and assistance of the dissertation chair and the director of the doctoral program.
Internship and Practicum—6 Credit Hours
- ENG 6813 Teaching Online in Texts and Technology (3 credit hours)
- ENG 6947 Internship in Texts and Technology (3 credit hours)
Timeline for Completion
Milestones for Completion of PhD Degree (for full-time students)
First-Year Review (end of first year)
Core Coursework and Electives (about two years)
Internship and Teaching Practicum (by fifth semester)
Candidacy Examination (usually one semester)
Dissertation Prospectus (usually one semester)
Writing Dissertation (usually one year)
Dissertation Defense
Examination Requirements
Candidacy Examination
Students are admitted to doctoral candidacy status upon successful completion of a written examination with three parts—one part based on a reading list reviewed annually by the Texts and Technology faculty and the other two parts based on a reading list prepared by each student and approved by that student’s examination committee. The candidacy examination for each student is written and evaluated by a committee of three UCF graduate faculty chosen by the student; however, at least two members of each candidacy examination committee must be members of the Texts and Technology core faculty. Students must be registered for ENC 7919 during the semester in which they take their candidacy examination, and they must find a Texts and Technology core faculty member to serve as the chair of their examination during the semester before taking ENC 7919. Students cannot register for dissertation credit (ENC 7980) until the semester after they have successfully completed their candidacy examination.
The general portion of the examination will be timed and proctored on campus, and students will have a maximum of five hours to write answers to two questions. At the discretion of a student’s examination chair, the remaining two sections of the examination may be conducted following the same procedure as the general portion (i.e., two additional timed and proctured five-hour sessions conducted on campus) or in a take-home format agreeable to the student’s examination committee. If the latter option is used, the student will have no more than forty-eight hours to complete each section of the take-home portion of the examination. No matter which option is used, students must complete the remaining portion of the examination no later than one week after the general portion is taken. No oral defense of the examination is required; however, an examination committee chair may choose to schedule one. Students who do not pass all three sections of the examination on the first attempt may retake the examination once. In such a case, the student’s examination committee will decide whether the student needs to retake the entire candidacy examination or part thereof. Students who fail the candidacy examination a second time cannot continue in the program.
NOTE: In addition to the dissertation proposal approval form, a dissertation committee approval form must be completed and on file in the English Graduate Office before a student will be allowed to sit for their candidacy exam (or take dissertation hours [ENC 7980]).
Dissertation Requirements
Dissertation Topics
Students must write a dissertation on their research that will explain and defend a significant original contribution to the field of Texts and Technology. It may be of a theoretical, historical, or programmatic nature but must meet conventional academic standards of rigor, scholarship, relevance, and excellence.
Dissertation Committee
Students should begin the process of identifying a dissertation chair and committee by the time they have completed twenty-seven credit hours toward the degree (or after the first year-and-a-half of coursework for full-time students). A dissertation committee consists of a chair and at least three readers. Students choose their dissertation chair from the core T&T faculty, matching as closely as possible their research interests with a faculty member's research specialties. In consultation with their dissertation chairs, students choose at least three additional readers—two departmental readers and one outside reader.
One of the departmental readers must be a core T&T faculty member and the second may be a core T&T faculty member or an appropriate member of the English Department. The third reader must be from outside the English Department and may be from outside the university (students who plan to have an outside reader who is not a faculty member at UCF must consult with the T&T program director). All dissertation committee members, including outside readers, must hold a PhD or other relevant terminal degree, and their credentials must be approved by the College of Arts and Humanities Graduate Office. One adjunct or visiting faculty member may serve as a departmental or outside reader.
Dissertation Prospectus
After completion of the candidacy examination, doctoral candidates prepare a prospectus that serves as a proposal for the dissertation project. The prospectus should provide a description of the project itself that specifies its potential contribution to the field of Texts and Technology, a review of literature relevant to the project, a discussion of the methodologies that will be used, and a proposed timetable for completion of the project. The prospectus must be approved by all members of the dissertation committee, and a copy of the approved prospectus must be filed with the T&T Admissions Specialist. The dissertation chair may chose to convene the dissertation committee for an informal defense of the prospectus by the candidate.
Dissertation Defense
The dissertation committee administers the candidate’s public oral defense of the dissertation with passing determined by acceptance by a majority of the committee. The dissertation chair, the dissertation committee, and the Dean of the College of Arts and Humanities or designee must approve the final dissertation. Format approval is required from the Thesis and Dissertation Editor and final approval of satisfaction of degree requirements by the Division of Graduate Studies (Millican Hall 230).
Before scheduling their dissertation defense, students should meet with their chair, and it is good practice to meet with the committee members as well, to determine whether the dissertation is ready to defend.
Students should discuss with their chairs the protocols to expect in the dissertation defense. The following norms provide a good set of expectations for students preparing for their dissertation defense, but students should consult with their chair to determine if any variations of the following structure are planned:
- The doctoral student begins the defense with a presentation of a conference‐length paper. Students should prepare for this presentation as they would for a scholarly conference, as well as for potential job interviews. The goal is to present a succinct yet compelling overview of one’s contribution to the field. Typically, such presentations last no more than thirty minutes; some chairs prefer for them to run a shorter length, in the fifteen‐ to twenty‐minute range. The presentation should be addressed to the committee. Although defenses are public affairs, and friends and family may attend, the dissertation defense primarily involves a dialogue and discussion of the student’s project to show committee members its intellectual merit and its contribution to the field.
- Following the student’s presentation, each committee member and the chair asks his/her questions. This section of the exam typically lasts approximately forty‐five minutes to one hour.
- The floor may then be opened for audience members to ask questions for a period of ten to fifteen minutes.
- Following the Q&A session, the candidate and audience leave the room for the committee to discuss the examination. Frequently, committee members will discuss ways in which they believe the student should advance his/her studies after graduation. Once consensus is reached, the candidate and audience are invited to return. The director informs the student of the committee’s assessment of his/her work and the requirements for revision, including who on the committee will need to see the revisions. This portion of the examination typically requires approximately fifteen minutes. All committee members must sign off on the necessary form for a dissertation to be successfully defended.
- Typically, dissertation defenses run approximately ninety minutes to two hours. Again, remember that these are norms, not rules, and so it is to the student’s advantage to discuss with the committee their expectations for the defense prior to beginning the examination.
Dissertation Formatting and Resources
The College of Graduate Studies produces the UCF Thesis and Dissertation Manual. The Thesis and Dissertation manual is to be used as a guide for the preparation, submission and acceptance of electronic doctoral dissertations (ETDs). Preparation of a dissertation must be in accordance with instructions the Thesis and Dissertation manual.
Although the Thesis and Dissertation manual sets the requirements for proper document format, it is not the sole source of information on thesis and dissertation requirements and resources. Students should also access the College of Graduate Studies Thesis and Dissertation (ETD) webpage for information about policies, deadlines, processes, formatting resources, workshops and campus resources, copyright, binding vendors, and a final semester checklist.
Students can contact the College of Graduate Studies Thesis and Dissertation office by emailing editor@mail.ucf.edu.
Article
As part of their advanced studies, students are strongly encouraged (but not required) to submit at least one substantial scholarly article to a peer-reviewed journal with a national reputation with the approval and assistance of their dissertation chair.
Graduate Research
Digital Research Projects
Visit the Resources page on the Department of English website for a listing of digital research projects in progress.
Research Methods
As an interdisciplinary field, Texts and Technology embraces a wide variety of research methods and requires the interplay of theory, history, and empirical research. T&T students are expected to have basic competence (i.e., the ability to read and understand research) in bibliographic, historical, theoretical, qualitative and quantitative methods. In addition, T&T students must develop expertise in the research methods that will allow them to carry out innovative dissertation projects. Competence in bibliographic research provides a base for such expertise, but students must move beyond this base to ground their work in theory and to extend existing theory through the use of another research methodology (e.g., historiography, close reading/rhetorical analysis of texts, discourse analysis, and qualitative or quantitative empirical research). Human Subject
If students choose to conduct research that involves human subjects (i.e. surveys, interviews, etc.), they must gain Institutional Review Board (IRB) approval prior to beginning the study. For access to the IRB submission form and sample consent forms, please visit the Office of Research website: www.research.ucf.edu> Compliance > UCF IRB Webpage > UCF-IRB Principal Investigator’s Manual
Travel Support
The College of Graduate Studies offers a Graduate Travel Fellowship that provides funding for master's, specialist, and doctoral students to deliver a research paper or comparable creative activity at a professional meeting. Students must be the primary author and presenter. The Student Government Association also funds individual and group travel requests. More information can be found on the Graduate Studies website: http://www.students.graduate.ucf.edu/travel_support/.
Ethics in Research
Researchers in every discipline have a responsibility for ethical awareness as the status of the profession rests with each individual researcher. The ethical collection and use of information includes, but is by no means limited to, the following: confidentiality, accuracy, relevance, self-responsibility, honesty, and awareness of conflict of interest.
Plagiarism
Representing the work of others as one's own is a serious breach of the ethics and practices of academic research and will not be tolerated in the T&T Program. Instructors of T&T courses who discover that a student has committed plagiarism may apply penalties specified in their syllabi or refer the student to the T&T Program for disciplinary action.
If it is discovered that a student has committed plagiarism in his/her dissertation, the T&T Director will convene the student's dissertation committee to determine whether the student will be allowed to continue in the program. If an instructor refers a student to the T&T Program for disciplinary action related to plagiarism or if it is discovered that a student has committed plagiarism in research related to the T&T Program but outside of coursework or dissertation work, the T&T Director will convene the T&T faculty to determine whether the student will be allowed to continue in the program. In addition to programmatic action, students who commit plagiarism may be referred to university authorities under the provisions of the Golden Rule.
Patent and Invention Policy
Although most of the research conducted by T&T students does not require significant financial support by UCF, T&T students should be aware that the products of some graduate student research may be the property of UCF. UCF has three fundamental responsibilities with regard to graduate student research. They are to (1) support an academic environment that stimulates the spirit of inquiry, (2) develop the intellectual property stemming from research, and (3) disseminate the intellectual property to the general public. UCF owns the intellectual property developed using university resources. The graduate student as inventor will, according to this policy, share in the proceeds of the invention.
The Patent and Invention Policy is available online in the Graduate Catalog.
Financial Support
Fellowships
Most university fellowships are reserved for incoming degree-seeking graduate students who plan to enroll full time. To be considered for an award, students should submit a completed application for admission, including all supporting documentation, by the due dates. For a listing of merit-based fellowships that are offered through the UCF College of Graduate Studies, as well as a listing of various general graduate funding opportunities, see the Funding for Graduate School section in the College of Graduate Studies Students website.
Graduate Assistantships
The Department of English provides a limited number of graduate assistantships that pay a stipend ($14,000/year in 2007-2008) and provide tuition remission and health insurance in exchange for which students teach two courses in the fall and spring semesters or perform equivalent work on other projects. Graduate assistantships are offered only to full-time students. Students on graduate assistantships should expect that they will regularly teach first-year composition and/or business and technical writing courses.
Tuition Remission
The budget for tuition remission varies from year to year. In past years, the tuition remission support has covered the costs for nine hours of graduate credit each semester per student; however, support may be reduced after students become doctoral candidates and no longer need to enroll in nine hours of coursework to maintain full-time status.
Applying for Graduate Assistantships
Most students apply for a graduate assistantship when they make their initial application to the program. However, students may apply for a graduate assistantship at any point during their program of study. The admissions committee for the T&T Program assigns priority for graduate assistantships when they consider applications for the next academic year; therefore, all students must apply for GA funding before the admissions deadline for the following academic year (e.g., January 15, 2011 for the 2011-2012 academic year). The admissions committee is charged by the T&T faculty to give priority first to those coming off fellowships, second to new students, and third students not currently on GA support who have proven that they are very competent. Within these categories, the T&T committee assigns priority according to the merits of each application.
Required Training for Graduate Teaching Assistantships (GTAs)
All teaching assistants in the Department of English are required to take ENC 5705 Theory and Practice of Composition, unless they have taken a course at another university judged equivalent by the director of composition. Mandatory training requirements must be met for a student to be hired in the position of Graduate Teaching Associate, Assistant or Grader. The training, offered by UCF’s Faculty Center for Teaching and Learning covers course design, learning theories, ethics, and other topics relevant to preparing GTAs for their responsibilities. See GTA Training Requirements for training requirements and registration instructions.
Only those graduate students who have satisfactorily completed and passed more than eighteen credit hours of graduate course work in the major may be classroom Instructor of Record (Graduate Teaching Associate, 9183).
Performance Assessment
To retain a graduate assistantship, students must complete their duties satisfactorily. All graduate assistants who teach courses for the university are evaluated each semester by the Department of English, and this evaluation is reported to the College of Graduate Studies and added to the student's university records. Those who do not pass these evaluations will lose their assistantship unless they can be assigned other responsibilities. Graduate assistants with assignments other than teaching are evaluated by their supervisors and/or the T&T Director.
Other Employment
Because of the demanding nature of the PhD program, T&T students receiving a departmental graduate assistantship must agree not to have full-time employment elsewhere.
Length of Fellowship/Graduate Assistant Support
T&T students must reapply for GA support after five years when their previous support has come from university sources (e.g., departmental GAs, fellowships or a combination thereof); students who are making satisfactory progress toward the completion of their degree and who performed satisfactorily in their graduate assistantships may be reappointed if sufficient funds are available.
International Students
General Employment
According to USCIS regulations, graduate students who are on an F-1 visa may accept employment on campus without prior USCIS approval. These students must be enrolled full time, employment cannot interfere with their studies, and employment cannot exceed twenty hours per week during the fall and spring semesters. Please be reminded that graduate students who are nonresident aliens on F-1 visas are not permitted to work more than twenty hours per week except during breaks and the summer terms.
SPEAK Test
International students may only be hired as a Graduate Teaching Associate (9183) after obtaining a score of at least 55 on the SPEAK test and may only be hired as a Graduate Teaching Assistant (9184) after obtaining a score of at least 50 on the SPEAK test. For more information about the SPEAK test, see SPEAK Test on the Graduate Students website.
Graduate Student Associations
The Graduate Student Association (GSA) is UCF's graduate organization committed to enrich graduate students' personal, educational and professional experience. To learn more or get involved, please visit www.gsa.ucf.edu. For individual department or graduate program organizations, please see the program director.
Sigma Tau Delta is the International English Honor Society.
Professional Development
Graduate Research Forum
The Research Forum will feature poster displays representing UCF’s diverse colleges and disciplines.
The Research Forum is an opportunity for students to showcase their research and creative projects and to receive valuable feedback from faculty judges. Awards for best poster presentation in each category will be given and all participants will receive recognition.
The College of Graduate Studies and the Graduate Student Association invite all UCF students, community, and employers to attend the Graduate Research Forum. For more information, contact researchweek@mail.ucf.edu.
Graduate Excellence Awards
Each year, the College of Graduate Studies offers graduate students who strive for academic and professional excellence the opportunity to be recognized for their work. The award categories include the following:
Award for Excellence by a Graduate Teaching Assistant - For students who provide teaching support and assistance under the direction of a lead teacher. This award focuses on the extent and quality of the assistance provided by the student to the lead instructor and the students in the class. (Not intended for students who are instructor of record)
Award for Excellence in Graduate Student Teaching - For students who serve as instructors of record and have independent classroom responsibilities. The focus of this award is on the quality of the student’s teaching and the academic contributions of those activities.
Award for the Outstanding Dissertation - To recognize doctoral students for excellence in the dissertation. The focus of this award is on the quality and contribution of the student's dissertation. Excellence of the dissertation may be demonstrated by evidence such as, but not limited to: publications in refereed journals, awards and recognitions from professional organizations, and praise from faculty members and other colleagues in the field.
Award for Innovative Thesis or Dissertation Award - to recognize cutting-edge use of technology in theses and dissertations. The focus of this award is on the technical innovation of the student's thesis or dissertation through the application of renderings, photos, data sets, software code and other multimedia objects.
For the nomination process and eligibility criteria, see the College of Graduate Studies website: www.graduate.ucf.edu/GradAwards.
Other
Students should take opportunities to present a poster or a topic of research at a conference. To obtain financial support to present at a conference (other than through your program) or to engage in comparable creative activity at a professional meeting, visit Travel Support.
For information about the Council of Southern Graduate Schools (CSGS) thesis and dissertation awards, see their website: www.csgs.org/ > Awards.
For grant-proposal writing resources: http://uwc.ucf.edu/gradwriting.php
Visit the Resources page on the Department of English website for a listing of internship descriptions and testimonials, as well as organizations that partner with UCF to provide internship experiences and jobs for graduate students including the Central Florida Research Park, Florida High Tech Corridor.
Job Search
UCF’s Career Services department offers a wide range of programs and services designed to assist graduate students. These services include evaluation and exploration of career goals, preparation for the job search and job search resources. To learn more, visit their website at www.career.ucf.edu.
An excellent resource to learn of openings in the field of Text and Technology is the Modern Language Association's website. This resource includes a variety of resources for students and graduates, such as career and job market information and most importantly a Job Information List.
For specific services or resources provided by the academic program, please contact the graduate program director or academic adviser.