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English Thesis Timeline for Completion

The following outline the major milestones and a timeline for completing the Thesis Portfolio. All forms referenced can be accessed here: http://mpwc.blogs.umassd.edu.

Spring semester

As part of your work in ENL 510

  • Contact chair to discuss their role, your area of specialization, and possible committee members
  • Complete Thesis Committee Approval Form and submit to Graduate Program Director (GPD)
  • Present your Proposal and Research Report to Committee
  • Participate in Student Research Conference
  • Identify and apply for a summer or fall internship

Summer/Fall semester

During the Summer/Fall

  • Complete internship in area of interest
  • Submit Internship Contract to GPD with signatures
  • Coordinate with your Committee Chair the due date for your Internship Final Report
  • Take elective as offered/needed

During the Fall semester

  • September/October: Submit Thesis Proposal to committee for approval
  • November/December: Get committee comments and approval on your Thesis Proposal
  • Submit Thesis Proposal Approval Form to GPD
  • Register for ENL 750 (Thesis Proposal must be submitted before the GPD will register you)
  • Begin working on portfolio projects as directed by your chair

Spring semester

As part of your work in ENL 750 and with direction from your Committee Chair

Early March: Submit completed portfolio to your committee for review

1st Week of April: Get comments for revision and completion from committee

Late April: Present your work at the Student Research Conference. If you cannot do so, work with your Chair to identify an alternate time and location. Note: This presentation must be public and announced via UMD Announce two weeks in advance of the presentation.

By May 1: Submit Final Portfolio to committee and submit Thesis Approval Form to the GPD

Compile these documents for your Final Portfolio*

  • Portfolio documents
  • Reflection paper
  • Thesis Proposal
  • These signed forms:
    • Thesis Committee Approval
    • Thesis Proposal Approval
    • Thesis Approval Form

After thesis approval, before graduation

  • Submit final CD including signed thesis forms to your Committee Chair and the Graduate Program Director. Committee Chair and the Graduate Program Director must both receive and acknowledge complete thesis portfolio on CD before graduation.

*ENL 750 completion requirements

In order to have the Portfolio accepted for graduation, the student must:

  • Assemble a professional quality portfolio which best demonstrates student’s productivity, field awareness, quality of craft, and seriousness of intent. This demonstration will be met by including in the portfolio samples of work which specifically attend to the student’s area(s) of study and practice. So, for example, if the student seeks above all to develop a career as a technical writer, the student will include in the portfolio evidence of ability in that genre. If journalism is the goal, the student would include work which speaks to productivity in that genre. Writing will come from coursework, internships, independent/extracurricular work, and will include original pieces designed specifically as samples for the portfolio. It will be assumed that the work included will have been revised to the highest quality. Minimum quantity of work will be determined between student and portfolio advisors.
  • Prepare and present the portfolio in the media standard to the field sought. That is, if a web portfolio is the accepted way of review for a genre of writing, the student must present the portfolio accordingly; if hard-copy is the field standard, the student must present the portfolio in hard copy. However, whatever the portfolio’s field appropriate method of delivery, the student must also prepare an electronic archival copy. The level of sophistication required of this archival copy will be determined by the genre of writing to which it has been aimed. (For example, if the student’s research determines that a hard-copy portfolio is appropriate to the field, a simple .pdf-based archival copy would likely be sufficient.) Include at the time of faculty review the proposal drafted in 510. Upon acceptance (i.e., “passing”) the student will retain the proposal in the archival portfolio but remove it from the distributive portfolio.
  • Include at the time of faculty review a reflective essay. This essay will recount the experience of designing and completing the portfolio, including a discussion of rhetorical choices made, attention to audience, projects revised specifically for inclusion in the portfolio, and the paces through which they were put. Student will also use this essay to direct faculty readers to aspects of the portfolio which the student feels warrant special attention. Upon acceptance (i.e., “passing”) the student will retain the reflective essay in the archival portfolio to be retained by the department, but remove it from the distributive portfolio to be presented to the field.